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Norse Woodsmith will be going offline for possibly up to a week during the month of February to attempt a major site upgrade.  If it is successful it will return, however it may look wonky for a while while I dial it in.  If not successful, well.. then your guess is as good as mine!  Thanks in advance for your patience.

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Project Phoenix: II

A Luthiers Blog - Tue, 11/05/2024 - 7:19am

In this video the back eventually gets reunited with the rest of the body!

Cheers Gary


 

cherry cupboard pt III........

Accidental Woodworker - Tue, 11/05/2024 - 3:24am

The cherry cupboard progress continues in spite of my doubts. Today I finished the tails on it. Survived that ordeal I put myself through and I am happy with the results. They didn't come out any different then ones I have done in pine. 

I was thinking about the cherry clock I made so many years ago and I know it didn't have any dovetails in it. I still have the plans for it and I looked them over last night. The carcass was put together with rabbeted joinery and even the moldings were in rabbets. Today I would make this same carcass with dovetails and forgo the rabbets for the moldings (5/8" cove moldings). Instead of using rabbets to house the moldings I would mold them on the front and sides with a molding plane. Things have changed and my skill level has risen a few notches in the past 40 plus years.

hmm......

This tail on the right side wasn't square to the face. I didn't need the square to tell me that because I could see it. I used this to check all the tails for square. This was the only one OTL (out to lunch) on this end of the board.

 checked the baselines too

I do not undercut my baselines. I try to chop them flat and square to the face. It doesn't make any sense to me to undercut them and only have two super thin edges supporting it. IMO it is akin the edge on a tool be it a chisel or plane iron. You want the two edges to come together and reflect no light. Not much meat there for support eh?

 done

Sawn, chopped, and cleaned up. Again, I fretted over this for nothing. I have been dovetailing now for almost 15 years. I wonder how well I'll do on the pins. Will I be able to achieve a fit like Paul Sellers does in oak as easily as I breathe air?

 thinking out loud

After eyeballing my first side board I starting thinking about it. The first thought was maybe I should have used the dovetail guide on the right. It is a 1:7 and I don't know what the left one is. That is the one I use to mark without regard to what the wood is or the purpose of them. 

The second thought I had was maybe I should have added another tail. That would have decreased the  end grain to long grain glue surface. However, I went with this number of tails to decrease the sawing. Besides I like the wider look of these tails.

 another 1:7 advantage

Using the 1:7 guide would have also resulted in the outside top tips being less pointy. That is one thing I have noticed with pine tails - if I'm not careful the tips will break/chip off. That is less of a concern with cherry or at least I hope it is.

 the difference

The 1:7 guide straightens the angle a wee bit. If I do hardwood again I will try to use the 1:7 guide. I don't think it would have any negative effect on the pull out of the tails and pins. I might try it on my next pine project to verify that.

 just noticed this

I have had these chisels for several years and I assumed that they were all the same length. Of these four I use the far left one and the two on the right the most. I never realized how much I had sharpened and ate up some of the length on these.

 McMaster Carr order came

One thing I like about McMaster is the fast shipping. I ordered these on saturday night and they came today. They are expensive on some things but they usually have what I am looking for. Fingers were crossed on the springs bringing some joy.

Got 3 boxes of #4 brass round head screws to up the order $. I hate paying close to or more for shipping than what I bought.

 all #4 screws

I now have 3 types of wood screws to choose. Flat head, oval head, and finally, round head. I thought I had some black oxide and shiny nickel screws but I didn't have any #4s.

 much rejoicing in Mudville

I was not too sure about these springs. They didn't seem to compress that much. However, they were a dead on match for the springs in the working quick grip. They fit and worked a charm. I couldn't feel/see any difference in this quick grip with the McMaster springs and original springs. Glad to finally have this working again - it has been over 7 years (?) broken and useless.

 McMaster P/N

These springs fit the bigger Quick Grip clamps and will not fit in the smaller 6&12 inch Quick Grips. I don't know if they will fit in the Irwin clamps - they bought out Quick Grip and then changed the design of them.

overblown

I thought this little knick was a lot worse than it actually is. When I was sawing it I thought I had ruined this side of the tail. Easily chiseled away and squared up. This was one of 3 non glitches.

feeling better

Got the tails done. These took me all day to do and it was all I got done. Normally I would have had this glued and cooking by now. But I purposefully took my time and double triple checked everything I did. I chopped each and every tail - I don't saw the tail and pin waste. That would have certainly shortened the time line.

pin boards

I'll start these tomorrow. I didn't want to start on these and not complete them before quitting time.

 using this more and more

The piece of pine is the setting block for pin boards. I set the pin board flush with the pine set up block.

 ready to mark

Lay the back end of the tail board on the steady rest and knife the pins. I always place the pin board with the outside face towards the front jaw of the Moxon. That means the outside face of the tail board always faces up and inside face down.

 reference edge

I label the bottom/back and that is my reference edge. I square up that edge to the front face of the pin board. I always do it this way and the times I haven't, it saved my bacon. Something would look odd, out of place, or not what I expected if I don't stick to this regimen. 

 quitting time today

I could have probably knifed one pin board before 1500 but nixed it. I am still a little reserved about rushing this. I'll start in on it fresh eyed and bushy tailed in the AM.

I spent the early dismissal time watching the last of the Elementary series. I am on the last season with 3 more episodes to watch. I'll have to find something else on prime to occupy limited attention span.

accidental woodworker

Greenhouse, Episode #2

The Barn on White Run - Mon, 11/04/2024 - 8:04am

 

With stout posts driven 36″+ into the ground I was ready to move forward and ordered the requisite 1/4″ hardware cloth to cover the entire floor space (to keep out all the little rodents that make Mrs. Barn’s gardening life one of frustration) and the pile of 2x8x10′ PT/SYP to build the knee walls and other components.  Now that was a shock, as the price was 3X more than the last time I ordered any meaningful quantity of construction lumber.  Those who are Inflation Deniers clearly do not comprehend either the definition of the term nor its manifestation.  But Don, are you saying you are smarter than the President and Secretary of the Treasury and Chairman of the Federal Reserve and all those other “experts”?

Yup.  Why that is would be another blog post, or better yet, in some other universe of discourse.  Hint: it all boils down to the “Austrian” strain of economics.

I laid the hardware cloth and began screwing the 2x8s to the posts.  I bought enough material for a four-course wall but Mrs. Barn decided three was better, so I managed to build my reserve inventory of that supply even more.

With the three courses in place, I fired up the chainsaw and lopped off the posts at the top of the knee wall.  Carpentry by chainsaw is definitely a thing.  Those scraps will become bench legs in the greenhouse configuration.

Setting the edge with string I lined up all the sill plates on top of the walls and posts, readying everything for the addition of the cattle fence panels that will form the arched roof structure.

Stay tuned.

Categories: Hand Tools

cherry cupboard pt III......

Accidental Woodworker - Mon, 11/04/2024 - 3:31am

Operated in slo mo today. Not because of something wrong physically with me but due to the dovetails to come. I have been thinking about it all night long. I don't usually think about dovetailing - I just do them. But cherry dovetails aren't the same as pine ones. Cherry doesn't have that forgiving compression factor that pine has. I am going to have to mark and saw more carefully. Hence the procrastination on my part. I wish I had done some practice cherry dovetails before tackling this cupboard.

eyeballing the approximate size

I squared and sawed the sides to length. Stepped back to eyeball the size of the carcass. The OD on the width is less than 17" and the ID is less the 15". These are about the same as the prototype. I thought of changing the top and bottom boards but decided to stay with this.

 solid top or bottom

I wanted to take a look of using a one piece top/bottom. I don't think it changes anything. I can see the same look with using a 2 1/2" wide flat molding. Solves that problem and I now have some left over cherry.

big boy pants on

I like using the Glen Drake scriber because the groove it makes matches the kerf of the dovetail saw. I wanted all the help I could muster sawing these dovetails.

 ready, set, go

I sawed these slower than I normally do. I go right to left and then left to right. That didn't change except for the speed and time. I first made sure that I had sawn in the groove and that it was square across. 

survived

Got the first two tails sawn with no hiccups. I did notice that when I made minor corrections that I made nicks on the tail side and not in the waste. I'm not sure how or if they will swell and close up come glue time. Or I could be quibbling about nothing. I tend to be a harsh critic of myself.

first side done

Another step that I was concerned with. The half pins on the left side are done and all four looked good. 

done

Survived the first part of sawing the dovetails. I didn't feel a big difference and I was overly concerned about nothing it seems. The sawing action is the same, but it takes a bit more to saw cherry than pine. Now that I'm done sawing the tails I can start fretting about the pins.

Got the 4 chisels I'll need to chop the tails and pins. That were sharp but probably not good enough for cherry. Time to expend calories getting them sharp and shiny.

 hardcover

Both of these are first editions (not that I care about that) and my wife's college friend gave them to me. I have both of these in softcover but I prefer hardcover books to softcover ones.

top right end of the shelf

About 15" of that shelf has my Eric Sloane books. He wrote a lot of books and I think I have all of them except for 7. There could be more because I can't find a definitive list of the books he had published.

This is my overflow bookcase. I have two upstairs that are full and this one is about 65% occupied. I have one more bookcase to the left of this one that I made in 1995 when I got out of the Navy. That one has all fiction and non fiction books but I'm thinking of thinning them out. At the rate I'm going I'll need it for the woodworking books I keep buying.

 sharp and shiny

I sharpen my chisels with a honing guide. I will occasionally sharpen a chisel by hand but 99.9999% I use a honing guide. Today when I set the bevel distance on them I didn't have to use the runway to flatten the entire bevel. Something or someone was watching over me.

25 or 30 degree

I use these two to set the chisel in the honing guide. I put the guide on the top and drop the chisel down to the 1/2" aluminum angle. What happens next was I used the guide on the stone and the existing chisel bevel angle didn't match what the stone did to it. Until today. I've had in the back of mind changing this current set up to something different. I must have been doing something wrong that I'm still not aware of.

Tomorrow I'll chop the tails and saw the pins.

accidental woodworker

Japanese Tool Box in Ash

Woodworks by.John - Sun, 11/03/2024 - 11:56am

I’ve been seeing these boxes on Pinterest, Instagram, and other places on the net so decided to make a pair of them for my grandsons Christmas present this year. They both are collectors of “things” so think they will like Opa’s interpretations of them for their “treasure chests”! I mail ordered some Ash from Woodworkers Source and they sent some beautiful pieces, one especially will be destined for the lids. With this blog I’ll break down the process to not only illustrate it for anyone else that may build one of these but also to remind me in case I make another! I hope that Connor and Rory will look at this and possibly be inspired to explore this world of woodworking that their Opa loves so much.

Mortises:

Working with the Ash has been an experience, it is very hard and the grain structure also makes it difficult to scribe clean, crisp lines to work to. Mike Pekovich from Fine Woodworking Magazine has a video series where he uses tape along with marking gauges and spacer blocks to accomplish this. You may need to be a member of the magazine to access it. For my project I could only mark the outside of the boards because the inside has a dado cut to accept the side pieces, this meant I really needed to be accurate on the layout and his technique really worked great, the Ash — well that’s a different story!

  • Using spacer to set marking gauge for width of the mortises.
  • After penciling in the width, top and bottom of mortises scribed, note spacer.
  • Sides of mortise are scribed next, again using the spacer
  • Now that top & bottom are scribed the sides are scribed next.
  • Removing the tape reveals where the mortises are located.
  • 3/16″ bit is used to remove bulk of mortise, spacer makes drilling easier since it locks in location of perimeter.
  • Chopping out waste difficult due to grain of Ash, chips not shavings! Helped to “nibble” small area rather than trying to get a full length cut.
  • Came up with using a cut-off that’s the exact width of dado for ends and carfully paring to fit.

Tenons:

If the mortises had cut cleanly each on them should have been exactly the same size, however; not being able to obtain clean cuts meant that they were slightly different so couldn’t use all of the techniques Mike Pekovich showed in his project.

  • Checking to ensure the sides of mortises are square
  • Scribing exact size of mortise on tenon board, tape made it easier to see
  • Saddle square used to scribe tenon width to the base line
  • Before assembly chamfered edges on tenons to prevent tear out
  • Success!
  • Used bandsaw to cut for splines, stop block limited depth
  • Assembly required some ingenuity, my glue of choice is Old Brown Glue. Even the splines were customized for each tenon.

Sliding Tray:

To add versatility each box will have a sliding tray made from 1/4″ thick Beech left over from another project. They’re about two thirds the length of the box and 1 3/4″ deep. No pictures but simple mitered construction using packing tape for assembly. The plywood bottom sits in a dado and the bottom of the box is covered with a heavy fabric on mat-board.

Lid, Battens, and Wedge:

There’s not a lot of exact information that I could find about the battens and the wedge. I’ve read that traditionally the boxes didn’t have a locking wedge. Tradition also has them assembled with nails and the bottom is nailed on. I chose to set the bottom in a dado and also join the battens with glue, screws, and plugs. Some show the wedge without an angled cut but I choose angling it make it more secure. Since these are going to a much more humid location than Las Vegas left a good 1/16″ gap between the lid and the sides of the box. The first step was creating the pieces for the top of the box and lid battens.

  • Box part, wedge, and lid batten. Holes marked to screws and plugs.
  • Bandsaw table tilted at 10° and wedge cut.
  • Used a block plane to remove ridges left by bandsaw.
  • After drilling holes for Mahogany plugs the box pieces were screwed & glued to the boxes
  • Lid pieces fitted to each box.
  • Attaching battens, the one with arrow is first, about 1/4″ from end. Here you can see the sliding/removable tray.

Fitting the lid required some experimentation. One end of it has a fixed batten that I located 1/4″ from one end. A spot of glue at the center and screws at each end secured that. I used a piece of plywood to fine tune the length of the lid and I’d recommend doing that if you make one of these. Much easier to screw up a scrap of plywood than a beautifully figured piece of Ash! Basically, after that first batten is attached you insert the lid and slide it so that it’s against the box piece. Then place the other lid batten and wedge in position, draw a line to locate it. A trick I saw and used was to put blocks inside of the box that held the lid at the right height. Now I was able to drill the pilot holes for the screws directly into the lid and attach it in place.

Final Steps:

One change I made was to drill a 3/8″ hole in the locking wedge piece and then glued in a short dowel. These boxes will probably not be stacked and with the higher humidity that wedge could become difficult to remove. I don’t want them tapping it with a hammer! My finish of choice is Osmo #3043, two coats applied with nylon scotch pads. This was a good, challenging process; here’s a slide show of the finished Japanese Toolboxes.

  • Japanese Toolbox for Connor
  • Japanese Toolbox for Rory
  • Rory’s
  • Connor’s
  • End View
  • Top view, loved the grain in the lids!
Categories: General Woodworking

cherry cupboard pt II.........

Accidental Woodworker - Sun, 11/03/2024 - 3:25am

 Short time in the shop today. I went on a road trip to visit my wife's best friend from college. I still managed get some things accomplished. The next upcoming step is dovetailing the carcass. I am a little concerned with this because I don't have a lot of hardwood dovetailing under my belt. So I'm procrastinating a wee bit. I'll put on my big boy pants before I start doing them.

 two more

The longer board will give up the fixed and adjustable shelves. I decided to leave that one long rather than plane it as two separate boards. I am also going to plane the short board, it isn't needed for the cupboard.

I'll take it
I scrubbed the board and checked it for twist and got a surprise. It was dead flat with zero twist. I wasn't expecting that at all. I smoothed it and the reference face was done.

 non reference face

All I did on this side was to knock down the wings - this face was cupped. That makes the lunchbox work easier. And it takes less trips through it to get it flat.

 reference face

It is smoothed but not 100%. I don't see the need to go that far before running it through the lunchbox planer. 90% of this face is flat and that is sufficient for the bed of the planer to plane the non reference face.

 done

These two came out a 64th thicker than the ones I did yesterday. I'm not going to quibble about it because it is impossible to see a 64th difference. Plus I may lose more than a 64th when I use the #3 to smooth them out.

 relax time

Just as well I went visiting with my wife. That will give these time to relax and get any stupid wood tricks out their systems.

accidental woodworker

On Older and Newer Starrett Combination Squares

Woodworking in a Tiny Shop - Sat, 11/02/2024 - 4:45pm

A few days ago I wrote about fixing up a Starrett combo square that I found at a garage sale.  It had all three heads - 45/90, protractor and centering - but I could only get the centering head to clamp the rule securely.  Turns out it was user error and I'll explain a bit here about that.

Here's the 45/90 head with rule in place

The clamp screw, spring and nut

You can see at the left end of the clamp screw, there is a raised tab that fits into the groove in the rule.  When the clamp nut is tightened, the tab pulls the rule tight in it's slot in the head.

The groove in the rule

Here's where I went wrong.  Note the little nub on the side of the clamp screw, roughly centered along its length.

The nub in question

This nub's purpose is twofold: to keep the clamp screw from sliding too far down in it's hole and to keep the clamp screw from rotating in the hole.  But there's a catch.  It turns out on older Starrett combo squares (and accessory heads), there's a small recess cut on the side of the shaft into which the clamp screw goes.  This recess extends from the bottom of the slot (in which the rule slides) towards the clamp nut for about 1/8".  I tried to get that in a picture, but it's very tough to photograph due to its location.

Looking down into the rule slot of the 45/90 head
The camera is actually a bit to the right of being straight above the hole
(the round hole is for the clamp screw)

Closer-up pic showing the recess for the nub

An even closer pic - if you use your imagination, you can see the recess.
We're actually seeing the bottom of that recess.

So it turns out that the clamp screw only goes into the head one way.  The nub has to go into that recess.  If it's turned 180 deg, the nub gets caught on the bottom of the rule slot and you can't tighten the rule enough.  Turned the proper way, the clamp screw goes 1/8" deeper in its hole and you can clamp the rule tightly.

I'm glad I figured this one out - I was considering filing off the nubs on two of the clamp screws!

Now, here's a newer Starrett combo square for comparison.  This was one of the only high end tools I bought new when getting started, and like all Starrett stuff it's been great.  It's probably 10-12 years old now.

The clamp screw, a special washer, spring and nut

There is no nub on the newer clamp screws.  Instead, there is a flat milled on opposing sides of the clamp screw and the washer's hole has two flats that match the flats of the screw.  There are two tabs on the washer that fit into recesses in the head casting and that is the mechanism that keeps the clamp screw from turning in its hole.

A flat milled on the clamp screw
(the washer is in place, but isn't easily seen in this pic)

A tab on the washer up into its recess

So the clamp screw can go into the head two ways.  There is no nub to require it to fit only one way.  I hope this clarifies the way these squares clamp the rule and that it helps someone who is up against the same issues.


A Couple Announcements

David Fisher - Carving Explorations - Sat, 11/02/2024 - 9:19am
For those of you interested in an axe and/or a couple exhibitions of wood art in Philly, read on. First, a few months ago, Robin Wood sent an axe to me to try out and provide him with some feedback. … Continue reading
Categories: Hand Tools

“Holy Cow” Is Not Nearly Strong Enough!

The Barn on White Run - Sat, 11/02/2024 - 6:01am

Frequently, for both relaxation and edification, I watch videos of chainsaw magicians felling trees.  Big trees, troublesome trees, trees leaning the wrong way, trees in the wrong place.  As my own tree-felling is part of life on the homestead (I am confident in my ability to fell trees the size of my thigh, not confident in felling trees the size of my waist) I try to watch and learn.  Other times I just watch to be captivated by the skills of these men doing this dangerous work with caution and confidence, sort of my version of ASMR.

This video documents the felling of the largest tree I have even seen, executed by a barefoot lumberjack working without eye or face protection for the most part, with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth a hundred feet in the air.  Since I watched this with the sound off I am not really certain of the context of where or when this occurred.

But I was impressed.

Categories: Hand Tools

cherry cupboard pt 1.5..........

Accidental Woodworker - Sat, 11/02/2024 - 3:34am

Yesterday I planed the stock for the upcoming cherry cupboard. I made a prototype out of pine to work out the dimensions and any kinks. About the only thing that will be different with the cherry cupboard are the dimensions. The cherry one will be deeper (9"), higher (~24"), and wider (~19-20"). What is still up in the air is the overall size of the door opening and the drawers (there will be two of them). Making this cherry cupboard will the be second big project I have made with a hardwood. The first one was a cherry clock I made about 45 years ago.

Wasted my AM time running around to four Wally Worlds trying to find Starbucks decaf coffee K cups. I found no joy and all four were dry. Plenty of other Starbucks K cups just not what I wanted. After I got home I went on the Wally World website and found the decaf K cups on sale for $6 down from $15. I ordered 6 of them and they are supposed to come in today. When these come in I plan to buy 6 more if they are still available. As of this typing it still hasn't arrived.

good sign

All but one of these are looking dead flat and straight. One long board has a small bow in it. Nothing major and I'm sure that after it is married up the bow will disappear.

selecting parts

I plan on using this one for the two drawer fronts. I happen to like sapwood streaks and I will leave it. The second part of this is whether to put the sapwood on the bottom of the drawers or on the top. 

 cherry is drop dead gorgeous

This is going to be the top or bottom of the carcass. The sides which are much more visible than this are straight grained with smaller cathedrals.

 the luck of the draw

These two boards were one board 4 days ago. It amazes me how much the grain can change in such a short distance. This board was roughly 4' long.

carcass parts

I ran the Stanley #80 over all the faces on these boards. There were a bazillion ridges left on them from the chipped blades on the lunchbox planer. I find these to be annoying to feel as I work on the boards. 

 carcass labeled

I have the four parts sized to width which ended up being 9 1/16". The height will be about 23 1/2" (not carved in stone yet). The width I haven't decided on yet. If I maximize the width it would be close to 20". That doesn't look balanced in my minds eye. I will probably knock that down to 17-18". I want a rectangular carcass and not a square. Both of these measurements are the outside dimensions.

 sweet planing

This cherry is a dream to plane. Even where the grain gets squirrely it planes ok. It tears out but not as bad as other hardwoods I've worked on. Using the #3 to smooth out the planer snipe on all the boards I planed yesterday.

thinking out loud

Eyeballing this as a potential treatment for the cupboard. Instead of 2 or 2 1/2 inch wide flat molding on the top and bottom, attach a full width top/bottom with a 1" overhang on 3 sides.

not a problem

Usually cathedrals this large would result in a ton of torn out grain in other woods. Instead I just generated a pile of fluffy shavings.

hmm.....

Making my first change. The far board on the right was going to be the top for the cupboard. The right board laying flat on the bench is the top. I'm switching the board on the left to be the top now. That will make the top/bottom a better match for color and grain. I will use the discarded board for rails/stiles for the door.

fingers crossed

I found some springs on McMaster that were a dead on match for the springs in the complete quick grip. They are corrosion resistance and I'm not sure about the compression specs and differences, if any, between what were the OEM springs and what I'm getting. 5 of them cost less than $17 so fingers crossed that they will work.

 the top/bottom

This won't be readily visible but if someone anal like me looks they will find that they match pretty good for grain and color.

 the sides

There are some cathedrals but they are tighter and smaller than the ones on the top and bottom. I wouldn't like the top/bottom being on the sides - that would feel like they were shouting at me.

hmm......

I thought this board was 20" but it ain't. This will dictate the overall size of the width of the cupboard. Less than 17" but more than 16".

forgot it big time

I need two more parts for the cupboard. I need one fixed and one adjustable shelf. I will mull over whether or not to thickness them by hand or use the lunchbox planer. I think that will depend upon the weather. 

Today was another nice day here in my part of the universe. It is November 1st and the mercury topped out at 81F (27C). Tomorrow is supposed to be partly cloudy and 20 degrees lower F. Still not a bad day for november 2nd. FYI the clocks {P_)@%&*)(#^)(#_))_)@$$@&^ spring ahead fall back on sunday.

I got a reply from LAP concerning replacement hammer handles for the Exeter Hammer. She said that currently that don't offer that option but they are working on it. I got a reply last saturday but I kept forgetting to post it on the blog.

accidental woodworker

Raw Tools

Elia Bizzari - Hand Tool Woodworking - Sat, 11/02/2024 - 3:00am


In light of the positive response to Elia’s midsummer wild hair to sell reduced-price Reamers in the Raw — and because it’s just an all-around good idea — we’ve decided to expand the concept. We are now pleased to offer both Travishers in the Raw and Tenon Cutters in the Raw.

I’m coming up on eight years working with Elia at Hand Tool Woodworking. For most of that time I’ve been carving out a niche as resident toolmaker, primarily producing our travishers and tenon cutters. While making hundreds of the same tool can get repetitive, it thankfully also lends itself to gradual refinement. Knowing that each batch of tools I make has been a slight improvement on the previous batch keeps things interesting and preserves a creative spark.

Over time our tools have become more precise, more practical, more consistently uniform, and — if I may say so — easier on the eyes. This has been a collaborative process, often with me problem-finding through hands-on workflow hiccups and Elia problem-solving by acquiring the right equipment or nifty jig-making. All of this takes time and has led to steady increases in our tool prices. By selling these tools “in the raw” we will be able to still provide quality tools at a reduced price and leave the level of finishing up to you.

When Elia first brought up this idea I was unsure about it. How would I feel about stopping at a certain point in the toolmaking process before a tool was finished according to my normal standards? It’s been an adjustment, but a good one. I’ve had to look through my toolmaking “recipes” and figure out which steps could be reasonably passed on to an adventurous end-user with some brief instruction — or even left undone and still produce a working tool. It’s actually been fun to whip through a couple batches of tools in record time and shake up my routine.

So what will you get? For the travishers, I’ve done the essential tooling of the brass soles but the blending and smoothing of those cuts is left undone. Each sole is matched to the individual blade that comes with the tool, but the blades will need to be sharpened. For the body of the tool, aesthetic chamfers and sanding have been omitted, as well as our shellac finish. Each tool will, however, come with an instruction list on how to make it workable at minimum, and how to — if so inclined — make it sexy. Both standard and wide-radius versions are available on our travishers page for $150 each, half the price of our finished tools.

For the tenon cutters, I’ve cut the blade beds, reamed the cutting holes, turned the handles, and hollow-ground the blades. All that’s left on these, besides finishing, will be to hone and set the blades. Setting can be a little tricky, but instructions are included and I’m always an email away for stubborn cases. All three of our standard sizes are available on our tenon cutters page for $70 each (also half our normal price).

So, while this won’t give you a purely soup-to-nuts DIY experience, it will hopefully provide an affordable and moderately challenging option for those of you who would like these tools, but have been hindered by the price tag.

Here’s to wild hairs, and may your blades be sharp enough to split them!

The post Raw Tools first appeared on Elia Bizzarri - Hand Tool Woodworking.
Categories: Hand Tools

Bush Hogging

The Barn on White Run - Fri, 11/01/2024 - 6:55am

We are smack-dab in the middle of a fortnight-plus stretch of simply spectacular weather, sunny days in the 60s and nights in the 30s and 40s.  we are taking full advantage of the opportunity to get tons of outside work done.  Matter of fact I have not been in the shop for nearly three weeks other than to package orders for mailing out.

Thanks to our connection to a stout young local lad, we’ve been able to keep up with the routine yard work much better than years past.  One of the things we really appreciate is his mowing of the large hillside area directly above the garden.  It keeps the underbrush under control and the expanse of green is a delight.

A picture from eight years ago when I first got the beast.

In order to expand that vista and perhaps make more space available for other things, an orchard is in the discussion, I spent several days with my DR Brush Mower whacking away at the ~4 acres of hillside adjacent to this mowed area.  It’s the brown-ish area just beyond the green.  I can only work on this about every third day as my shoulders need a lot of recuperation time these days.

For the first time since we bought the property almost 25 years ago that section of hillside is all cleared except for the woodland we are keeping.  With this step our young fellow is certain he can keep that area mowed as well.  There is definitely a difference between a cautious old man with a $4K lawn tractor and a fearless 16-year-old with a $10K lawn tractor.

In addition I cleared a 1-1/2 acre section between the driveway and the creek, an area we always called “the orchard” since there were a few apple trees there.  That field is chock full of large rocks and I walked it ahead of time, marking each big rock with fluorescent spray paint.  It was still several hours of arduous work, with many more hours of work yet to come.

Categories: Hand Tools

Chris’s Faves: For Your Holiday Wish List and Beyond

The Carpentry Way - Fri, 11/01/2024 - 5:45am

Hi Everyone,

This is Ilana, Chris’s widow. Hope you are healthy and faring OK as this year draws to a close (and if you are in the U.S., as the election draws near as well)!

I have a fun and practical post that some of you will hopefully find useful. I still get questions about Chris’s recommendations for all sorts of things, from tools to machines to where to purchase chisels. Although I am not into encouraging consumerism, if you are going to buy things (I can see into your mind and know you want more tools!), why not buy ones that are recommended by Chris?

I do not get any money from any of this. This is purely in response to the occasional questions that I receive. Seems good to have it all in one place. (If you do want to support the blog or our family, you can buy Chris’s carpentry drawing and joinery PDFs. I use the proceeds to cover the cost of keeping the blog active and anything left goes directly to our family.)

Feel free to chime in using the comments if you think I have forgotten something, you agree, disagree, etc. It’s subjective, so there’s no official right or wrong here!

Brands of Tools (and some places to find them)

Screwdrivers – Wera. He would usually get them from KC Tool in the U.S.

Japanese tool sellers – he had some personal relationships with Japanese tool dealers, but I think he would probably send you to Hida Tool (based in California) if you don’t speak Japanese and are in the US.

Pliers and related tools – Knipex

Clamps – Bessey

Digital Calipers – Mitutoyo

Other precision tools and granite surface plates – Starrett (which is within driving distance of where we live -the factory is in Athol, Massachusetts – and you can go on a factory tour! Chris did that and thought it was very cool.)

Drills and Impact Drivers – Makita and also Bosch for the big ones (including hammer drills).

Tool Cabinets – Kennedy

Shop Vacs and small dust collection systems – Festool, and he probably would have been happy with some others too. He also got a Harvey dust collector toward the end of his life that he didn’t have a chance to use much, but he thought it seemed great. It was a smaller one – not one of the big ones on the site linked above.

Machines

I will mostly forgo a list here, because most of you probably have your own machine opinions and know he was a fan of Martin machines. He had a shaper and a jointer, both of which he loved. Before Chris was ill, he hoped to eventually get a table saw and planer as well – either Martin or Hoffmann. In the last few years, he became equally, if not more, enamored with Hoffmann, partially because they are a smaller company and have an excellent reputation for customer care.

For band saws, he was very happy with both of his Hitachi saws.

He loved the Shinx super surfacer, and I don’t know what other brands are good for those!

He also really liked his Festool chop saw.

Wood

All around fave

Honduran mahogany, because of its stability, rot resistance, suitability for both outdoor use and furniture, medium hardness, workability, ease planing (most of the time!), and ease finishing.

Furniture

Probably bubinga, because of its stability, strength, beauty, potential for figure, potential to get quarter sawn if you look hard enough, and visual similarity to huanghuali, which was used extensively in Ming period Chinese furniture. Those of you who have used bubinga know it can be nearly impossible to plane without tear out and it’s very hard and heavy, but if you are OK with those qualities, it is fabulous. Chris made some gorgeous pieces out of bubinga.

Chris also found that avodire was a good alternative to softer woods traditionally used in Japan when creating indoor spaces using traditional Japanese style elements that would have higher traffic, and therefore would benefit from a more durable material. I am almost positive that he used avodire for his project at Colgate University, where he redesigned rooms in the East Asian Languages & Literature Department, one with traditional Japanese elements and one with Chinese elements.

North American woods

Cherry and walnut. He didn’t use either too much in the last few years, but he liked both and I don’t think I have to tell you why if you are a reader of this blog!

Other harder to find faves:
(Some of these are on the CITES Appendices or IUCN Red List, so Chris would try to find them from retiring woodworkers who had been storing them for years.)

  • wenge – for dark accents. He also liked Gabon ebony for dark pegs and wedges, but that is endangered and extremely hard to find, as you probably know!
  • jatoba – harder to work than bubinga and even a little harder but extremely strong and polishes well
  • shedua (AKA ovangkol) Chris also liked that it is related to bubinga and found it paired well visually and for joinery, as he found it moves similarly and not much)
  • lignum vitae – super duper hard and heavy, but so strong and rot resistant. And it is waxy/oily in a way which makes it perpetually slippery, ideal for applications like the bottoms of sliding doors or even drawer runners . Also, you can bury it in the ground and have your grandchildren dig it up when they are ready to retire and want to build something.
  • cocobolo and the other rosewoods. Even though they are now very mostly listed, hard to find, and brittle!
  • If you are an avid reader of the blog, you know he also loved working with Cuban mahogany, but that isn’t exactly kicking around much these days. It was actually prone to breaking because it’s short-grained, which of course he didn’t know when he started his last cabinet, because he had never met anyone who had used it!

Japanese blacksmiths

Funahiro and Kiyohisa – um, hard to find, as you probably know!

Books (I will add more to this section, based on books I still have of his!)

Including a few links to reviews on this blog that you may have missed! A reader of the blog recently asked me to help him find the book recommendations, so that is what got this whole thing started!

For inspiration on motifs: Chinese Lattice Designs and Japanese Design Motifs from Dover. He would often consult these when thinking about lattice designs and other decorative details in his pieces. Often, he ended up with something that was inspired by a motif in one of these books even though he rarely copied them exactly.

Book in English on Japanese Gardens: Japanese Garden Design by Marc Keane

He liked Get Your House Right and provided a detailed review in a 2011 post.

Shoji and Kumiko Design Basics – 2-part, detailed review here from 2012

He loved (and at times found very frustrating) the incredible and huge book by Louis Mazerolle, Traité Théorique et Pratique de Charpente. It is very expensive, only available in 19th century French, and has some errors in the drawings that may have been printing errors or may have been intentional, to throw off readers from competing woodworking guilds! All that said, the book is amazing and has huge, fold out carpentry drawings of a variety of complex structures, using French joinery and layout techniques of that time period. If you don’t want to buy your own copy and you happen to be in the Northeast of the US, feel free to contact me about dropping by to see the book and some of Chris’s furniture.

Place to see roofs and roof treatments in North America:

Quebec City, noted in his 2011 post, Road Trip.

I will work on adding a section on historic houses that he liked too!


Right now, I will start by adding a shout out for the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina in the US, which was recently hit hard by Hurricane Helene and is still recovering. Chris was very impressed by it.

Oh, and his favorite temples and shrines in Japan would be a fun addition, though if you go to Japan, you may already have your own list!

Categories: Hand Tools

faffing about smartly........

Accidental Woodworker - Fri, 11/01/2024 - 3:40am

 My CPAP appointment went well. According to the tech I'm at a 100% and my next appointment is in a year. I found that I wasn't ordering my replacement supplies at the correct times. I thought I ordered everything twice a year. That is wrong. The nose thing is monthly, and the hose and head strap is on a 3 month cycle. I used everything for 6 months. Good to know and I'll get on the band wagon. My first time ordering will be in march of 2025 - the clinic ordered me up to that point. 

I have noticed a difference in my sleep cycle and not getting so tired during the day. A nice benefit is I rarely get up more than twice a night now for the toilet trot races. Even though my events (how many times I stop breathing) are averaging less than 2, I will have to be tethered to a CPAP machine until I take the eternal dirt nap.

 going bye bye

The front one I made 3/2016 and the back one 9/2023. Sized just right to hold CDs/DVDs/or books. I offered them to my wife to give away as xmas presents and if she says nay Kam gets them. But with her I'll just leave them with her.

 back from the VA

I got home early because the tech took me 15 minutes early. This is where I started my faffing about. The first part was rummaging in my parts bins for bolts, washers, and nuts. Started with these two - I only planned to use two bolts to hold the planer. These didn't make the cut. This was also the start of a bazillion trips to the shop and back to the driveway. I opted for this in lieu of taking my post lunch stroll. I should have walked, it would have been less of a workout.

After this I made a road trip to ACE to buy some 3 1/2" bolts but they didn't have any in that size. They went from 3" to 4" but this worked in my favor because I changed lanes on how and what to use to bolt the planer down. I did buy two 4" bolts with the idea of hack sawing them to required length.

 beautiful day

I drilled two holes for bolts with one of them about 3/8" inside one of the mitered corner blocks. It felt like summer again with sunny skies with fluffy clouds with the mercury topped out at 78F (26C). Almost didn't want to do this it was so nice.

 more than long enough

Getting the bolt in place where it was inside of the mitered corner block wasn't that bad. I chiseled it just enough to get  bolt head clearance. This one would have been a PITA to engage and use. The other one was clear of its block but only by 1/8". 

 3rd change

I had washers for the big bolt (3/8-16) the pic above this one but no nuts. I emptied both of bolt bins on the workbench and nada. Found two complete sets (5/16-18) with wing nuts - they would make it easier to install and remove.

before I got to change 4

I made these two 3 years ago (eastern white pine) and I just used dark briwax on them. They look and feel pretty darn good after all this time. They have been occupying space in the shop since then and I'm impressed with how the finish has faired. The splotches on the boxes are glue - I didn't go nutso cleaning them up. These were made as an experiment to test out this wax finish. It passed with flying colors.

changed again

While moving the above boxes I saw these T-nuts. I changed lanes and decided to install these. Less heartaches and easier to put in and take out the bolts from the top to hold the planer to the table.

done

I first tried to put the T-nuts on the underside of the top but that didn't work. I bent the prongs on the one that was partially into the block. I mangled that one and I had to shit can it. I put them on the top knowing that may be pulled out as I screwed down the bolts. I thought that maybe the prongs in the T-nuts would resist and hold against the bolts screwing down. I was wrong but they did hold sufficiently to get all the cherry planed to a frog hair more than 27/64.

I forgot this one

Brought the first load of freshly planed cherry to the shop and saw that I had missed this one. I checked it for twist and planed a reference face. Ran it through the planer down 13/16" - I see this as a lid for a box. I'll fill in the bark inclusion with black epoxy.

 pulled them up slightly

This isn't bad looking but nonetheless it is unacceptable. My first thought was to epoxy them in place but I don't have any. I didn't feel like making another road trip to Wally World or ACE so I improvised.

this should work

A part of underneath the head of the two screws capture part of the T-nut. That should keep the T-nut from being pulled upwards when the bolt is screwed into it. If these (sheet metal) screws get up lifted I'll use larger ones. I think they will be up to the task as long as I don't go Cro Magnon on them.

time to fix this

I have two of these 36" quick grips but this one is missing the springs. Without them I can't even use this as paper weight. Time to take the working one apart and measure the two springs and try and find replacements.

 both the same

One of them is compressed a wee bit more. I think that is because it was the top one and it is almost fully compressed constantly. The bottom one is only partially compressed and is fully compressed only when the lever is pulled towards the handle. I'll try McMaster Carr and see what they have for springs. Hopefully this is a common size.

 Yikes

While I was putting the working clamp back together the lever slipped and both springs went airborne. I found one about 10 minutes later and I had given up on finding the other one. I had only caught sight of where one of them may have disappeared to. But I got extremely lucky and found the second one while sweeping the deck. I wrote the measurements on a scrap of wood and promptly misplaced it. I don't know how I can lose things in nanoseconds and spend hours trying to find it without any luck.

roll pin

This keeps the handle from disengaging entirely from the bar. You can switch the handle 180 and use the clamp as a spreader. The non working clamp was used that way and it doesn't have its roll pin anymore.

last fix?

This is the hanging rail for this cupboard. I just glued it and that would probably be ok but I wasn't getting a warm and fuzzy with it. Took it back to the shop for what I hope is the last fix for this cupboard.

 black oxide oval head screws

Two #8-1 1/2" screws will do the trick. 

 hoping she says no

I had this by my desk for the past few days and it has grown on me. At first I didn't like the drawers - the height and the handles - gnawed at me. Now after a few days I'm liking this a lot. I have had time to eyeball it up close and far away. The olive tree tile is a perfect backdrop against the cupboard. Everything IMO compliments each other and nothing seems to fight anything else. 

 stickered

I am going to let this cherry relax until tomorrow. I don't have any idea what the moisture content of it is. It hasn't moved or done any stupid tricks since I brought it home. Nothing moved after I partially flattened it last week. I'm feeling good that this cherry is at least acclimated to the workshop. 

Let the weather change to rain (forecasted for friday) now because I don't care. I stowed the planer table (not a cart anymore) in the garden shed. I don't use the lunchbox planer that much and the boneyard is getting close to full mark again. Doing a clean up in the boneyard has moved to the top of the shop to do list again.

accidental woodworker

Cleaning and Fixing Up My Garage Sale Finds

Woodworking in a Tiny Shop - Thu, 10/31/2024 - 2:45pm

In early August I posted about finding some tools at a garage sale.  These tools were incredibly dirty and grungy.  Finally I've had a chance to clean them up.  The first up was a small pair of Stanley 84-120 needle nose pliers (made in Japan).  All they needed was some Simple Green, a brass brush and a little sanding.  These cleaned up beautifully and are already proving quite useful.

As found

Cleaned up

Next was a C. E. Jennings & Co. #10 auger bit, 11/16" diameter.  I used the rust remover that I posted about a few weeks ago and it came out great.  A wire wheel in a drill cleaned it up nicely.  It's now sharp and the spurs and cutting lips are in good shape.  And a bonus - this was one of the sizes missing from a set of bits I found at another sale recently.

As found

Cleaned up and sharpened

Next was the Stanley #51 spokeshave.  This needed a little more work.  After de-rusting the parts, I flattened the sole.  A wire wheel in a drill helped to make the other parts shiny and presentable.

As found

The sole was far from flat before this

Cleaned up

I've not used a #51 before, but I found the adjustment of the iron to be less of a problem than I thought it might be.  I advance it with a hammer, and if I need to retract the iron, I've got to loosen the lever cap and pull it back manually.  But it seems to hold it's position fine.  I had thought it might shift left or right in use.  I'll judge later how it performs in the long run.

Next up is the Stanley #5, WWII era.  I think this is a type 17 because it has the hard rubber depth adjuster knob and black (or very dark) painted/lacquered hardwood (not rosewood) tote and front knob.  It was disgustingly dirty, but cleaned up pretty easily with Simple Green and a toothbrush and brass wire brush.  The iron and some screws needed some de-rusting as well.

Stanley #5, type 17 from WWII era.
It's got the hard rubber depth adjuster and an inappropriate tote toe screw.

The iron says "VICTORY" and "MADE IN USA

Filthy, disgusting! (said with a French accent, from some childhood cartoon)

Starting to flatten the sole - this needed a lot of work

Good enough

The VICTORY iron de-rusted and cleaned up

I scraped off the old paint/finish from the tote and knob, then added some "Dark Walnut" stain and about 5 coats of shellac, sanding between coats.  Then I removed the sheen with some 0000 steel wool and waxed them.  They look and feel great.

Almost finished

In the picture above, I had borrowed a tote toe screw from another plane.  But since then I made one from a 1/4-20 bolt.  I'll post about that separately.

It took a few tries to set the frog properly for a thin shaving, but once I got it, the shavings felt great.  I think this has potential to be a great user plane.

Finally, there's the Starrett combination square with all three heads.  This was also incredibly dirty and needed a fair bit of work to clean up.

Starrett combo square with all three heads - what a find!!

First up was cleaning with Simple Green

The blade and blade-locking hardware were then soaked in rust remover and then cleaned with a wire wheel.  The protractor head had its scale wire-wheeled and the flat surfaces were rubbed briefly on sharpening stones and lightly sanded.  On all three heads, I used a tip from Alfred, who commented on my earlier post about these garage sale tools.  He said to make sure to clean out the slot for the rule, especially the grooves on each side of the raised ribs on which the rule sits.  I used some cardboard, sliding back and forth until all was clean.

Here's the protractor head looking a lot better

All parts cleaned up

The blade looking much better

Unfortunately, there are three issues with this set.  First, the blade locks firmly into place in the centering head, but it will not lock into the protractor head or combination head.  It seems the small crimp on the clamp screw is slightly off of where it should be.  I've got to look into this some more to figure out what to do about it.  It's possible that the clamp screws were made for a blade of greater width.

Here's one of those clamp screws.  The little crimped nub is
on the left side near the middle.  It keeps the screw from going 
too far down its hole and from rotating in the hole.

Second, the protractor head has a tiny screw that locks the rotation at the angle you want.  This screw has had half of it's head broken off.

That little screw goes in the hole I'm pointing to and the screw head locks the round part

Here's a close-up shot of that screw missing half its head

The thread is something like a #3-56 or something near that size.  It's tough to count the threads on something that small.  I'll take it to my local hardware store and see if they have a thread gauge that small.

And third, the scribe could not be held in place in the 90 / 45 degree head.  I think the grime is the only thing that held it in place all those years.  After I cleaned it up, the scribe was free to fall right out.  But thanks to a Bob Rozaieski video that addressed this exact problem, I was able to fix it.

Back end of the 45/90 head.  See the brass bushing in the scriber hole?

I got it out with a bent paper clip and pliers

Those fingers on the brass bushing should be bent inwards to provide
a tight grip on the scribe

This was a great fix.  So glad to have found that video.

All-in-all, great finds at a garage sale for little money.  I'm very happy about how easily they cleaned up.  And they all should become user tools.


flattening cherry......

Accidental Woodworker - Thu, 10/31/2024 - 3:30am

 I didn't get a lot done today except for finishing the final prep on the cherry boards. It took me five hours to get one face flat, straight, and twist free. I need a reference face before I feed the lunchbox planer. I did get a check mark in the done column with a couple other things. Tomorrow's shop time is going to be restricted too. I have CPAP appointment and I have to go to express care too. I think my first finger on my right hand is infected.

do I need this?

I went over my pile of cherry assigning each one to a part needed for the cherry cupboard and I have more than enough. However, I don't have a warm and fuzzy about the rails and stiles for the door - there is just enough for the door but nothing to pick and choose from. I'll flatten this board just for the stiles/rails and if I don't need it I'll use it for the top and bottom moldings.

one down, 3 to go

I sawed the board into 22" lengths. That is oversized but it has lots of wiggle room because I haven't made the carcass yet.

 too long

This board has a funny twist profile to. While I would rather plane this (through the lunchbox planer) as one long board I am going to saw it into two parts. This board is one half of the carcass - one long side and either a top or bottom. It was a lot easier planing the twist out of two boards rather than one long one.

pretty board

This is going to be left natural. So when I sawed this board in half I had to pick a spot for the crosscut. I got lucky that this one didn't have a start and stop cathedral gain pattern end to end. 

99%

If I wasn't running through the lunchbox I would expend the calories to get the final 1% on this face. This face will be run through the lunchbox too so it isn't necessary to get the final 1% with handplanes.

almost five hours

I wasn't expecting this to take me this long. But I had to start from square one with all the stock I had done a couple of days ago. That was because I had only scrubbed planed one surface. Today I followed that up again using the #6, the #4 and the #7 smoothing the face and getting it flat and twist free.

Maybe it is a good thing I won't have much shop time on thursday. It will give this pile of cherry a chance to do any stupid wood tricks it wants to spring on me. I stickered it on the workbench after I cleared it.

these are done

I am going to give these to my sister Kam along with some other things from the boneyard. It is hard to believe that these are already 2 years old. One of the CD/DVD/book stands I'm giving her is over 8 years old. A second one of these going her way I made last year but I don't remember making it. 

1/8" bead

This is not as bad as I thought it would be. There is a thin web but it looks to be sufficient. It didn't break or split while I ran it and tried joining it to its tongue board.

3/16"

This one is even better. There is more meat as the web is thicker. I had to satisfy my curiosity with the beading. Yesterday I just looked at it and guess-ta-mated how it would look.

 1/8" bead

This looks like it is buried. It would be look better if the bead was done on the tongue board.

 3 1/6" bead

The scale of this bead looks better. The profile doesn't look like it is buried in a groove. I didn't bother checking the 1/4" bead.

 looks off to my eye

The bead needs some kind of a separation between it and the next board. This kind of does that but IMO it isn't the right look.

 Beading plane

I jumped the rabbet with the LN beading plane and messed up this end of the bead. I still haven't used this plane to make beads or reeds or a project. It is a fussy plane to use (at least for me) and my results have always included a hiccup like this.

 like it here

I don't know the size of this bead but I like it. I ran it on the tongue board and it looks good. The bead should be on the tongue board and the space or other edge treatment on the groove board. Before I can do that I have to master the No 66 beading plane.

why I bought this plane

One of the included scratch irons was this one. It has 1/8" on one end and a 1/4" on the other. I got it to make/clean up stopped 1/8" and 1/4" dadoes. I used it once for that purpose and got mixed results. My biggest problem was keeping the fence up against the stock while I used the either scratch iron. The adjustable fence didn't cooperate and slipped and moved on me a bazillion times. Another plane I am having difficulties getting to know its personality and quirks.

 about an inch

Most of the boards are one inch and none is less than that. 3-4 measured out at 1 1/16" and one at 1 1/8". I hope to have good weather thursday afternoon to run this pile through the lunchbox planer.

accidental woodworker

Round Walnut Bowl Layout: Plan for Shrinkage

David Fisher - Carving Explorations - Wed, 10/30/2024 - 10:11am
A wide walnut logs came my way a couple weeks ago, and I’ve been busy roughing out a few things from it. One of them will be a big open round bowl, 18 or 19 inches (46-48cm) in diameter. In … Continue reading
Categories: Hand Tools

lunchbox table/cart is done........

Accidental Woodworker - Wed, 10/30/2024 - 3:40am

 Yesterday and today was supposed to be partly cloudy. Instead of that monday was sunny and today Mr Sun said hello until lunch time. I based my shop time on the weather and my plans for doing some outdoor work didn't get done. Rain is still a 25% chance on friday and I'm hoping to get the cherry planed before than. On the brighter side the planer table is ready for duty.

arris

Cutting off the rounded edges left them razor sharp. I also find that this white wood studs tend to splinter on the edge like crazy. I planed all of them and then went back over with them with a 120 grit sanding block.

who knew?

I have seen others use a ryobi saw to flush cut things but I have never tried it until today. Worked sweet and I am going with it off the saw. 

the worse one

It is maybe a frog hair off both in being square and proud. Acceptable for a shop project.

30 minutes later

Against the back wall are four half sheets of 1/2" plywood. I had to clear a path to it and I didn't need any of them. There was a smaller piece of 1/2" that I used at the front of the pile.

factory edge

Got lucky that this corner is dead square. It didn't have the snot beat out of it so I can use it to layout/saw the other 3 sides. I was going to overlay the 1/2" on the top, screw it down, and then use a router and a flush trim bit. Instead I was able to cut it to fit within a couple of frog hairs 360.

 done

I don't anticipate putting a finish on this, be it poly or paint. I'm also waffling about putting a bottom shelf on it. Because this is meant to be portable, I don't need to go postal removing crappola from the bottom shelf first. I may put one on it if I see any problems with the botched bottom leg joint. I planed a chamfer on the plywood edges and then sanded it round with a 80 grit sanding block. This 1/2" plywood is a splinter monster on the edges.

It is just shy of 36" high here about 27" R/L and 17" deep which is bigger than the footprint of the planer. It is stable too and didn't go into tippy mode when I bumped it in several places. I will be bolting the planer to the top whenever I use it. The planer will dance on it own and I have had one planer play the bounce test with the ground.

fixed?

 I made this cupboard to hang on a wall (one of six). With that said the door bottom extended past the bottom by a 8th. The one I gave to my sister doesn't hang on a wall but sits on a table. Her husband cut the door down.

I also didn't put a back on any of the 6 cupboards I made. Again, they were meant to be hung on a wall thus negating the need for a back. I can't put a back on them now that would look good IMO so I'm cutting the door down in case whoever gets this puts it on a table.

french cleat

My brother in law was clueless as to what this was. I got complete silence after explaining what it was and how to install it. I'll include instructions with this to whoever gets it.

hmm.....

Was not expecting this at all. It is the bottom and probably won't be seen but I plugged them before applying shellac to bottom.

 marking it

I had to cut this twice. The first time the door was rubbing on the table as I opened/closed the door. I sawed off another 16th to eliminate said headache.

 the 2n cupboard

No surprises sawing a wee bit off this door. 

 one down, one to go

I was able to use the leftover from plugging the left one to do the right hole.

hiccup fixed

Got five coats on it and brought it back upstairs. Still nothing from my wife if she wants it for a xmas gift. 

old favorite on the left, new one on the right

Pics tell the story Frank. The difference between the length of the two handles is less than 2". The new hammer does feel different holding and using it. It is not a deal killer and the balance feels better with the new hammer vice the old one.

side by side

The left one is a Craftsman hammer that I got while I was stationed in Norfolk VA. I don't know who made them for Sears but I got while they were still 'Sears' and had a good reputation.

The weight of the Craftsman is 8oz and LAP states their weighs in at 9.5oz. I couldn't sense any difference in the two. Another thing I like about the new hammer is the handle. It is short but it is octagonal. That helps with the grip. The Craftsman handle is skinnier and there isn't a large flare out at the end of any kind. I don't like claw hammers and all of my other ones have the rip head too.

came today

I emptied out my savings for buying wood and bought this - Lie Nielsen No 48 tongue and groove plane. I want to start putting solid wood backs on my furniture projects and this will help me there. I've had my eye on getting one for a long time and rewarded myself with it. Undecided about getting the N. 48 and it was in stock.

 first tongue and groove

A little awkward using it at first. I'm sure with more time together I'll get better. The plane bottoms out and I was under the impression that it would plane forever.

crappy

The groove isn't deep enough and the tongue isn't square. The faces aren't flush and there is a slight cupping between the two. On a scale of 1-10 this is a -5.

 clean cut

I was surprised by how well the plane performed going against the grain. I was set for a heavy cut and the shavings were thick but clean. No tearing out on either side of the tongue. The board is tapered as evidenced by the outside sliver on the right side.

much better

I planed both the tongue and groove until it stopped making shavings. The faces are almost dead flush end to end.  These boards haven't been planed and the two vary a bit in thickness but the reference faces align. The back shows where the two aren't the same thickness though. 

It is going to take some time to get used this plane. All planes have their own personalities you have to get to know them up close and personal. One problem I saw on both was I was high on the far end of the tongue and groove planing. I had/have this same hiccup with my rabbet and molding planes. 

The front knob felt odd for some reason. The plane felt tippy when I gripped it and tried to make shavings. It felt more natural to me to hook my left thumb on the knob base and push the plane. I felt like I better control not only with pushing it but keep it square to the board.

V groove

I would like to have a bead instead of the V groove. I will try out my LN beader and see how that works. None of my beading planes worked on the tongue side - rabbet isn't deep enough. On the groove side the bead would weaken on wall too much.

99.99% done

The driveway doesn't have a flat anywhere along its length. The table is a little wobbly but it is stable. The only problem is the height. This planer weighs over 80lbs (36kilos) and it was a chore lifting it to place it on the top. I was able to do it but it wasn't easy. If it was a few inches shorter it would make it better for me to lift it on to it. Taking it off was not an issue.

 the feed side

I pushed the planer with the in feed table and it felt ok. I don't think it getting tippy will be an issue. I will bolt/screw it down to the table top somehow before using it.

losing 5"

I left the legs 2" long and I sawed them with the ryobi. The height will still be at a comfortable height. I don't think I'll have to bend over that much to feed and take wood out of it. Removing the 5" dropped the height down to 29 1/2".

hmmm.....

Critiquing my sawing of the legs. From the front I sawed on the lines (the two on the left) but the back that I couldn't see was off (two on the right). Because of the unevenness of the driveway I don't think the legs unevenness will be a problem. I expected to have better results because I tracked on the layout lines dead on from the front. 

yikes

Horizontal surfaces are a magnet for crappola in my shop. This had only been here for about 10 minutes and it was already collecting crap.

 checking for twist

Checked for twist and planed a reference face on each of these. After doing that it looks like I took over an 1/8" off on some of them. This is mostly 5/4 (1 1/8" actual) cherry that I want to thickness to 7/8". So far it is looking like that will doable.

I have 3 more boards to go through. Two for the carcass and one for the stiles and rails for the door.

accidental woodworker

Cherry Hall Table 1: Top & Legs

JKM Woodworking - Tue, 10/29/2024 - 8:50am

This project shuffled to the front of the line because I had all the pieces and it seemed simple. It is a small table without drawers or stretchers or a lower shelf. Just four legs, aprons, and a top.

drawings

I previously made some legs about 30″ long from 7/4 stock. Later I bought a nice piece of cherry about 8 1/2″ x 72″ for the top.

stock to work with

Crosscutting the piece in half would allow a top about 17 x 36″. Seventeen inches was too wide for my needs, so I decided to rip 2 1/2″ from each long side. The top would end up around 12″ wide/deep and the offcuts would make three of the four aprons.

crosscut in half
two halves look nice but are too wide
12″ top and 2 1/2″ pieces for aprons

After the two top pieces were cut to size I flipped and rearranged the two boards to try to find a pleasing orientation. Then I jointed the long edges and glued them.

small step at glue line

This picture is trying to show the glue joint is not flush. On a good day with well behaved wood that is a problem for me to flatten. For figured wood like this I imagine it will be a real pain. My plan is to scrape it, even if it takes a long time.

I wanted the front edge of the tabletop to have a slight curve. I made a bow out of a thin strip of pine and some twine and used it to trace a curve. I cut the curve on the bandsaw and cleaned the edges with a handplane.

bow to trace curve onto wood
cut close on bandsaw
clean up with hand plane

The four legs I had ripped by hand. They are tapered on one face. I picked which of the remaining faces to taper, making two square sides and two tapered. These were cut on the bandsaw and cleaned with handplanes.

targets to plane toward
workholding for planing legs
planed vs bandsawn surface

The way I initially cut these legs, they tapered all the way up. I had to square up the top 3″ so they would be square where they meet the aprons.

top end marked for squaring up

With the legs shaped, I placed them on the underside of the tabletop to determine how long the aprons would be. I used a square to set the legs 1 1/2″ in from the sides and 1″ from the front and back. With the legs in position I could mark the leg-to-leg lengths of the aprons exactly.

planning leg locations

Next I will make the aprons and the apron-leg assembly.

Categories: General Woodworking

Updates

The Barn on White Run - Tue, 10/29/2024 - 5:43am

In no particular order here are a few updates that may be of interest to you.

  1.   During one of their interminable Updates to “improve” their platform WordPress changed the protocols for both the Contact and Comment functions.  Webmeister Tim tracked down those changes (they were not self-evident), and I know at least now the Contact function works.  I am less certain about the Comments utility.
  2. I’ve been told that the first shipment of the back ordered Woodfinishing DVD is being shipped this week.  Cross your fingers.  Oh, the travails of using fulfillment service providers in Florida, a/k/a Hurricane Alley.  Whenever the DVDs arrive I will immediately package and ship them to those three dozen of you who have waited so patiently and graciously for your order.
  3. I’m keeping an eye on a batch of Mel’s Wax I made and packaged several months ago and will open the jars next month.  If they are okay it will probably be back in the Don’s Barn Store around Christmas.  The formulation is purposefully designed for archival properties rather than shelf life, so it’s always a knife’s-edge proposition.  I could add stabilizers and preservatives and such, but then it would not be Mel’s Wax.
  4. Finally, Webmeister Tim and I are in the planning and implementation stages for a YooToob channel featuring less formal “at the bench” type short videos (3-5 minutes) about projects and techniques.  Right now, we need to settle on a cheap (free?) meat-and-potatoes editing application that is simple and easy enough for me to use but can still integrate two video feeds with the sound feed.  At one time I had a long menu of formal videos I wanted to make, but since I cannot even finish editing the Gragg Chair video I am exploring this new path.
  5. Stay tuned.  For at least another week the weather is expected to be beautiful in Shangri-la so the outside/homestead work will take precedence over the in-shop time.  Today I hope to finish up removing the detritus from the shack up on the hill, a project that was so rudely interrupted several years ago when the wheelbarrow broke my hip.
Categories: Hand Tools

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