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Making drawers utterly by hand takes mastery, there is no doubt in my mind. Establishing patterns early on in your making strategies ensures speed and accuracy. For my drawers, I needed 5/8″ stock but could only buy in 3/4″ material preplaned. But preplaned did not mean trued, square, uncupped and untwisted. It simply means that...

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Here are three tools worth having. 1. Mortise Master is a cleverly designed way to use your plunge router to make loose tenon mortises. In other words, you simply make a mortise in both wood parts and then add a separate tenon to fit them together. Does this mean that it will not be a […]

found it

There is enough for two lids from the 1/4" poplar board. I also ripped out a couple of 1 inch wide boards for battens.

what do you call this?

This thin piece of pine is necessary to strengthen this bottom spot. Reinforcing block? Bottom batten? Push comes to shove it really doesn't matter.

done

Three coats of tung oil and one coat of hard wax. A second coat of wax wasn't needed. This box will live in a drawer until I remember I have a set of these.

done

I still can't see evidence of a finish on this pencil box. Maybe the ingredients have soured or separated over the years that they sat hanging out unused. That might have something to do how the application looks.

hmm.....modification time

I was planning to store a spare blade in the top inside of the lid but nixed that. I couldn't resolve how to do it. So I switched to sawing the bottom off. I should have done this when I first made this box.

not easy

The block of wood on the back along with the handles and hinges made sawing the lid off a ROYAL PITA. I managed but it was awkward and ate up a lot of extra calories.

not through yet

Sawing the ends was the hardest with the back being the easiest.

broke off

This corner looks ugly and it was the place I started at. I broke off a wedge trying to keep the kerf open so I could saw it.

small rip panel saw

It didn't occur to me here why the rip carcass saw still hadn't sawn all the way through. It was only on the corners that I had sawn through with it.

finally

I had forgotten about these and I had sawn through a few nails too.

#6

Knocked down the proud with my #6 that has a cambered iron.

isn't pretty looking

It is flat to the eye and I did the same for the bottom. But I didn't have to use the #6 on that one.

got most of it

I wasn't able to remove all of the wandering, errant saw cuts but most of them.

wow

This is not what I was expecting. The fit is almost seamless. I thought the amount of wood I removed with the #6 would have left a few gaps and rocking.

some twist

I thought about leaving this as is but changed my mind. Wasn't sure in my mind if the hinges would work properly with the twist. Besides removing it would further smooth out the mating surfaces.

still fits

I checked to make sure that the saw would still fit. The saw plate still was laying flat on the platform.

done

I am so happy with how this came out and how it looks. The joint line looks consistent 360 - not seamless but no ugly gaps neither.

lots of room

Still kicking myself in the arse that I didn't do this from the git go.

almost done

I have a few ideas for storing saw blades and batteries. Since this the bottom I don't see any need to secure either of these down with any kind of restraints. I'll found out in the AM how well the idea is.

cooking away

Got the bottom and handles glued and cooked. I will let the box top end battens stayed clamped until tomorrow. I'm still thinking of relying on glue to keep everything together. But on the other hand I have been running using toothpicks as nails through the brain bucket.

accidental woodworker

A couple tasks remained before applying shellac.

I added two rails below the lowest shelf. These were cut to fit, glued on three sides, and clamped. After sitting overnight I drilled pilot holes and fastened nails.

glued, clamed, then nailed

I planed the front and back edges of the shelves so they would be flush with the sides. Having to plane these edges after assembly was the main reason I didn't pre-finish everything.

I cleaned up the glue residue with hot water and a toothbrush.

glue squeeze out

Earlier I moved the upper rail back so it wouldn't show. That led to those nails being off center. If it wasn't for that rail and those nails, there wouldn't be a clear front or back side.

front and side view

I sprayed zinsser sealcoat shellac, about 4-5 coats on the shelves and a little more on the outside uprights.

back and side view

When I planned the dimensions I wanted the top shelf to be big enough to hold a laptop. And I wanted that top shelf to be about 30" off the floor. That way we could put the stand near the kitchen table and watch something on the laptop while doing a puzzle.

The height is 37". The width is 18". The depth is 10" at the floor, narrowing to 9" at the top. The shelf spacings are 14", 10.5", and 7".

front view

Previous posts in this series:

• Shamrock Magazine Stand 1
• Shamrock Magazine Stand 2

The last piece of the loom project has been made. Now its just a matter of applying finish. The last few weeks have been hard on the loom project. First I spent time sizing a thin piece of stock for the comb, only to realise the grain direction was all wrong. The widest piece of Purpleheart I had left was only 2 inches. So I had to order a new board and wait for it.

 Two years ago, I started rebuilding our old greenhouse into what will eventually become the new leather workshop. 
We haven't used the greenhouse for a couple of years, and it had started to look kind of shabby. By rebuilding it, I could make something that looked nice, and I would end up with a dedicated workshop for my leather sewing and horse blanket repair tasks. It will give me a place to put my leather sewing machines, and thus free up some space in the regular workshop. And frankly sewing machines are better kept in places that are not filled with sawdust.

Back when I built the greenhouse, I overbuilt the rafters (and pretty much everything else), but that meant that it was just a matter of removing the glass from the roof, and install laths and clay tiles. The tiles are those old ones from our house that I still had some left of.

The windows that I am making at the moment will replace the original ones in the brick wall. Originally the house was built as a retirement home in 1948. It was converted to a machinery shed sometime in the late 50'ies or early 60'ies. I incorporated the northern wall in the greenhouse, and now in the leather workshop.

I am making the windows as a mixture of traditional and modern. The traditional part is that I am dovetailing the corners, and the modern part is that I install the glass using wooden strips and modern sealer tape instead of glaziers putty. 

When I make large dovetails, I use the (for Denmark) traditional rule of 1:6 slope in softwood. That gives a visually pleasing dovetail that works well even in 2" thick material. If I had used the 14 degree version, the dovetails look weird due to the thickness of the wood.

The first window is roughly 48" x 40", the second window is 48" x 64". 
64" is difficult for me to make dovetails on the ends of. So I had to make a small step up, just to get me a bit higher up, but still sawing in a weird position isn't super easy. 
Anyway, it ended up looking pretty good, and it is for a window that will be installed, so the next person to see the outside of the frame will be the one who removes it sometime in the future, and I doubt that it will be me :-)

Traditionally the reveal around a window frame was filled with regular mortar like what you would use for laying bricks. In order to maintain tradition in that point, I also made a V groove all around the frame. This is so the mortar will have something extra to adhere to, and also to prevent a draft of cold air to seep by if the window frame shrinks in very dry winters.

2 coats of tung oil

I am not impressed with this finish. I think I'm stuck in a rut with the sheen and build I get from shellac. I have done several projects with this tung oil and none so far come even within 25% of the look of shellac. 

For a quick finish this is adequate and I will stay the course on it. Two coats of hard wax will start tomorrow. After I'll call this done. I already found a hole to stick it in my chisel drawer.

mortise lock chisel

This is why I bought this chisel. It is impossible to get a bench chisel on this rail vertically. I have run into this very situation on a couple of the dressers I have made in the past few years. I've been waiting (and on the email list) for about that long too waiting for Lie Nielsen to make these again. 

why not?

I have had this oil for several years. I used it once and I wasn't impressed with it. In fact I was disappointed. My results weren't anywhere near what I had seen on the internet. But I'm going to try it again and see what happens this time. I have a gloss and clear satin and I am using the gloss on this pencil box.

nada

Again, absolutely no indication that a finish of any type had been applied. I was expecting a gloss shine to show up but it looks like bare wood. The can also states that this is a one application finish. Maybe this would be different on a hardwood. For the cost of this pint can (about $25?) my expectations were dashed straight into the shit can for the last time.

pencil box prepping

I thought about making the grandson's pencil boxes out of a hardwood like cherry or walnut but nixed it. I didn't want to wait for a thin wood (3/8") to come in. I'm too impatient to wait for that. Instead I'll use up the last of the pine I resawed in half a while ago.

two pencil boxes

Everything is sawn to length and width except for the top end battens along with the locking lid battens.

yikes....

I bought these in Jan of 2022 and they have been broken and jury rigged back together for about a year. I have another set on order and I should have them tomorrow. I duct taped it back together just in case I don't get them tomorrow. I'll keep these as back up if the new ones decide to go south on me.

sizing first

I got good results using superglue on the first pencil box and I'll wash, rinse, and repeat for box 2 and 3. I soaked the end grain first and let it set up 15 minutes.

glued and cooking

I paid better attention this time clamping the boxes. I made sure that I didn't glue them up twisted. I did this glue up on a piece of 1/2" thick plywood. I left this clamped until after I got back from the post lunch stroll.

sigh

I know how I made this me-steak. I ripped this on the width with the grain when I should have ripped them to width against the grain. I had enough 1/8" plywood to get two new bottoms.

The bottoms and the two top fixed battens go a long way to strengthen and hold the box together. I would never rely solely on a super glue joint no matter what type it is.

new bottoms cooking

I thinking of not using nails on these two boxes. The glue should be sufficient to hold/keep the box together. I did think of using tapered japanese wooden nails but the size I have (the smallest ones) are too big for the thickness of the stock I used.

missing one

As I was typing this I noticed that I am short two battens. Here I have the box top end battens along with the 2 sets of the locking battens. I am missing two of the fixed lid battens. Missing are the lids too because I don't know where I hid/put the 1/4" poplar.

hmm.....

Put on a second coat of the hard oil wax and I buffed it out. It didn't do diddly for improving the shine but it did smooth it out. The 2nd coat feels a bazillion percent smoother than the first coat did. Either way the wind continues to blow I'm calling the first pencil box fini.

accidental woodworker 

 It might be a wee bit premature, but I'm calling the box done. I got the first tung oil finish on at the end of the PM session. It is going to be a few more days and a few more applications of oil and wax before it is 100% done. Close enough and I won't bore you with that.

gluing the keepers

The two long ones first and then the short end ones. I didn't miter the corners - used snug fitting butt joints.

just enough

There is a papers width on each end. It takes a bit of attention to get them in and out but I'm ok with that.

perfect

I planed a small chamfer and then rounded it over with a 120 grit sanding stick. It made the joint line look dead nuts tight 360.

yellow glue

I thought of using hide glue to secure the block but decided to go with yellow glue. If this needs any repairs or replacement I'll make a new one.

hmm.....

This tung oil finish removes/dims pencil marks. I used a micro pen on a scrap of the same plywood I used for the bottom. I wiped on the finish and rubbed it hard. Nada. I went with it but with a pencil each application of the finish, erased a bit more. Not sure what the second application will do.

almost a gotcha

The love affair with this glue dispenser almost ended. The tip had clogged shut but it was easy peasy to open it. The glue hadn't dried rock hard and it came off with a paper towel. I had been wiping it after each use and I must of forgotten doing it one time.

first one

There will be at least two coats and maybe four of the tung oil. After that I will apply a couple coats of hard wax oil.

I saw a cabinet at my niece's house the picnic day. It was tall, rectangular, and had a divided light door - 9 panes of glass. Got no idea where or who will get it but I got an itch to make one. Looking forward especially to making the door.

accidental woodworker 

I came down with a cold this morning, so I’m watching videos. This one is pretty astounding: hewing and turning a huge shaft for a mill’s water-wheel (go here to watch the foresters fell the oak and the carters haul it to the mill with a pair of draft horses – also astounding).

Back at the mill, two carpenters arrive to make the log into a shaft. With the help of the millwright and his boy, they roll the log onto a hewing frame (thanks to YouTube for helping translate – a poor option, but better than nothing).

I admire the hewing in it’s accuracy.  I never did much of this work.  I enjoy it, but my elbows would be aching after a short stint.  I have no problem splitting logs with a sledge, but hewing is subtly different and I haven’t learned to use my body properly with it.  Youth is the right time to learn, when the body is flexible enough to forgive your transgressions.  Once your muscles have learned to do the work efficiently, and in a relaxed manner, you can often do heavy work like this into your old age (so long as you do it regularly). Beginning in middle age is not so easy (so I’m learning).  

The weather is so cold, they warm the hewing ax over the fire to prevent its edge chipping.

“Thank God” says the head carpenter after the last stroke of the hewing hatchet on the squared blank.  I understand.

Turning the shaft is amazing.  You’ll have to see it for yourself (18:00-minute mark).

They insert the bearing into the butt (root-end) of the log, which is harder and less crack-prone.  They shrink on iron bands, and then they are done (or at least the video is – attaching the wheel and mounting goes uncovered).

I’m trying to work out if they did all that work in one day.  I think it’s possible, but I really don’t know. Regardless, these two videos are some of the best I’ve seen. What do you think?

 

The post Monstrous Turning first appeared on Elia Bizzarri - Hand Tool Woodworking.

 I almost got the box for the mortise lock chisels completely done. What stopped that you are obviously asking, well I'll tell you. I spent a good chunk of today driving around my boyhood town with my sister. She is leaving to go back to Indiana on tuesday and today was the only day she had free for me. She has lots of other visiting on her to do list.

We visited all the places we were grew up and the schools we attended. Our elementary school has been converted into apartments. So much of this small sleepy town I knew is gone and it has exploded with growth. Neither of us recognized most of what we saw. Oh well, stercus acidit. 

We went to a clam shack on old US Route 1 that we used to go to as kids. Well over 50 years and it is still open. We both had fish 'n chips with clam chowder and a Del's lemonade for the ride home back to Norwich. A lot of fun catching up with my oldest sister.

done

I'm not thrilled with how thin the sliding lock batten is but the sun will still rise and set. I will be putting shellac on this but that will have to wait. I need to mix up a new batch of shellac but I don't have enough Everclear for that. This will have to wait a few before that event happens.

pencils fit

I have to insert the pencils at a diagonal, but they dropped in easily. I'll have time to decide whether or not to increase the length between the battens longer than a pencil is.

early shop time

 I knew I would only have about two hours shop time in the AM so I got busy. Making the box for the chisels out of 6mm plywood. 

yikes

The lead in for the shooting plane ripped off the dado wall. I was going to make a new one but nixed it.

fillers

On the one above I only put one filler in the exit side dado. That one survived but not its sibling. With fillers in both, no problems. Both dado walls remained intact with a zero amount of blowout. 

worth a shot

I glued the broken dado wall back in place with superglue. The bottom and top dadoes will get 1/8" plywood that will be glued in them further strengthening this superglued one.

insurance

Not only did I fill in both dadoes, I used a 1/4" thick piece of pine backing up against the front edge. It worked and the superglued broken piece held up to the stress of shooting a 45.

cooking

Met my goal of getting the box glued and cooking before I had to leave to pick up my sister. This was ready to play with when I got back to the barn.

one last thing

Whacked out something to hold the two chisels. I wanted to lay the chisels flat so nothing stuck up but I didn't like the thinness of the box nor the width. I am thrilled with having the business end sticking being a cut hazard but I made it work.

ready to separate

Back at the barn and unclamped the box. Good connection on the miters (no gaps) and the corners were dead nuts square.

hmm.....

Thought I would try to separate the lid on the bandsaw. The blade is new and sharp and it is something I haven't done yet. I can't recall ever trying this on a bandsaw.

sigh.....

The cut was clean but it was also slightly tapered. It isn't much but I wasn't expecting one. 

it fits

I planed the lid and bottom until the taper pencil lines were gone. After that I refined the flatness and fit on a sheet of 60 grit sandpaper.

one more run

Noticed a wee bit of a hump in the middle of one long side. Sanded it until that hiccup disappeared. Happier with the fit this time around - and I eyeballed it and double, triple checked it twice.

got lucky

The plan was to use keepers to fit the lid on and I got lucky. There isn't a ton of a wiggle room for the chisels to fit. I can take them out and put them back in easily. It would be better is there was more clearance but this will work. It is only the keepers on the short ends that I needed to get lucky with.

finger recesses

 I don't want to take out and put these back in place by the business ends. Removed the center and chiseled two finger recesses. Plenty of room to grab the chisels.

done

I'm going with this. Sometimes later on I come up with a different way of doing things. I don't think I will with this one. I also don't anticipate using this that often for it to be a PITA.

keepers dry fitted

Made them a few frog hairs higher then the chisel ends. That should remove any blood letting hiccups.

almost at the finish line

A quick and easy box in a day. If I hadn't spent most of the day with Donna this might have been done with the exception of the shellac finish. Maybe tomorrow I'll put a check mark in the done column.

accidental woodworker

As much as I enjoy browsing yootoob, I am often perplexed about some of the things that do (or do not) show up in my recommendations.  To be sure, I get videos reflecting my interests (I get a LOT of woodworking, homesteading, theology, economics content as you would expect from my subscription list and browsing history) but sometimes something shows up that has me scratching my head, either from relevance or timeliness.  This video is one of the latter.

Nine months ago while building the greenhouse I was frustrated by the uneven ground and its affect on my sawhorses, so I screwed two of them together at a right angle as I blogged here.  This video would have been helpful to view at that time but never showed up in my feed.  Until now.

Sigh.

it fits

When I took the box out of the clamps it stayed together. I was half expecting it to fall apart because I used super glue to secure it.

gone

The box was twisted so badly that I didn't need the sticks to see it. Both the top and bottom were three lines twisted. It took 3 runs (top & bottom) to remove it.

the winner

I wanted to use the brass nails but they were fatter than the winners. I didn't want to risk splitting the thin stock. I predrilled for all the nails before driving them home.

bottom

Used 1/8" thick plywood for the bottom. Pencils, even with the boatload this will hold, isn't going to stress the bottom in the least.

hmm......

The one in my hand is too thin. I cut another piece of scrap pine in half and after planing it smooth it ended up about 5/16" thick.

filler

This is too fill in and add some strength to this spot. Without it was just unsupported 1/8" plywood and it would be prone to possibly breaking/splitting out.

sigh....

It was a 1/4" and in order to get it to fit I had to remove another 1/8".

screwed up

I thought it was too wide so I cut it down to 3/4". That was the me-steak. I should have stuck with the fixed batten being an inch wide. 

fits

There is about a 16th of wiggle room for dropping the lid in place.

locked in place

I think the 1/8" that is catching on the right side batten is sufficient. With the lid locked in place, I couldn't pull up and remove the lid.

fixed sliding batten

I am just using glue for securing it to the lid. I am leaving the clamps on until the AM. It is ready for finish and I have a model to build the next two of them.

came today

I had bought a set of these chisels years ago and when I took them out of the package they sliced my fingers up. None of the squared edges had been filed/chamfered. I sent them back and regretted that decision ever since. When LN sent me an email these were being made soon I asked to be notified. Bought them on sunday and they arrived today. 

These have had all the square edges relieved - nothing sharp and no blood letting this time. These aren't something that you need on a daily basis but when you do they sure are handy. I can feel an urge to make a french fitted box for them coming soon.

accidental woodworker

It started out as a red maple (Acer rubrum). The top half of the tree snapped off a month ago across the road. I hurried and started carving away on some of it. Maple doesn’t store well for long in … Continue reading →

If you’re into hand tool woodworking like I am, this next build is right up your alley. I’m making a custom book rack for a customer, packed with advanced joinery and thoughtful design. Watch along as I tackle the tricky bits and aim to keep everything looking clean and seamless.

We were thrilled to be included in Mortise & Tenon magazines Issue X, their 10th Anniversary special (and almost double-sized) issue. As we told M&T, 10 years in publishing is an impressive feat, especially in a field whose obituary had been written many, many times, challenged by increasingly short attention spans and the supposed yearning of all content to be free. M&Ts answer to the challenges of contemporary publishing has been the exact opposite of the conventional response - the magazine article as a hot take or a series of captions. Instead of summaries designed to entice the mainstream reader with attention span issues, M&T has offered erudite research on admittedly narrower topics related to woodworking.

In doing so, the magazine also created a sense of community among woodworkers who want to understand the best practices of woodworkings past and their own place in this realm. At the same time, the magazines beautiful physical presentation also conveyed a certain timelessness, durable enough for return reflection and discussion.

We were asked to explore the topic of The State of Woodworking in 2025, and provide some photographs to accompany the article. So along with the text, our article features some pictures of the new Gramercy Tools lathe and some catnip for fans of vintage shop tools.

We now have the magazine for sale in our showroom and online, and while these photos have gotten some attention, probably the biggest conversation starter is the photo of the miniature tools I made as a young lad. These tools were inspired by Eric Sloanes Museum of Early American Tools and are made of steel with boxwood handles. I used an X-ACTO saw, Dremel, a drill, files, and a tiny torch all obtained from local hobby and hardware stores. And yes, the tools all function!

Some of our customers have responded by sharing their miniature craftwork with us. Our friend Tony showed us the tiny ornaments he made, including one of his dog and another of himself. Merry Christmas!

If you are intrigued by the miniatures, it's worth seeking out Barbie's Woodshop instagram account - a truly wonderful site!.
Barbie was profiled for the in the Lost Art Press Blog by the great Nancy Hiller.

An article about Barbie is included in Quercus Issue 12.

A picture of my tools made it into M&T Issue X
My mini - doll house scale panel saw nested under a mid-19th century short 12" panel saw.

PS. Festool expects to apply an import fee on August 1, 2025. Buy before Festool applies an import fee.

 

nope

It has been a long time since I played around with motors. I used to experiment with any motor I could get my hands on. Learned a ton simply by combining wiring in groups just to see what would happen. Burned out a few motors and got a boatload working but that was in the dim past. I forgot that changing the line and neutral will not effect motor rotation. The field winding wires need to be reversed.

it's the blue one

Blue 5 swapped out for Blue 6. Duh.

hmm.....

Getting the two pulleys aligned with each other was a PITA. The small one caused all the headaches due to being attached to the motor. Gently persuading that I finally got it positioned by using a pry bar. Another Duh.

first cuts

The motor was singing a different tune than the original 1/2HP one. Sounded quieter and felt stronger in the cut. I didn't notice any hiccups sawing these two - a curve and a rip cut.

one more rip cut

I was expecting this rip to be quicker and easier. It was, just not up at the level I thought it would be.

Yikes

This sucks pond scum. One thing for sure I was expecting was for this 3/4HP motor to eat resawing for lunch. It didn't happen this time.

hmm......

I didn't check the blade blocks nor the thrust bearings - upper and lower both were out. Readjusted them and tried to resaw again.

with difficulty

This resaw was a chore to do. The blade bogged and going was slow. The two parts came out ok considering that they look like snot was blown all over them.

new blade

I had bought this one specifically for resaw. That is what I mainly use my bandsaw for. The blade on it now was obviously dull or a hop, skip, and a jump from that. Time to swap in a new one.

new blade going in

Got a bit confused taking out the old blade. I thought that I would have to remove the fence rail to get the blade out. FYI - it isn't in the way. Had to reset and adjust the blocks and bearings again. The original blade was 3/8" wide and this one is 1/2".

1" thick pine

The new test subject - first a rip cut and then resawing.

resaw

The rip cut went off like I expected it too. Quick, fast, and easy. The blade sailed through it like a hot knife through butter. The resaw behaved the same. Compared it to the previous resaw it was like night and day.

smiley face on

Happy with how this resaw went off. I was able to push it though the blade with hand pressure only. With the previous set up I had to use a push stick.

like one I see

Not tapered and that is encouraging. I didn't go nutso keeping pressure up against the fence as I fed the wood through the blade.

sigh

Tapered but not as bad. The board bottom started to kick out away from the fence as I pushed it into the blade. Not as bad as previous trips through the blade and it is obviously a quirk to deal with.

helped

This is the way I have been feeding the stock through the blade. The blade is sharp and I was able to make thin cuts. I didn't try for veneer but a couple of heavy 1/8" cuts.

easy, peasy

I'm done with testing the bandsaw. I'm happy with this final result. All five of them came out with a slight, teeny bit of taper. I can live with this. I'll have to get another blade on order and check YouTube for vids on sharpening bandsaw blades.

shoulda, coulda, woulda, but didn't

I should have swapped out this motor right after I got it. I have had it for over two years but I finally took my head out of my arse and did it.

hmm.....

I see a new lot of mini japanese boxes. I think the first one I'll do is a pencil box. I tried making one of them but it came out short on the length.

cut my hair

I am amazed by how much black hair I still have. I have some graying around the temples but the rest, what little I have, is still dark brown.

done

Three coats on the errant nail box - done. Two coats of tung oil and two coats of hard paste wax on the far four - done. Got the last coat of wax rubbed out after my post lunch stroll.

new pencil box

This one will be a test box. If it goes well I will make two more of them, one each for the grandkids.

checked with a pencil

I didn't check the length of the ID of the first one I made with a pencil. Instead I made the length of the outside the same as the pencil. Forgot to take into account the battens on each end. Oops - couldn't get a pencil in the box.

inset ends

Used super glue to secure the ends. I'm putting 'handles' on this box, they are to the right of the box.

handles

Sized the ends of the handles and the ends and let that dry. After that I applied a second coat and put the box together.

glued, clamped, and cooking

Not sure what nails I'll use on this. The stock is roughly 3/8" thick and I'm leery about using cut brad nails. I have wire brads that may work better and I also have brass 18 gauge nails. I will let this set up overnight and I'll decide what to use in the AM.

accidental woodworker

Standard XX is now complete and is now available for sale via my website. One of the key features of this lovely instrument is that it has been made without the use of any tropical/rainforest hardwoods or animal derived products.

Here’s the video and some photos for you.

Thanks for looking.

Cheers Gary

What a whirlwind of a year it has been so far. There’s been an interesting mix of work for which I’m incredibly grateful. This spring I had some cool furniture commissions, followed by teaching in Kentucky at The Year of Mud once again, as well as a separate trip back home to MN to visit… Read More »Tomobe – Jacking Up Posts

The post Tomobe – Jacking Up Posts appeared first on Big Sand Woodworking.

I printed shamrocks in three sizes and taped them to the sides. I drilled some large holes in the corners and then cut them out. This pushed the depth of my coping saw. I also have a fret saw with a deeper opening that I used for a couple spots.

tracing through paper to leave impressions that's about as far as it can reach

Prior to carving the edges I took care of the smaller things. I made three rails with curved bottoms. Two for the bottom and one under the top shelf. I also drilled small holes where the pilot holes for the nails will go.

under-shelf support rails pilot holes for pilot holes. pre-pilot holes.

For the sides, I created curves for the top corners by tracing a tomato can, and the bottom edge by tracing a bucket. I also filled in most of the visible bug holes with shellac mixed with sanding dust.

tracing a round object. and I filled those bug holes.

I carved the edges of the shamrocks, mostly with a #7 gouge. This reminded me of a Mary May lesson "Carving a Donut" on reading the grain. When I carve against the grain I can feel it and I can hear it. So there's a lot of changing from left to right handed, or moving to the opposite side of the bench to keep approaching from the right direction.

don't quote me on these

When the two directions meet in the middle of an arch, it's not easy to free the chip. I get little snags and fuzzies.

hard to free the fuzzies

After carving twelve sides of six shamrocks I was about ready to put things together. Not having dados to house the shelves complicated things a little. I marked the edges of the sides for the shelf locations and then clamped it all up. While clamped I drilled proper pilot holes for the nails. I used 1/8" for 40mm nails and 9/64" for 50mm nails.

center lines for shelves dry fit

During this dry fit I noticed that the curved support rail under the top shelf was too wide/tall and was visible through the hole.

that doesn't look good

This was a problem as I had already (titebond genuine hide) glued it to the shelf. I had to unglue it. My method is to use a clothing steamer. After 1-2 minutes I could pull it apart. Rather than ripping the rail narrower I moved it back where it woudn't show.

lock the trigger in the on position I've come undone

Prior to glueing and nailing I hand sanded the visible parts with 180 grit. I did not sand the carved edges, just the flat fields. For glue-up I did one side at a time. I coated the end grain of the shelves with two coats of glue. I set the nails in the sides with their points poking through so they could find their matching pilot holes in the shelves. The lowest, thickest shelf got 50mm nails, all the rest are 40mm.

nails and glue nailed and glued

I still have two curved rails to fit under the bottom shelf, and I will plane the front and back edges of the shelves flush with the sides. Then I will finish it with shellac, though I don't know if I will use a rag or a brush or spray it.

glued and nailed

For several years now, if I needed to route a dado or groove that was less then 1/4" wide, I used a makeshift router plane.  This was nothing more than a block of wood with a 45-ish degree angle on the front end, a 1/8" groove cut into that angled front, and a 1/8" chisel clamped into the groove.

My original small "router plane"

The clamp block holding the chisel in place is a piece of wood screwed to the main block

While this worked well during the infrequent times that I needed it, I always thought it would be nice to have a dedicated tool.  So recently I did something about it.

For the blade, I used an old 5/32" Allen wrench.  The 5/32" dimension is flat to flat, and the dimension from apex to opposite apex is close to 3/16".  The short leg of an Allen wrench has one flat face facing up when standing like an "L", so the 3/16" dimension is horizontal, and that becomes the width of the cutting edge after some filing, grinding and sharpening.

The Allen wrench in cross section

I heated the 90 degree bend to red hot and bent it to more like a 100 degree angle.  This gives a "clearance angle"; it allows the blade to cut a dado without the heel of the blade rubbing on the bottom of the dado.

This shows the approx. 100 deg angle on the Allen wrench

One major concern was about how to hold the blade.  I got a 1/4-20 bolt and tried to drill a hole through it.  Nothing doing!  That bolt must have been some sort of specialty bolt, as it was as hard as kryptonite.  I annealed it and it was still way too hard to drill.  So I got another bolt and that one was far easier to drill, though I found out the 1/4" bolt was too small for a 3/16" hole and I had to go with a 5/16-18 bolt instead.

Punching a center point into the insanely hard bolt

Successful 3/16" hole in a 5/16-18 bolt

Here's how it'll work: Allen key through the hole in the bolt,  nut at rear of the wood block tightens the Allen key to the wood body

I grabbed a chunk of scrap from the bin that just happened to have a 1 1/8" hole bored through it.  About 2/3rds the way up from the bottom of the block, I drilled a 5/16" hole through the back and into the larger hole of the block.  The 5/16" bolt was inserted and a washer and nut placed on the back end.

Also made a groove where the cutter will rest as a sort of "bed"

Made two thumb holes in the back end for a better grip

Then made a large bevel on the top surface (as seen from the right end)

The plane's body is 4" wide, 1 1/8" tall and just over 2 1/8" front-to-back.

Shaping and sharpening the iron was not too tough, but it was tedious.  I filed or ground a flat on the bottom, then filed a bevel on the top.  The diamond plates were used to refine the surfaces and get a nice edge.

Dragging the bottom flat backward on the diamond plate

And sharpening the bevel.  This took a lot of patience.

But I got a good smooth surface on the bevel ...

... and the bottom flat

I finally got a wingnut to tighten the iron in the body - a nice upgrade from a hex nut and wrench to tighten.  A nice project - I'm looking forward to using it when the need arises.

In use cutting a ~3/16" dado

Glamour shot

Back view showing wingnut

And lastly, I made two more smaller irons - one about 7/64" wide and one about 5/64" wide.  It was a challenge sharpening these tiny irons, but they all came out great and work well.

Three small Allen keys became router plane blades

All for now.  Hopefully I'll get back in the flow soon and post more often.  I've been in a woodworking slump for the last couple of months.