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Whereas the tresoor was ready, there was still one thing to be added to it: our signature. We did not want it to be easily seen, but it should be visible without moving the tresoor. So the backside was not an option, and of course all the front parts as well. We decided on the frame, underneath the lower plateau of the tresoor. on your knees, using a lamp from your mobile phone you would be able to spot 'St. Thomasgilde MMXXII' written (or burned) with a pyrographic pen. 

denim shirts

These look similar to the shirts that I see Paul Sellers wearing. Been looking at him wearing them for years and wanting one for myself. Well last month I started searching on the WWW for chore shirts (want I think these are called). All I could find were women's shirts. Searches for the same term for men's gave up nothing.

Long story shortened, I find them after searching for denim shirts. At first just women's shirts came up but LL Bean sells denim shirts for both women and men. They are a little pricey, paid $49 each for these two on sale. There is a LL Bean outlet store 10 minutes from me but they don't sell them there. However, I was able to order them there to be shipped to my house. 

They also sell a long sleeve shirt but I intend to wear the short sleeve ones for 3 seasons. For the 4th one (winter) I'll stick with my long sleeve flannel shirts. I prefer the lighter colored denim - I bought one of each to pick one I liked the best.

long enough

These two small boards are long enough to get the smallest drawer front/backs out of. The other four will give up the other two drawers. The dresser will have 3 drawers, graduated in height from 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 inches. I will have about 4" of waste on the four long boards. 

sides and top

I like the thickness of the sides. I'm thinking of gluing on thin slats to the sides to mimic a frame and panel. 

hump

Started thicknessing the stock first by checking for a hump. Three of boards didn't have any but this one did. Before planing the boards to thickness I checked them for twist again.

done

Stock for the 3 drawers and the bottom two are the bearers.

dresser top crest rail

I planed this to 3/4" thick. To my eye I think is too thick and should be 5/8" thick or less. I'll hold off on that until I am done with the top and I can see how it plays against the top then.

last one

Played chamfers all around and used the #6 to get me close to them. Planing all of this stock was a good workout. It also didn't take as much time as I thought it would. 

beautiful pine

The last two of the drawer stock is done. I didn't go nutso trying to get the boards within +/- one atom of thickness. None of these boards will be married to or off each other so that wasn't necessary. I will layout and mark the drawers using each individual piece. This pine was the easiest stock I've planed to thickness. It didn't mind against the grain planing and it didn't spelch badly neither. I got almost zero tear out planing this pine which surprised me to no end.

bearer stock

One board was flat and behaved. The other one was a PITA. It was one of the boards I bought a couple of days ago. It took me a few dance steps to plane out some twist before I could plane it to thickness. I planed these to 5/8" thick and everything else a 1/2" thick.

hmm......

I planed the two boards flat and smooth before I glued them together. I should have flushed the planed faces when I did that. Instead I flushed the other face. Of course the wider board was the one that was proud.

The sides don't have to be the exact same thickness. Only the inside faces matter because they will receive the bearers and determine the inside R/L dimension. They need to be straight, twist free, and flat.

sides are done

Got the insides faces dead on. I planed the outside faces twist free and flat. 

stickered

The only board missing for the dresser is the top. I only need drawer slips and plywood bottoms to be 100%. I think I'll use shaker knobs for the 3 drawers.

This is getting stickered again because 3 of the boards I don't think have gotten sufficient time in the shop to acclimate. Those 3 boards are extras and for the drawer slips. Fingers crossed that they don't do any stupid wood tricks overnight.

accidental woodworker

Avoid nasty cuts when reaching into your tool chest! I attached a plexiglass cover over my chisels to keep the blades safely enclosed. A simple and effective way to protect your hands without removing the chisels from the chest. My thanks goes out to Tim Mitchell for the suggestion.

In this video, I’m turning a small dowel to fit perfectly inside a hole, ensuring a gapless fit. Precision is key, and I’ll show how to achieve a seamless joint with careful hand tool work.

 Haven't gone on a post lunch stroll yet. The snow is still piled up on the sidewalks every where. That means I will have to walk in the road which I don't like doing. The roads are not their full width due to snow piles and I don't trust the drivers to pass me. Especially so when there are two cars coming from opposite directions. I don't think the snow will be melting much due to the cold temps forecasted neither.

$28.09

This is the haul from Koszela lumber. The two boards on the left are 1" thick, 8 inches wide, and each one is 5 feet long. I was flabbergasted with the price - these two alone I figured would be $10-15 each. I think I have enough stock for the dresser now.

slow going

I am not planing these to thickness yet. Instead I am establishing a reference edge and face. I will let these sticker and I'll thickness all of it maybe tomorrow.

sides

I will have to glue the sides up to get the width I want - 11-12 inches. I will leave the sides as thick as I can. I am still thinking about the thickness of the top which I will have to glue up also.

I stopped planing the stock for the drawers and bearers to get the sides glued up and cooking. I might have to allow it to sicker an extra day or two because this stock was stored outdoors at Koszela's.

best I can do

I would rather have the sides and top as one board but this was the widest pine that Koszela had. The glue ups are coming from the same board so the color and grain should be better than using a foreign board glue up.

2nd side

I planed one face flat to help with the glue up. After gluing these up I brought them upstairs to cook. The shop temp has dropped a couple of degrees down to 57F (14C).

top

I like this thickness for the sides but IMO it is a little over the top for a miniature dresser. I'll thin this down to 7/8" first and eyeball that. If I don't like that look I'll plane another 1/8" off.

drawers and bearers

It takes a surprisingly large amount of stock to make drawers. I know I have a sufficient amount for the bearers but I am not so sure about the drawers. On the widest boards I can only get two drawer parts from each of them. After eyeballing what I had I think I'm short two boards for the drawers.

last board

I have more than enough with this one board to give up what I'll need.

more drawer stock

This stock will only work for the two smaller drawers. The widest board of the four is only 4 1/2" wide. The widest drawer I'm making is 4 1/2" to 5". I'll have to make sure that I get the widest drawer parts first from the stock on the shitcan.

I'm going to try and return the shop after dinner and expend some brain power and figure out what I need. I have a lot of 1/4" plywood for the bottoms so once I get the drawer stock sorted out I can start building.

accidental woodworker

It’s now been a year since we moved to New Jersey. In my last update, I said that there would be a lot of work needed to get up and working again, and that’s no lie. It’s taken a year, but my new shop is almost operational:

This is more or less the backside view of my post a year ago. I can do hand work reasonably now, or at least, I can when I move the detritus off a benchtop. I had an unpleasant surprise when I found that the soles of several of my planes had developed some rust spots, but I eliminated those and they’re back in action. I don’t have a good sharpening station yet. Several boxes haven’t been unpacked, but they seem to get unpacked as I need things inside.

The item that took the longest amount of time to sort out was the floor, and there, I spent several months trying to figure out what I wanted to do, and who was to do it (sigh). In the end, I tore the carpet out and put the new one in myself with some help from my niece. This is LVP (“luxury vinyl plank”). I don’t know how it’ll work out in the long run, but so far, it seems fine. It’s got a little bit of “give” and won’t shatter cast iron if you drop it, and the color reflects light so that I should be able to see fairly well.

I can’t use the machines yet because of the usual nightmare of dust collection. That, however, is (probably) almost done.

This would all go a lot faster if I didn’t have, like, a day job, and other annoying stuff like that.

And now for something completely different…

One thing that keeps me out of the shop for a month out of most years is the annual trip to Asia. Understand that any sort of woodwoorking-related thing that happens during this trip tends to occur as a “drive-by”–that is, some sort of incidental opportunity along the way (I don’t tend to ask to visit anything in particular for fear of boring the rest of the family to tears).

In any case, we usually visit Japan, and this time, we were able to take a short trip to Niigata (Prefecture). I’ve always wanted to go there, and wouldn’t you know, we took the Shinkansen to Tsumbame-Sanjo. This is a major center for toolmaking and other metalworking, and in the station itself, there is a store showcasing the stuff that they make there. It’s everything from hand tools to sickles to pots and pans to tableware. This was almost perfect, because my family could drool over the cookware while I drooled over the tools.

Then, the staff there mentioned, “Hey, there’s a bigger store just down the street like this if you like this stuff.” That would be the “Regional Industries Promotion Center”, and of course we walked down there.

Here’s some of the stuff that I looked at:

The obligatory planes. These are, of course, the “mass-produced” variety, but they’re still all very nice. Somehow, I avoided buying a rabbet plane (my fetish, or something) but I don’t know how.

Obligatory chisels, similar to the planes. Still didn’t see the one specialty thing that I’ve been looking for.

Some of the nicest pliers you’ll ever see. I picked up a pair of needle-nose pliers. Seriously, I’ve long said that Japan makes some of the best of these sorts of “mundane” tools, like pliers, clamps, and screwdrivers. Tsubame-Sanjo is usually the source. And here’s the thing–it’s really not that expensive. Sure, more than what you’d pay for the run-of-the-mill junk that you see in home centers here, but nothing you’d need a second mortgage for.

Shears and nippers for sewing. I bought some shears. They feel perfect in the hand, cut as well as you’d expect.

We got a whole bunch of other stuff that I don’t need to show, like new tableware (some of the nicest I’ve seen, on par with the Berndorf stuff I got from Austria years ago), ice cream shovels/spoons, and so on. It’s true that you can get most of this stuff via mail-order (though it can be difficult from outside of Japan), but there, you can see a huge variety in person and get it tax-free as a foreign tourist.

In addition, here’s some drive-by woodworking content:

This shoji at the Northern Culture Museum (essentially, a rich farmer’s estate), never mind the crazy-nice garden view from here.

This timberwork–I believe it was in the granary, but don’t quote me on that.

Some shoji or other at the hotel we stayed one night. I don’t know why I singled out this one in particular, I guess liked the use of empty spaces and small wood panels or something.

 Didn't get around to the new project until late in the PM session. I ran errands in the AM and I had to make a bank run right after lunch. Of course everyone that resides on this third rock from the sun had banking business then too. How well, I don't bank that often and it gave me time to think about the upcoming project.

couldn't shake it

I had a dream about a cleat on the bottom of the vice board splitting itself and also the board. It would be so much easier (and less of a PITA) for the vice jaws to clamp on the cleat over trying to position it between the jaws. This was the longest scrap I could find in the shop - I think it is too small in width and length.

douglas fir scrap

I cut this out of a scrap 2x4 and planed the four faces square to each other. 

almost there

The end to end is a 16th shy of snug as are the long sides. I didn't see the need to go nutso and get a piston fit, which I originally tried for. I penciled the outline of the cleat instead of knifing it and I chiseled it out on that line.

knot

Chiseling and trying to get the router to bite on this knot was like trying to carve a rock with a plastic knife. I concentrated on getting the area to the left of it flat and to depth.

done

I used threaded inserts to attach the cleat. This way I can remove it to use it on the workbench top.

onboard storage

Two more threaded inserts and I shouldn't lose it. I hadn't planned for it to be here. I was going to put it on the outside long grain face. It is below the rods and the moving back vice jaw. It also doesn't interfere with moving the back jaw forwards or backwards.

oldie but goodie

This one of six chisels that I bought as a set over 30 years ago. I used them for over twenty years before I knew that they were metric. They got demoted when I got a set of Ashley Isles bench chisels. I used it today to chop the cleat mortise.

Yikes

I almost cut all the way through the back fence. I wasn't paying attention and I almost sawed it in two. Time for a pit stop to fix this because although it is still one piece, it is a bit floppy feeling.

first choice

This was left over after I sawed the cleat out of it. I left the ends as is because if I cut them off I don't think it would have been thick/strong enough to span the saw cut.

better option

I saw this scrap of poplar in the wood pile and I liked it much more than the first choice. That one I was going to glue on whereas this one I screwed on - no glue. That way if I do brain fart and saw it in two, I can screw on another one.

new project

Decided to make a new miniature dresser to stow all the Miller Dowels. I don't have a hole for it but I'll deal with that after it is done. I am using the pine I got from Koszela lumber. I am going to dimension all the stock by hand. It has been a long time since I have done a project entirely by hand.

major parts

Sides, top, and bearer rails. The one board in the foreground will give up two drawer fronts. Not sure on the thicknesses of the various parts other than the drawers and the bearers - those will be about a 1/2" thick. 

hmm....

Maybe I should have thought this through a wee bit more. This is one of the sides and it is cupped. The darkish spot is the hollow and this is after planing it straight across at 90 for 5 minutes. This was exactly 3/4" thick when I started and I don't think it is going to be 3/4" thick when I'm done planing both faces.

15 minutes

It is easy going but it took a few calories to get here. It was 1510 and I killed the lights here. I'll pick this back up in the AM.

I measured the outside edges and I'm already below 3/4". I'll have to make a run to Koszela lumber to get some more pine. This stock here can be used for the drawers and there shouldn't be any waste. I can adjust the size of the dresser up/down to minimize waste.

accidental woodworker

I’ve got birds on my brain. They’ve been fluttering about in the cold bare branches just outside my shop window while I carve bowls inspired by them, inside. I’ve carved a lot of bird bowls over the years. Rather than … Continue reading →

Dr. Elderbarndottir has been a pipe organist since before she could drive, and some of the treasured times of my life were driving her back and forth to the church where she was employed to play.  We had precious time together alone talking in the car coming and going, and I got to sit and listen to her practice pieces for worship.   They had a small pipe organ and she loved playing it, and would frequently exclaim, “It comes alive!” when she turned on the blower.  For a time I thought she might actually go into the business of building and repairing pipe organs.  IIRC the pipe organ company offered her such a job even while she was in high school, troubleshooting is just in her veins.

Instead she went off to college, graduating with a Physics BS (summa cum laud; both daughters were HS valedictorians who went on to be summa cum laud in college, proving that Mrs. Barn fit the description when I was in the market for the smartest BabyMomma), although she did continue pipe organ studies her whole time there.  Then off to more college for her PhD.  She never lost her love for the organ even though she does not get to play much anymore.  I too have maintained a longstanding love for the instrument, and this performance and organ are both sublime.

Now that I think about it, pipe organs are about the most complex wood-and-metal things out there.  One of the most famous organ builders in the world is just over the mountain from here.

And this is just weirdly wonderful.  I think I first learned of this music form from reading Richard Feynman’s autobiographies.

took over an hour

The storm blew its way through the northeast and left a 4" blanket of snow behind. It was a little wet and heavy to shovel - called heart attack snow here about. I shoveled the driveway and the front/sidewalk in one go. I had planned on doing 3/4 of the driveway, resting and having a coffee, and then finishing it up. Instead I just kept at it until it was all done. 

Paid the price for shoveling because after lunch my back starting singing arias. I tried to work in the shop but standing felt uncomfortable. Sitting was tolerable as long as I leaned forward. Fingers crossed I didn't swap my foot aches/pains for the back.

done

I like how well the bearers work holding the panel in place. I think on the next I'll swap them around. As is the short ones butt into the long ones. I'll swap them so the long ones butt into the short ones. That way the short ones will equal the shoulder to shoulder length of the stiles.

So far the dominos seemed to be doing their job. There are no gaps were the rails and stiles butt into each other. Only time will tell how they fare over the long haul but for now they look good.

twisted

If I am going to clamp this to the workbench, it can't be twisted. It would also be helpful to remove it before I run it through the lunchbox planer.

I used the 5 1/2 to do that and it worked. Yesterday I planed this face with the #4 and it didn't work. Got tons of tear out using it. The only headache I had with the 5 1/2 were planing the 3 knots on this face. I didn't go nutso on it and I got it flat, straight, and twist free. I am forgoing thinning the thickness now.

hmm.....

Did some serious butt scratching along with my best goofy looks and I still am clueless about these holes for screws. This is the sliding part of the vice and I don't see why you would screw this down and immobilize it?

road test

This is the main way I envision using this vice. It is up higher than the workbench face vice (don't have to bend over as far) and the stock is level. 

impressed

I was mildly surprised by how well this vice gripped and secured this board. There was absolutely no movement in the vice, board, or the stock. Even with it sticking out as far as it is it didn't move and the sawing was smooth and vibration free.

worked

Planed the long grain edge without any problems. I doubt that this would be feasible to use on any stock longer than 12". 

I put this same board in the vice vertically to plane the end grain with the same plane. (forgot to snap pics of it) I knew this wouldn't work but I had to satisfy my curiosity. However, it did work with a piece that only stuck up above the jaws about a 1/2". I was impressed again with how tightly the vice clamped on it. The plane dug in and skipped across the end grain but it or anything else didn't move at all.

open capacity

It is a couple of frog hairs more than 6" but I don't see myself using it to clamp anything that wide in it. I thought about attaching a thin board on the other face that I could then have the face vice clamp on but nixed it. I wouldn't be able to use on the workbench top. The way it is now I can put it in the vice or on the workbench. 

Said No Mas here and killed the lights. Headed back upstairs to get ready for the super bowl. I predict the Eagles are too hungry and will win the super bowl LIX.

accidental woodworker

I picked up an odd variety of Workmate-like portable table a few years back at a Habitat for Humanity Restore,  I hadn’t seen one like it before and can’t find another like it now. It has two clamp threads that go forward and back like most Black and Decker Workmates, but it also has side-to-side […]

 For the past couple of days I haven't felt any pain or discomfort from my left foot. I did a lot of walking today and again, nada. I'm going to try to resume my strolling post lunch on monday. However, Mother Nature might throw a monkey wrench into my plans. There is a storm coming eastward which will dump more snow than the total dropped last winter. I will deal with it as it comes or doesn't.

sacrificial fence

This is an off cut from the maple kitchen stool. Squared one edge and ripped it to size on the tablesaw.

new toy

I got this vice from Lee Valley in a moment of weakness. I needed to boost my order for free shipping and this did it for me.

thought it was plastic

The vice gets screwed down to a board and then it gets clamped to the workbench. I thought they parts where the screws would go was plastic. It is harder then plastic but I doesn't feel like 'real' metal - I think it is powdered metal that is extruded.

hmm......

Me thinks I underestimated the required size of the mini dowel compartments. These are oak and I still had more left in the bag.

3 more underestimations

The Cherry 1x and 2x dowels are 40 each. The birch dowels in the long thin compartment are over 40 by 25. It would appear that this is a wee bit too small. I'll be making another one. If I do, it will be a miniature dresser. I have made 3 full size ones and 4 miniature ones so far. 

ready to check it

I screwed the sacrificial fence to the sled - no glue. I am sure that I will have to replace sometime in the future.

first cut

The cross cut fuzzy wuzzies are a lot better looking that what I get with a handsaw or the tablesaw. However it wasn't square. It was about 2° off 90.

2nd cut

Cocked one end of the test piece but it still was out of square. It was closer to square but still not 90°.

shouldn't have done it....

I put 6 screws in the sacrificial fence. Instead of doing that I should have used only two screws. One screw at one end and at the other end, a screw in an elongated slot. That way I could have made adjustments to the fence so it could saw off at 90°. I did that this time around.

test #5

Not closing the angle enough and I was at the limit of the adjustment of the fence. I would double this number before I tried something else.

confusing

I started to mark the direction I needed the fence to be moved to get the cut to be 90°. I screwed myself a couple of times because I had to flip the test piece and I moved the fence in the wrong direction. Marking it helped but I was still not closing up the angle. 

I don't want this to be an off the saw dead nuts 90° to be immediately used in a project. I just want it to be as close to 90° as I can get it and maintain my sanity and keep my blood pressure from exploding.

closer

I got the angle to less than one degree but it then seesawed in the opposite direction.

yikes

The reference edge and the reference face is twisted. I had previously checked the edge and face were 90° to each other with a square. Where I checked it (4 spots) indicated dead on 90°.

dead nuts 90°

I tossed the maple fence and replaced it with a pine one about a 1/2" square. I butted it against the back stiffener and nailed it to the sled. First check was dead nuts on 90°.

back to the vice

Got confused with the screw holes because I missed some. There are two holes in the front fixed vice face that I missed. Those two and two more on the back fixed stop are what I'll use to screw it to a board.

potential use

This is one way/use I have in mind for this vice. There have been numerable times I wanted to place stock at 90° somehow in the workbench vice.

passed

This is one way I will use this bandsaw sled - to do quick cross cuts. This is a douglas fir 2x4 that I am using as the 'board' for the vice.

too wide for one 2x4

The vice fits ok on one 2x4 but the screw holes on the back end stop are too close to the edges. Both 2x4s had been thinned down from 3 1/2 to 3 inches.

glued and cooking

This is too thick and I'll thin the thickness down. I won't be doing that by hand because douglas fir is a nightmare to hand plane. I'll run it through the lunchbox planer when I plane the cherry.

90° stop hinges

I don't know what I'll use this box for. I don't need it but it is almost done so I'll finish it and put it in the boneyard.

they work

I was going to use butt hinges but the screws would have poked out on the lid. With the stop hinges I don't need a lid stay.

all six

The tops of all six of the splines on this side of the box disappeared. There is a reward out for recovering them.

first of three

Not a fan of orange colored shellac but I want to use up what I have left.

it wasn't wonky

I planed this face and it went pretty good. I didn't have any tear out or squirrely grain to deal with. 

little bit of twist

I wasn't going to check this but after the bandsaw fence bite on the arse I did. The twist was just a little and I planed it off easily. Again with no tear out anywhere which surprised me a lot.

y

wonky side

This reacted exactly like I expected it to. I tore out a chunk of wood on my first pass on the glue line about the middle of the board. No matter which direction I tried to plane, I got tear out. Along with knots, squirrely, reversing grain makes planing douglas fir (IMO) a royal PITA.

last check

I had a hump (expected) to plane away. I don't need to sticker this because it has been in the boneyard for more than 8-9 years. It should be done moving by now but I'll keep an eye on before I run it through the lunchbox planer.

2nd use

Cleaned and squared up both ends bandsawing off an 1/8". Killed the lights and headed upstairs.

accidental woodworker

Moving along with fabrication of the low cherry tansu. After cutting the hidden mitered dovetails on the corners of the main cabinet, I started working on the interior partitions, shelves, and drawer dividers along with their respective mortise and tenon joinery. Overall the joinery for the interior components is very similar to the two upper… Read More »Low Cherry Tansu – 2

The post Low Cherry Tansu – 2 appeared first on Big Sand Woodworking.

 What a crazy weather day. Yesterday the forecast said cold and cloudy - no sunshine. Well boys and girls the sun came out mid morning and shone bright and warm for the rest of the day. Tomorrow's forecast is calling for partly cloudy/sunny skies with temps at/around freezing with snow in the PM. Mother Nature ain't done with winter yet.

ready to go

I had it on the radiator but when I checked it the metal corners were so hot I couldn't touch them. I took it off the radiator and sat it in front of it. 

McMaster-Carr order came

This piece of brass was $32. I hope it works because I'm running out of ideas and $$$.

two bags of the same

I'm an idiot - I ordered two bags of 5/16" spacers. Each bag has 25 so you do the math on that. I thought I had ordered one 1/4" and one 5/16". However, this works in my favor because I like using the 5-16 spacers and 5/16 machine screws over the smaller 1/4-20 size. 

5/16" x 2" FH

This is what I will use for the pivot on the rear legs. I wanted black oxide but I can't find any in this length so I will paint the head (and what screw is exposed) with black enamel paint.

aha...

Kreg domino on top and the chinese Amazon one on the bottom. There is almost an 1/8" difference between the two.

duh...

When I drilled these yesterday I did it with the drill in low speed. Lots of torque but the bit is made for speed. Switched to the high speed drilling mode and it was a huge improvement. It was zippity do da and knocked out the last few mortises in no time. Also didn't have any headaches clamping the stock - the drilling didn't move/shift them as I did the mortising.

dry fit

Dead nuts square on the inside and outside. There is slight overhang on the sides and front.

it worked

Another tidbit with the Amazon dominos besides them being longer, is they are slightly thinner than the Kreg ones. It didn't seem to matter on the dry fit but I'm not sure how much it would swell with glue applied to it?

panel insert

I got a snug, gap free fit 360. I hadn't thought this all the way through. The original intent was to try out the dominos and see how well they worked. Now I have to come up with a way to secure the panel on the inside of the lid.

being a pack rack pays off

I had a boatload of 1/4" square small length scraps of pine. The panel is a frog hair less than an 1/8" and the lid thickness is 5/8". 5/8 - 1/8 = 1/2 divided by 2 is a 1/4". Sometimes you get lucky more than once a week.

sigh

I consider this an acceptable gap (almost). I should have laid this out with the actual divider but instead I measured/laid it out with a rule. When I glue on the bottom I intend to glue the dividers to it. Neither of these dividers will move after that.

a win for the home team

The top and bottom were both twist free.

too loose

I made these splines months ago and then they were tight. I had to flatten them with a hammer but today they are barely staying put. Made some new ones on the bandsaw.

glued and cooking

Got this done just before lunch. Since it is friday that means fish 'n chips which I indulged in at Johnny's Chalet. He also had beef stew on special but I only saw that as I was paying my tab. I would like to try that because I like beef stew almost as much as I do fish 'n chips.

cooking

Got all the bearers for the top glued in place and cooking. After lunch I didn't have any problems finishing the lid.

sawed and sanded

One gap out of 12. I saw it while installing the splines. I whacked it with my mallet and it giggled at me. I couldn't get it close and I couldn't hit it and remove it neither. I'll fill it in with putty. I will slap 3-4 coats of the gossamer shellac before that goes south on me.

bottom cooking

If I get ambitious I will return the shop after dinner and remove the clamps.

bandsaw cut off sled

I had made one of these last year, used it for a while, and I don't remember what happened to it. I found it to a be handy helper so I am making a new, improved version. This one has a longer miter slot runner and a wider and longer sled platform.

repurposing the old lid

I tried to fit this back on the box but the tongue on the right side was gone. I couldn't slide it in to check the fit of lid stop. I might be able to make another sliding lid out of this. 

lid is ready for finish

Flushed the corners with the #3 and then sanded it smooth on both sides. While doing this I was thinking about how I would hinge it. I have butt hinges or 90° stop hinges. I'll flip a coin for that tomorrow.

glued and screwed

I glued it first (forgot to snap a pic of that) and after 30 minutes I put 4 screws into the miter slot runner from the sled. 

What the pic would have shown was the left side of the sled up against the fence with a bazillion cans of paint, finish, and solvents applying pressure on the glue joint.

stiffener

This sled only has one runner so it can easily get wonky if you don't handle it properly. The worse that can happen is it will break into two. For this sled I don't intend to saw all the way through it. This piece of maple is too stiffen the back edge and keep the sled in one piece. The plan is to put another fence in front of the stiffener that will be cut in two by the bandsaw. If needed I will make a second cut off sled with the left side flush with the bandsaw blade. This sled will be on both sides of the bandsaw blade providing support. It may or may not work but I'll find out as I use it.

accidental woodworker

After a very long while of not working on it I have resurrected the (very showy) decorative parquetry aspect of my mondo tool cabinet.  I cannot recall exactly where I left it blog-wise and thus presume you don’t recall either.  So, let me go back to the start and endeavor to keep the thread going better than before.  Although with blizzards, greenhouses, and soon-to-be-three grandsons you never know.  My goal is to post every week or so, walking you through my process step-by-step.

The short and sweet re-introduction is that I’m going to use a fancy parquetry composition, one inspired by the works of the Roentgens.  Certainly not as fancy as theirs, and definitely not as well executed (they were perhaps the finest furniture-surface-decorators of their time, or maybe of all time [their pictorial marquetry is without parallel in my opinion]).

All of my base veneers were sawn from leftover chunks of white oak from the French Oak Roubo Project, so though the material is not literally contemporary with the Roentgens it does not miss it by much.

Depending on the piece and my mood (or weariness) I used both hand and machine sawing for the task.

The parquetry pattern is a cluster of four 30-60-90 triangles assembled into both swirl and sunburst patterns into diamond shapes, to be used alternately in the final composition.  An early sketch and proof of concept confirmed my vision for the cabinet.

Once the veneers were cut into their ~1/8″ sheets I began sawing out the hundreds and hundreds of smaller triangles.  These did not have to be particularly precise, and it was more efficient to deal with them ex poste and in the assembly process.  So my little Delta bandsaw was the perfect tool to saw a stack of the veneers into the requisite triangles.  Hundreds and hundreds of triangles.

At first I thought I would plane the edges of the triangles and created several jigs for that purpose.  It turned out to be way more trouble than that was worth, trying to hold on to little pieces of really dense white oak, planing the skew edges.  Did I mention that there were hundreds and hundreds of them to do?

I wound up taking a whole different approach, which will be the topic of the next post in this series.

I’m finally at the point of applying finish to my stick chair. I’ve chased tearout and dings around and around. I’m partially convinced that the tearout in this chair has developed the ability to breed. Hit it with light from a new angle, and you find a new spot. The chair is really too big a project for my shop. It can’t even sit on my bench if I turn it sideways. I’m adding dings almost as quickly as removing them. I’m at the point of “good enough” rather than perfect. That leaves applying finish.

 Snowed again today and dumped about an inch or so. That was in the morning and after lunch it turned to rain. The temp was 4 degrees above freezing but overnight (depending on who you check) it will be 5 degrees above freezing. So all the slush that is all over won't be ice. However, the temps are forecasted to drop into the low 20's F for several days. Could be lots of fun driving this weekend.

behaved

The Miller Dowel box stock was still flat and twist free. It is ready to dimension.

ready for a finish

The box lid is a frog hair off snug and the lid is staying put upside down.

going to 5/8"

Just my opinion, but I think a box of this size at 3/4" thick will look clunky and oversized for its intended purpose.

last one

I wish all the stock I have to dimension would be as easy as this pine. I got the 3 boards planed down to a shade under 5/8".

done

The three of these took about 30 minutes to knock out. The goal was to get the box glued and cooking before 1500 rolled around.

the way it should be?

Still don't know how this sat with the original lid. Makes sense to me that I would have done this so it would be in this position (of course with the lid on).

laid out

I used the 1/8" thick pine scrap to scribe the angle on the sides of this. Another line across the top connecting them and I sawed it off.

kind of got it

Got the angles to mate (and gap free too). I would have to redo the top of this bigger to have it seated on the block on the side of the box. It looks better than it did yesterday and I am going to leave it as is for now.

where it lives

The one coat of Clancy's I got on the lid looks good as is. It doesn't look like a shellac finish but it doesn't have the raw look of wood neither. Still undecided about putting shellac on it.

Miller Dowel box

The thin width boards are for the lid. Hadn't picked the joinery for the carcass yet. The only two choices are dovetails or miters.

miters won the coin toss

Penciled the miters on the ends and I rough sawed them. That will make shooting them on the miter jig easier and quicker.

labeled

Glad I had marked the bottom and the inside. It is far to easy for me to wander out into La La Land and saw a miter going in the wrong direction.

miters shot

I shot these until the toes agreed and were flush. I picked miters because I have to chop some dadoes in the sides for the dowel compartments. Saner to do that with a mitered box vice a dovetailed one.

checking myself

Ensuring that my dadoes are spaced correctly for 3 compartments. The mini dowels are about 1 5/8" in length and the compartments are about 2 1/8". That should be sufficient for the dowels and for my fingers to grab them.

first two knifed

I am using 1/4" solid wood for the dividers. I have a 1/4" chisel and a 1/4" router iron. I knifed the walls of the dadoes off the stock. Fingers crossed that the chisel/router will fit.

ready to chop them

I made a me-steak with the layout. The the top of the stopped dadoes is facing the bottom. Not really a big deal but I reference everything for any box I make off the bottom. For this box I switched the top and bottom.

checking before chopping

I put the box together and checked that the dadoes were where they were supposed to be. 

came a day early

There isn't any other tools needed to finish the kitchen stool/ladders on order.

hmmm.....

I have two other FMAG forstner bits and they have solid outside rims. This is a borax bit that has some lines on the outside rim to assist with cutting the outside wall. This bit can be used at a higher speed and it will still leave a beautiful hole behind.

awesome

FMAG forstner bits leave an incredibly smooth walled and dead flat bottom. This is doug fir which doesn't like being drilled. This hole is new born baby butt smooth anywhere you touch it. IMO it worth the few extra $$$ to own one.

loose fit

I knew this was going to happen. The hole is dead nuts on 1 1/8" but the dowel is slightly undersized. I have had this maple dowel for several years. It has shrunk a tad but it is still round. It hasn't gone oval after sitting all these years. I will have to use screws to secure this - glue only (even epoxy) won't be up to the task.

tried it out

This is a chisel chopping platform I made last week and today I tried it out. Overall I liked using it, especially in this instance, with one end butted against the left side stop.

two done

One of the dadoes was too tight and I couldn't use the 1/4" or router iron to get the depth. I had to use the 1/8" chisel but I didn't have a warm and fuzzy on the depth matching the others. Of the seven dadoes I chopped, two of them I couldn't use the 1/4" chisel or router on.

self supporting

The right one is self supporting and the left one is too loose. Found out here that the 1/4" stock I was using wasn't all a 1/4" thick. I didn't use the same board to layout the dadoes.

first big dado

Self supporting too. These are stopped dadoes and once the bottom is on they will be locked in place. So if they are a wee bit loose it won't make any difference.

split

I didn't see this until I was checking the fit of this half lap. Didn't make any difference because I sawed the half lap width too wide. I made a replacement one.

hmmm.....

This isn't what my quick drawing of this looked like. The right side horizontal one should have gone over to the 3 compartments on the left. This will still work and if my OCD doesn't go into hyper drive, I can live with it.

sometimes it is ok to brain fart

Having a 'hole' to put the Miller drill bits in was solved. I put the drill bits in this thin rectangular compartment along with dowels.

Just thought of something as I was typing this. The minis come in 4 flavors as do the 1x dowels. I should have made the box with 4 compartments for each. Or maybe a miniature dresser with 3 drawers with four compartments in each one.

another hmmm......

This is a little tight for my fingers. In hindsight I should have made the compartment wall on the right the same height as the dividers. I'm liking the thought of a Miller Dowel dresser more and more. I brought this upstairs and set it by the kitchen radiator to cook until the AM.

nope

I'm pretty sure that it isn't supposed to look like this. Decided to use the Kreg jig and domino the lid together. Had all sorts of issues with it that I was not expecting. The stock moved on me and I had to be creative with clamping it. Had a problem with the depth of the mortise that I couldn't figure out neither.

yikes

When I last used this (road testing it) I had this problem but I thought I had figured that out. I don't think these dominos are the Kreg ones so I'll have to compare them to ones I got from Amazon. 

Stopped here for the day because I was getting a bit frustrated and pissed off that this wasn't working for me. I'll jump back into in the AM and hopefully straighten it out and end up with a lid.

accidental woodworker

Welcome to Book Press Part 3! In this video, I discuss and demonstrate hand sawing techniques, sharing tips for accurate and efficient cuts. I also cover the best approach to plugging a hole for a seamless, gap-free finish. Whether you’re refining your hand tool skills or looking for a solid plugging method, this video has you covered.

I got something in the US mail today that wasn’t a bill, wasn’t junk mail. It’s from Dave Fisher – wrapped up to a fare-thee-well, I dug this out of the cobbed-together envelope. took me a while to sort it out – I thought Dave was trying to turn me on to barley-mush…

Then I happened to flip it over – seems Dave liked the chair I finished lately – so much so that he wanted to draw it…

It’s just so sad that in his retirement, he can’t afford an actual sketch book or any real paper…he’s reduced to tearing up cereal packets, etc for his sketches. Well, maybe it’ll be worth money some day…

Here’s the photo he worked from – I was planning on painting it, but it’s too cold in the shop these days. Maybe I’ll just leave it oiled til spring then see how I like it…

About 12-15 years ago, I met a man on a plane who noticed I was reading a woodworking magazine and we struck up a conversation.  Short story shorter, he ended up surprising me by sending a few tools that he was no longer using.  Among these was this marking gauge labelled "Worth", a name I didn't and still don't know anything about.  EDIT - an internet search came up with a thread on a "Garage Journal" forum where people identified Worth as being a brand from Bigelow and Douse Hardware of Boston, MA.  They further noted that the Worth tools were probably manufactured by Peck, Stow and Wilcox (Pexto) for the hardware store.

The Worth marking gauge

It had a wooden screw to clamp the beam in place, approx 3/8" x 10 tpi

Like many similar gauges, the wooden screw had become loose as the wood fibers were worn away.  Also, the mortise hole in the fence wasn't a great fit for the beam, so this gauge has been sitting in a drawer for a long time.

At first, I addressed the beam looseness problem by putting some blue masking tape on the beam to get a tighter fit in the fence.  Obviously not a long-term solution.  Then I thought about putting a threaded insert in the screw hole and using a metal thumb screw.

Brass threaded insert

It turned out that the brass insert was still a little loose in the hole, so I decided that I'd make a new fence.  If I was making a marking gauge from scratch, I'd mortise the fence first and then plane the beam to fit just right.  For this one, I wanted to use the Worth's beam, both for nostalgic reasons and because I like the scale printed on one side.  It was a little tricky to make the mortise just the right size to fit the existing beam.  I ended up using a caliper to measure the beam's width, locked the caliper at that measurement, then stabbed the inner diameter measuring fingers of the caliper on the new fence to mark for the mortise walls.

Mortise chopped and upper and lower facets shaped for the curved top and bottom surfaces of the beam

At first, the fit seemed a little too loose, but after some shellac it fit very well.  Next, I bored a hole through the top, down to the mortise.  I had shaped and placed a stick in the mortise so that I wouldn't blow out the mortise's top wall.  The threaded insert went in that hole.

You can see the insert within the mortise

I used a leather punch to make this plastic "coin" (?) so that the thumb screw would not damage the top of the beam

I get a good solid grip of the beam when the thumb screw is tightened

Then the screw was cut down to length.  To make the thumb screw more comfortable, I inset the "thumb hold" part of the screw into two small pieces of walnut that were carved out to fit the thumb hold and then glued together.  It was then shaped to make a much more comfortable grip and look a bit more like the original.

The new thumb screw next to the original

After shaping the fence for comfort, I gave the parts a few coats of shellac, then waxed all but the bottom of the beam - that's what gets pressed against the lower mortise wall when the screw is tightened and I don't want that to be slippery.

So I now have a nicely working marking gauge.  It looks a little funny being two-toned, but I got to preserve some of the gift I was given and give it new life.

Glamour shot #1

Glamour shot #2

BTW, I changed one thing in my fence from the original: there is more meat below the mortise in the walnut fence.  I like having that extra bearing surface when using a marking gauge.  The original had less than 5/8" of bearing surface to reference against a workpiece.