Norse Woodsmith Blog Feeds

 I looked at the weather forecast for the rest of this week and next. It ain't looking good for the home team. It is going to snow, or be a snow to wintry mix, or be cloudy for the next ten days. I don't think I'll be using the lunchbox planer in the driveway for a couple of weeks yet.

Placed my order with McMaster-Carr after lunch. I bought a 12" piece of 1/8" thick brass, 2" wide. I will try that for the maple kitchen stool/ladder and evaluate how that looks and works. After all the maple one is the prototype to work the kinks out with. I should have it tomorrow or friday.

I had to.....

The lid fit was kind a snug but I couldn't open it with the thumb catch. To open/slide the lid off I had to push off from the back. If the lid was flush with the top I wouldn't have been able to open it at all. This is too tight and come summer and expansion time it could swell and slam it shut. 

plenty

I eyeballed the groove from the front and looking at it from the back as it slid in. I had more than enough room side to side. In fact I had a wee bit too much. I didn't plane anything off the outside edges. I took wispy shavings off the tops of the rabbets only. Planed off two and checked the fit. Kept at it that way until I could open the lid with the thumb catch.

doesn't fit

I made this to keep the lid from sliding off as I picked it up out of the drawer I keep it in. The toe (of the top piece) should be flush and aligned with the lid top.

hmm....

What I don't know for sure is how this fit with the original lid. This doesn't look right. I think it should sitting atop the block on the front side. I'll leave it as is for now and come up with a game plan for a fix or a new one.

using Clancy's

I put one coat (recommends only one) on the lid both sides. The next step is to leave it as is or put on shellac. Another nail biter decision to make.

banding the box

I used super glue to put the banding on. I started with the bottom and the banding cooperated. I was able to get red at all the corners but they weren't even. 

don't like it

I'm ok with the banding being atop the feet and not inset. However, after getting it on the bottom it looks odd. Checking it at the top didn't improve it at all IMO. I like the banding but I don't have a warm and fuzzy with the look. Not much I can think of to improve so I'll have to live with it.

the ring box

I don't know what these are called (keepers?) but they allow the lid to align with the bottom. I have used them before and I like this better then using hinges on the back. Still haven't found some different ring holder pads things. Everyone of them I have seen is made in China and I don't want to use any of that crap again. Maybe I should ask my sister to sew up some velvet tubes? I might get them in a year or two knowing her.

dry fit

They extend a little over 1/8" which should be enough.

it fits (dry)

I got a good fit all around because the lid went on and came off and back on and off several times with out the keeper things coming undone.

not improving

I kept eyeballing this while working on the ring box and I came to an understanding. I should have inset the banding so it was flush and not proud. I think I could have accepted that look. Or maybe I should have used walnut as that would have matched what I used on the lid.

nope

I thought of using the keeper things on this lid too but nixed it. I would have to fill in these holes but they would stand out. Thought of using the banding to hide them but that was just another bad idea.

need a box

I have been keeping the Miller Dowels in plastic bins. I don't have a bin for the 2x dowels and I also don't have a 2x drill bit. Time to get all of the dowels and drill bits in one spot.

using this design

I was going to make a sliding lid box but I wasn't liking that idea.  I like the compartment box better. 3 compartments for the mini dowels and two each for the larger 1x and 2x dowels. I know I have a lot of thin pine somewhere in the shop for the compartment walls.

prepping the stock

Two long sides and the ends. This board was flat but I am going to thin it down to 1/2 to 5/8 inches thick. The first step is to flatten one face and square an edge to that. 

This stock is wider than needed for the box (3" high). The off cuts from the box I'll use to make the lid.

no twist

Two boards had none and the third a little. I have a reference face and edge ready to go.

stickered

I doubt that this pine will move at all but it will remove any doubts come the AM.

didn't forget

The weather and making the prototype is working in its favor. I randomly checked one board and it was still flat and twist free. It is looking like it might be march before I run these through the lunchbox planer.

accidental woodworker

I visited another Christie's auction exhibition over the weekend. I like going to see what's on auction because there are many pieces of art that will be seen once and then disappear into a private collection for another 50 years. This time it was their "classics" auction - a mix of decorative arts, old Masters and some antiquities. I certainly couldn't help wondering while looking at the antiquities about how many of those objects were taken from their original resting place in the dead of night or with a bribe to multiple officials. But what really struck me is how little has changed in craftsmanship in 3,000 years.

To put it another way: the 3000-year-old version of ourselves probably had exactly the same imagination, creativity, and technical skill as we do today. What they didn't have was steel - or the ability to seek guidance from experts from all over the world and share techniques. They also didn't have electricity or motors.

The death mask at the top of this blog (945-715 BCE) is only 4 1/2" high and was originally covered with gesso and colored paint. I'm assuming it was a fair likeness of the individual it represents. It is a beautiful, expressive carving that any modern carver would be proud to have accomplished. And this was done with bronze tools, stone shards, and patience. The time it must have taken to make this mask with the available tools would have been considerable.

The second piece below is a small, not quite 6", elegantly turned bowl that in my view any modern turner would be pleased to produce. The walls are thin and uniform, and the proportions are excellent. It also happens to be made out of Diorite, a hard stone (similar to quartz) and dates from 2686-2566 BCE.

If the material were wood turned on a modern lathe, it would be a simple, elegant turning that evidences competence at turning with a really good eye for form and shape. If were made out of stone today, it would be hard work - even with diamond and carbide tools, cutting stone is not fun. But 4500 years ago! I cannot imagine the labor it took to make this. This was done on the lathe, not even a lathe with a treadle, more like a pole lathe. The tools were probably other stones and bronze tools enabled to cut stone using a slurry of sand and water. And since those craftsmen from 4500 years ago were probably very similar in temperament to craftspeople of today, I'm pretty sure there were lots of complaints about where to get the best sand, they don't make it like they used to, etc.

The exhibit also had a lot of old Masters, really second tier stuff, "school of" and studies that were never really meant to hang on a wall. Even so again, I was struck by the craftsmanship and how good the work was across the board.

I get the following takeaways from seeing these ancient masterpieces. Nothing has changed except the tools and technology. The basic dexterity, imagination, and tool ingenuity have stayed exactly the same. Second, we makers are following a long, long tradition. We make stuff. We make it to the best of our ability and craftsmanship and skill level. And sometimes the work we produce turns out fantastic.

Maybe the third thing is that the humans are known for what they leave behind, specifically what each culture leaves behind, which are examples of their skill in making things. And I am proud to be part of that tradition.


A side view of the death mask

 Spent some time last night getting the McMaster-Carr order together. Spoiler alert - I didn't order anything. I found a problem with the aluminum tubing I got. It is hardened which explains why a file barely touched it. I looked into annealing it but that is something beyond what I can do in my shop. This is the reason why I didn't place the order. I am now entertaining about ditching using metal as a the stop and switching to wood. Plenty of time to pick one. I would swap to brass but it is too expensive.

tread

This is the bottom of the bottom tread. I planed it smooth but a lot of this crap on the edge is still visible. On a brighter note it is on the bottom and at the back

almost

I planed the right side of both treads until they seated in the dadoes. The fit is still snug and I didn't drink any of the 'one more swipe' kool aid.

front legs

Routed all the dadoes removing the depth knife lines. After that I planed both faces of the front legs smooth. No more planer ripples.

checking the angles

I have both of the angles on the bottom front/rear legs flush on the workbench. The treads are parallel to the workbench top and the bottom angles don't have gaps. The top angle of the rear legs is a wee bit off. The toe is slightly proud of the front leg. I think I'm going to be ok because I plan to detail the top of the rear legs similar to what I did for the front ones.

front view

I'm glad that I didn't make this larger. It is going to be heavy as is - 7/8" thick maple. I nixed putting in another tread but I am thinking of putting a tray or some kind of a tray/platform below the grab dowel and above the top tread. That is going to be a bit tricky to flesh out.

pretty good

The top is toed in a 16th over the bottom of the rear legs. I thought it was going to be worse than that. The top of the front legs is toed in 1/8" more than the bottom. Still not that bad and I fully expect the rear stretcher and x brace to keep the rear legs parallel top to bottom. The front will have the treads and the grab dowel at the top.

inside or outside?

I thought I had determined this already from the drawing but now I'm confused. I think the rear legs should be on the outside of the front legs. It wouldn't collapse as much as it would done this way.

calling it done (again)

Rubbed Howards feed 'n wax on both sides and buffed it off. I get to store it until March when my wife is bringing it back to North Carolina.

sigh

This is going to be the 3rd(?) time I am gluing this drawer divider in place. I used epoxy this time. I applied it to the first 2-3". Fingers crossed that this will be the last time.

trying it

I tried gluing the tongues back on both sides of the lid. The batter in the box is a small, long triangular piece that broke off at the back.

questionable

The clamps look like a monkey put them on. I didn't have a warm and fuzzy with this after I did it. But it was one down and one more to go.

the other tongue

That darkish line in this is the first break. This recent break is too close to the first one. This one also (clean break) would mate back together at an angle. It was a PITA just fitting it dry and trying to get a clamp on it. After eyeballing this I decided the best path to take was to make a new lid.

new lid

I don't know what kind of pine this is but I do know it isn't Eastern White Pine. It will be more adequate for a sliding lid.

it wasn't flat

A cup on one face and a hump on the other. Started the flattening with the cup side. The white spots are where the plane was taking shavings. The darker spot in the middle is where it is hollow. Kept at this going straight across until I made full length shavings from side to side.

no twist

Got lucky that I didn't have to deal with any twist. I repeated this for the hump side flattening it just like I did the other face. I didn't plane the hump face parallel to the first face. I planed it flat, smooth and called it done. I just needed the bottom face to be flat and straight for making the rabbets.

fussing with the rabbets

My goal was to keep the rabbet tongues as thick as I could. So I took my time planing and checking until I got the rabbets just right.

fitted

It is a frog hair too snug. I left it as is because I can open and close it. I find planing something like this tricky. Which part do I plane to make it smoother and easier? Having made a bazillion of these sliding lid boxes I can tell you that you can go from snug to rattle can loose with one shaving. And you don't get to say 'aw shxt'.

planing the chamfer

I plane my chamfers down to the tops of the rabbets. 

astragals

Astragals differ from beads in that they have fillets on either side of the center bead. This is the same size astragal that I used on the original lid.

chamfer on the back

The lid is proud of the top of the box on the sides and the back. I will chamfer the back but it is tricky to do. There is a good possibility that the plane will blow out the beads.

done

I chamfered the front of the box before I planed the astragals. Got no blowout or tears here. I got lucky with the back too - no blowouts or tears.

done

The original lid and the replacement one. The only difference in the two is the new lid doesn't have a finish and the rabbets aren't as wide. Them being shorter in width should make them a wee bit stronger.

the back chamfer

Penciled a line to guide my chamfering.

done

This pine end grain looks a sponge. However, after sanding the pores closed up and the end grain looked even and smooth.

done

This took maybe an hour to knock out. I'm debating whether or not to put a finish on it. I have some shellac left but I'm thinking maybe I should wait until summer and wait to see if this expands and do the finish then. Another choice would be to rub in a wax finish. That is something I have wanted to try but haven't yet.

accidental woodworker

what to my wondering eyes......

On mondays I go out for breakfast. This is what I saw when I opened the blinds this morning before leaving the house. Came as a total surprise seeing 2+ inches everywhere. Breakfast was delayed a few minutes, shoveling and cleaning snow off the truck. This reminds me of a winter a few years back where there was a lot of snowfall in the last 6 weeks of winter. Is it going to happen again?

grab bar spot

I got a little confused thinking that I had to also transfer these marks to the rear legs. After looking at the full scale drawing I saw that it wasn't so.

settled the top detail

Sawed the tops of the front legs flush and I'm leaving it as is. I will round over where my fingers are pointing along with the top back edge. I won't go nutso on any of them - just a simple, soft round over will do.

much better

The shellac on the ends is reflecting light now. I could have done a better job sanding the end grain smooth but I am leaving them as is. I don't want to shorten the lid R/L anymore than what it is currently. I go the last coat of shellac on it today and tomorrow I'll do the Howards trick.

thinking ahead....

To my take on this the bottom front leg angle is more important then the rear bottom angle. Both are important but the front is the reference. That leg puts the treads parallel to the floor. The back angle sets the splay and where the top angle falls on the front leg stop. I may have to adjust the rear angle and hopefully if I do, it will only have to be that one.

getting a look see

The full scale drawing is kind of useless now because the rear legs are shorter in the length. The angles are the same with the rear leg further down on the front leg. The pivot point on the full scale drawing is about 4-5 inches higher than where it will be on the rear leg.

I plan on securing the front/rear legs with a 5/16-18 flat head machine screw. I will also put a bushing in the two legs so the screw doesn't rub and chew up the wood. I already looked on McMaster-Carr and they have them. I'll buy them when I place the order for the aluminum rectangular tubing.

tread layout

The tops of the treads will be 7 and 14 inches high respectively. As of now I am only putting in two of them. There is plenty of room for a third one and I'll make that call after I see two of them.

double quadruple triple checking myself

I have in the past done the layout and dadoes wrong. They not only have to be mirror images of each other but have the correct orientation with respect to the angles on the legs. And I have to account for the front too.

planing maple.....

What a difference 20+ years of learning/experience makes. The last time I tried working maple it was a nightmare. In the interim I have gained some skills among them learning how to sharpen my plane irons. Back then I had no idea of a burr and how important that is. Other than dealing with some squirrely grain reversals, this maple is basically no different planing than its cherry sibling or the pine I normally use.

love and hate this

This is a good miter gauge and certainly heads above the stock miter gauge that came with this saw. It holds 90° like it is cast in stone but once you move it off 90°and return to it, it goes off in La La Land. I used this to saw some of the angles on the legs and when I set it back to 90°, it was off about a degree.

It is relatively easy to set it back to 90° but I find it a PITA that I have to do that. I have tried to use a square against the gauge and the saw blade but that doesn't work due the grippy strip I have on the face of the miter gauge. Instead I saw a scrap (at least 6" wide) at 90° until it reads square when checked with my Starrett 18" combo square. It took me about 15 minutes to dial it back in to 90°.

Yikes!

This fell off the workbench when I was routing the dadoes for the treads. The tongue for the rabbet on both sides broke off. The left side is worse than the right. It is also the second time I have broken the right tongue off. After a quick look see I don't think it will be an easy fix of just gluing them back on. It is looking more like I will be making a new lid.

2 down, 2 to go

I had planned on sawing the walls of these but I chopped all four of them. I purposely undercut the width. I want these to be a tight fit for the treads. I wanted to use #12 black oxide, 2" flat head screws but Blacksmithbolt doesn't have any. He has 12 in stock but you need to order 25 as the minimum. FYI you can't do that. I'll have to call him and see how that shakes out.

these are tight

Got the tight fit I wanted, in fact it is a wee bit too tight but I can sneak up on the tight fit with a hand plane.

a close up on how tight

I'm about a 32nd too wide. But it is far easier to remove then to add and I'll get my tight fit.

the left side treads

Did better on the fit. These are maybe a frog hair over snug (and self supporting).

almost fully seated

When I pulled the treads out and checked for bruising there was hardly any to see. Not sure if it because of the hardness of the maple or the fit being just right.

right side

This is as far as I tried to seat the right side. There was evidence of bruising on these.

hmm.....

I can still see my depth line on both sides of the legs. I will have to revisit this and rout a few more frog hairs off the dadoes.

I'm kind of at a stand still with this now. I need the 5-16 screws, and bushings before I can go any further with this build. It looks like I'll be making my McMaster order sooner than later.

accidental woodworker

It was frigid this AM when I had to go out. The temp was 13F (-11C) with a breeze blowing. That made it feel a whole lot colder. My truck seat never warmed up and I thought I had gotten frostbite on my butt cheeks. Tomorrow morning the temp is going to be 30 degrees warmer. BTW, when is ground hog day? (FYI its Feb 2nd)

I don't think I'm losing my mind. I checked/read my blog post from monday and I'm sure now that the DVD didn't come monday. However, I'm still clueless as to how it got where I found it. My wife told me she wouldn't have put my mail there. I don't think the cat did it (without being bribed with treats) so that leaves the bogey man?

where I found it saturday

what it looked like monday

No DVD there now. I didn't empty the bookshelf until tuesday so there is no way the DVD was there on monday. Replaced one mystery with another one.

no road trip

Forgot I had a maple board left over. This would save me a round trip.

sigh....

It isn't long enough. There are several splits on this end along with the knot. If I wouldn't have an angled cut on this end I would welcome the knot. I think it looks interesting. Would look even better filled in with black epoxy.

glad I checked

Laid it on the full scale drawing and it looked like I could just squeeze it out. The knot will go bye-bye when I saw the angle at the top. I just had to ensure that I laid it out and sawed that angle correctly.

not straight

The ends were touching the straight edge but there was a big hollow between them. Used the scrub plane to knock the ends down first. Took a few extra dance steps but I got it flat and straight end to end.

double, triple checked myself

Laid out the angle and checked myself again a bazillion times. I ensured that I had the bottom angle aligned with the full scale drawing and I then penciled the angle at the top. I sawed this one by hand. The bottom one I did on the tablesaw.

second leg angle

Did the same dance steps for the second one. I have had angle orientations bite me on the arse (and draw blood) too many times. The full scale drawing was a lifesaver for this.

flushing the top ends

Started with the first leg after I had rough sawn both. I smoothed and squared the first leg and used that to knife the angle on the second leg.

blowout

I don't understand why I blew this out but regardless I will have to deal with it. I had planned on rounding the point where the two angles met. I'm not sure that it will remove all of it though.

knifing the 2nd leg angle

Sawed this angle by hand, leaving the pencil and knife lines.

the bottom one

The reference I'm using for this build is the bottom of the legs. I have about an 1/8 to plane off the 2nd leg.

ganged

The top ends aren't even but that won't be a problem. Planed the two angles and checked them for square. It isn't carved in stone that these two angles have to be dead nuts equal. They both stand alone so being a few degree seconds off isn't a big deal.

top end detail

This doesn't agree with the full scale drawing. On the drawing this 2" diameter circle falls on the front angle and back edge. Played around it with and got the touch points with a 2nd circle over lapping the first.

1 1/8 dowel hole

Still haven't received the 1 1/8" forstner bit. I extended the centerline of it and the circle above so I could transfer them to the leg.

blah

I am not liking this round over look at all. I think it looks crappy and odd looking. I am going to do something different - this is now officially shitcanned.

before I forgot it again

I had said this was done but after bringing it upstairs I didn't like the coverage. The ends didn't look like they had a shiny coat of shellac. I'll keep putting shellac on the ends until it is. After that I will rub it down with 4-0 steel wool and Howards feed 'n wax.

center punch

I marked the center of the mortise for the dowel rod. This punch leaves a fairly deep dimple that would take a lot of planing to remove. I should be safe in not losing them.

hmm.....

The ends are tight but there is a hollow between them. Not sure if it is worth it to plane - nothing is married to or off of it. I probably will in the AM because this where I killed the lights for today.

accidental woodworker

 Spent the AM running down the DVD. The local post office sent me the mail depot on Strawberry Fields rd. I talked first to the clerk working the counter and then I got to speak to a supervisor. He told he had spoken with the carrier and he would look into where it got delivered. Moot point because I found it while eating my lunch.

The DVD was on the TV table I had made back in the late 1990's. How it got there I am completely clueless. I don't remember who checked the mail on monday nor do I remember receiving any mail on that day. All I can recall from monday is I had pancakes for breakfast that day. I hope I don't have anymore surprises like this in the coming days. It sucks to get old and become forgetful.

1/2" oak plywood

This was the 3rd option and it is too tall. I want the book to be enclosed so that it doesn't get covered in dust from the shop. I cut this down 3/4" and it still wouldn't work.

4th option

The lid for the box above couldn't be hinged because it would be up against the side. From there I thought of using a slanted lid. But it was also too wide (R/L) and would have kept the saw till door from being opened. The open shelf idea is also too wide. On to option 5.

nixed the shelf/box ideas

I couldn't think of way to work around or go with the restrictions putting the book on the side of the saw till. I did find some space on the 2x3 that I have my 5' pipe clamps on. Nixed that too due it would be open - no option there to have a lidded box. Shelved this for the time being and I put the book in the first cabinet behind the workbench.

front leg

The ripple marks planed off without any hiccups. However, the leg was twisted a healthy amount. I didn't even need the sticks to tell me, I could see it.

3/4"

I planed the twist in thirds and the far end kicked my butt. It took a lot of calories getting the first third untwisted. I went from a strong 7/8" thick to a frog hair proud of 3/4". I'll have to evaluate what is next because I will have to plane this board to get the other face parallel. I might have to make another road trip to Koszela lumber for more soft maple.

front legs

This isn't too bad now that I have planed the twist off on the right one. They are now laying up pretty much tight end to end. I can see the far top end is scalloped from where I planed the twist off. Some of it will be removed when I detail that end but not all of it. 

This was the output for today. After lunch I conked out and napped at my desk for two hours. When I finally woke up I went to the shop and killed the lights. I'll get back to the legs on the kitchen ladder/stool in the AM.

accidental woodworker

I did the most stupidist thing ever and have scarred myself for life and potentially could have lost movement in my hand. Watch and learn from my mistake

Hidden Mitered Dovetails The last cabinet for the series of modular tansu is the low cherry cabinet, which is also the biggest and most complicated of the bunch. The cabinet is nearly 6 1/2′ long (1980m), and 30″ tall (765 mm) with the base. The original cabinet that I built that inspired this one was… Read More »Cherry Low Cabinet – 1

The post Cherry Low Cabinet – 1 appeared first on Big Sand Woodworking.

My latest conversation with long-time friend Brian Wilson dropped yesterday on his Now For Something Completely Different podcast.  If pungent (but not vulgar) discussion of current events interests you, find it and give it a listen.  If not, don’t.

You have been forewarned.

 Today was swimming along so nicely until about 1500. I had gone to lunch with my wife and then went on to Barnes and Noble bookstore. Made a few more stops before we headed back to the barn. That is when my day turned to liquid fecal matter that floated up above my armpits.  A big sigh.......

I had ordered a DVD from Lie Nielsen last week and it was delivered this past monday at 1341 according to the USPS. However, the delivery was not made to my mailbox. Did the address that got it turn it in or (gasp!) bring it to my house? Nay, nay moose breath, that didn't happen.

I am sad, angry, pissed off, but mostly feeling sick to my stomach that I will have to wade through the cesspool of bureaucratic BS dealing with the USPS to fix this. The total $$$ of the DVD was $45 and I will fight for it. I am sure it is going to consume a lot of calories and weeks before it is resolved. And it might not be in my favor.

AM session

Oops. I sawed the top angle of the rear leg 3/4" short. I thought I was doing it so it would have been 3/4" long. This is a prototype so it isn't going to stop the sun from rising in the east tomorrow. The angle at the bottom matched the full scale drawing spot on. 

from one I got two

I sawed the box in two on the table saw. The smaller one is practically useless but I can use it to put parts in it for projects.

happy face on

This box not only is a place to stow something, it keeps the bigger box from moving around in the drawer.

flushing the sides and ends

I glued solid pine bottoms on both boxes. After that I brought them upstairs and put them on the kitchen radiator to cook for an hour. After flushing them I sanded the four sides and top with 120. That is all the boxes are getting for a 'finish'.

ready to rock and roll

This was an efficient way to make two boxes. I hadn't planned on doing that but did it because one small end had split in two while planing the miter. I super glued it back together and I sawed the box apart on that fault line. That is what determined the two sizes.

wee bit of a bow

I am not too concerned about this. One, the top of the rear legs will be bolted to the front legs. Secondly, there will be an X brace close to the top of the rear legs. When I install that I will ensure that the two legs are parallel and straight, end to end. That should remove it and keep them straight/parallel.

1 1/8"

I thought I had a 1 1/8" forstner bit but I don't. I searched for one but then I remembered that I had used a rasp to make a 1" hole 1 1/8". I ordered a FMag forstner today and I should have it time to use on the prototype. IMO FMag forstner bits are phenomenal. They are cleanest, easiest drilling forstner bits I have used. Well worth the few extra $$$ they cost over cheap chinese made ones.

from Barnes and Noble

My wife and I spent well over an hour here and I was a bit disappointed in the woodworking sections. There were only 5 woodworking magazines for sale and the books on woodworking occupied maybe 18" of shelf space. However, I did find and buy this gem of a reference book.

why I bought it

This is the first page I opened the book up to. I have never seen any specs or references for threaded inserts before. 99% of the ones I have bought over the years didn't come with any specs for them. This is some handy info to have at your finger tips.

crammed full in all ten chapters

All the info in this book is for the woodworker. There is just what is needed to be known. There is no minutiae to glaze your eyes over or put you to sleep. I read the whole chapter on the math and it was all understandable to me. And I am no math whiz but if I wanted to make a dexagon (or decagon), a ten sided object, it has a pic of it and the required angles. Simple, understandable, and easy to put into practice.

its new home

Of course I'll have to make a holder/box of some kind to keep this in. This is an updated, modern version of the LAP shop reference book.

wasn't quite 1500

Decided to work up a quick sketch of the holder/box for the new book.

stopped rabbet

Did this with a slitting gauge and a chisel. Surprised at how easy it was but mostly how well it came out.

not wide enough

Sliced a new line with the gauge and chiseled it out. Left with a clean, square rabbet.

flush

This came out as expected. The rabbet won't be seen nor the top of the side too. This end will be up against the side the saw till. But this plan has already by superseded by change 2, alteration 1.b, sub level 3E.2-PL. The new one will be a box with a lid to keep all the shop crappola out it and off the book.

accidental woodworker

. . . 50–200 years, a home version. At least that’s my consideration from what I found in the facts surrounding this mass made chair from the café I go to each day. At first, I said 50 years service, but then I thought, in careful use, an average family size of 1.7 children under...

Source

It must be something in the air. Out looking for birthday presents, I found these books, a stone's throw from St. Mary's in Totnes.

Literally for a song. I would happily have paid, for each page, what I paid for each book. Some things are just meant to be.

The first was right next to the second. A fitting accompaniment, given that my interest in 17th century English furniture, was first piqued, by an exploration of American furniture of the same period.

Cantilevered cupboards.

It’s Katrina (Paul’s daughter in law here). Since 2021 Paul has been sharing the journey of making all the furniture for his Oxfordshire home at Woodworking Masterclasses, in our series Sellers Home. The idea behind the Sellers Home series is that if you were to follow along and make every piece of furniture you would...

Source

I got all discombobulated with the work plan I had today. I had checked the weather forecast and I thought today was going have rain all day. I was wrong and tomorrow (friday) is the rainy day. Because of that brain fart I took my time getting to the shop. Today was sunny but cold and I could have done the lunchbox planing on the cherry and maple. Sometimes it is good to take a break and stop to smell the saw dust.

1/4-20 insert driver

This driver engages in the mating part in the head of the insert. It works well and I haven't had one hiccup using it. The downside - it will only drive inserts made specifically for this driver.

new driver - it is a 1/4-20 driver

I said yesterday this was a 5/16 driver but it isn't. This insert driver engages the internal threads of the insert. This one will work on any 1/4-20 threaded insert. Of the two I think this one is a better to have.

I have two to choose from

The right one is beefier and I know it works. I haven't had the need to use a threaded insert for a while. I'll keep this one at the head of the line and I will keep an eye out for getting the same style for my other threaded inserts.

from Lee Valley

I have #1, #2, and #3 square drivers for both of these Yankee screwdrivers. The right one also has a flat tip screwdriver. Two of these drivers are slightly magnetic. Does that mean that they aren't hardened? Just my MO but an unhardened drive is useless and will strip out almost immediately.

a must

I sawed the aluminum tubing getting what I wanted from it. These glasses are shatter proof and seal around both eyes. Sawing aluminum throws a ton of little slivers of aluminum all over.

had an oops

I can get two pieces out of this one 12" long stop. I realized after I had sawn off the unwanted pieces I could have gotten 4 of them out of it. Oh well I can order another one while I work on the first one.

this should work

I ended up with a 'L' shape with one leg wider than the other. The back leg will butt up against the long leg. This is a 1/8" thick and it should be more the sufficient to act as a stop - the plan has it being 6" long and the rear leg will be about 4 3/4" to 5" long bearing against it.

hmm......

I left a wee bit on both legs. I thought I would be able to easily file this soft aluminum without any problems. I tried 4 different files and I removed hardly anything with them. I was expecting the aluminum to file away to nothing and quickly. Neither of those happened. I'll have to drop back and punt on removing the proud.

prepping the maple stock

I sawed all the boards to rough width leaving them a strong 16th over.

back stretcher

This will keep the rear legs parallel and from spreading apart at the bottom. The top will be held in check due to the rear legs being bolted to the front legs.

insurance

I am also going to put a 'X' brace on the back up close to the top of the rear legs. With the lower stretcher it should help keep the legs parallel and from spreading. The stock for this is 1/2" thick. I am also doing this because I like the look of a 'X' brace.

The thickness of the maple stock is 7/8" which surprised me. It looked to be 3/4" but I wasn't expecting 7/8". 

time to fix this

I keep meaning to do this and today was the time to do it. The right outside end tends to drop below the surface of the benchtop. That can be annoying when I am chiseling stock there.

not going nutso

I was surprised to see that I had two biscuits already here. I added one more at each end and another to left of the right end one.

almost done

I am happy with the fit and it being flush with the benchtop. I added a 5/16" spax screw lower down between the two bolts. I got lucky with having one (wanted two) in my collection of screws and things.

a day of surprises

The cherry dowels came in and I found out something about these dowels. I thought the mini dowels were '1x'. I am going to have to find a new hole to keep the dowels in now. I don't have room in their current location for all of the dowels.

These are kind of expensive too I just realized. The 1x and 2x are about 65-70 cents apiece. The mini ones are cheaper but I don't know by how much. So far after using these for several years I predominately use the minis the most followed by the 1x. Can't recall ever using the 2x ones.

banding came in

As I was typing this and looking at the pic I saw that I have 3 different types of banding. The 1/8" wide inlays are two different designs. I may not have enough of it to do what I want again.

close enough

These two are different but you have to eyeball the two closely to see it. I don't intend to 'inlay' either one of these. I plan to simply glue them to the box.

where I got it

He has a lot of bandings/inlay for sale. I looked into how to make this - read and watched a lot of You Tube videos - decided it wasn't for me. I'll write a check and thank whoever I buy it from.

gap

This has been bugging me every since made these drawers and filled them up. I've been meaning to make a small open box to fit in this hole. 

gave me fits

The box has mitered corners and I'll strengthen it by gluing a 1/8" plywood bottom on it. The ends are 1 5/8" wide and I didn't have any hiccups shooting the miters. I thought due to the box size I would. 

The miters also drank up a gallon of glue. I sized the miters twice before applying glue for a third time and clamping it up. Because the ends were short I had to overlap the corner braces. That made squaring the box a bit of a PITA but I finally managed to get the diagonals within a 32nd.

no hiccups

My last memories of planing maple still give me nightmares. It was a horrible experience which led me to forsake using maple for anything. The #80 made some fluffy shavings but it didn't remove the planer ripple entirely. The #3 ate 'em up like a kid eating candy.

I started out slow advancing the iron until it just was barely making a shaving. Kept at that until I felt comfortable making shavings end to end with it. The #3 behaved and it removed all the planer ripple marks and left the board flat, smooth, and shiny looking. I am going to try and use planes to smooth all the stock and leave it as close to 7/8" thick as I can.

rear leg top angle

Refining the angle and I was slowly creeping up on it. I want this angle to bear its entire length up against the stop on the front leg. I stopped doing that here and I'll pick it back up in the AM.

bottom ones are done

These might need to be refined based on how well the top one fits against the stop. 

accidental woodworker

This post will be considered by some as an intellectual exercise only.  Maybe it's for math geeks, like myself.  There are simpler methods to do what I write about.  I'm all for simplicity, but I like the math.

When I want to put a curve on the underside of a chair rail or a table apron, a simple method is to place a clamp at either end of the intended curvature and bend a stick (or ruler) to the desired "bulge" of the curve.  While this method will give attractive results, the resulting curve will not be exactly circular.  The stick bends more at it's center than at its ends.  And it may not bend equally both sides of center.

Marked lines 1" from ends, and placed clamps near those marks

Centerline marked and 1 inch "bulge" marked from lower edge

Bend a stick to the "bulge" mark, and draw the curve

Here's the resulting curve

There are times when I want to end up with a curve that is part of a circle.  And when this is the case, I'd like to know the radius of the circle that will give the desired curve so that I can lay it out on the workpiece.

Here's an example, same as in the above pics.  Suppose I have a 20" x 2 1/2" rail and I want to put a circular arc on the underside.  I want the arc to start 1" from each end of the rail and I want it to extend up into the rail's front face by 1".  So that's an arc 18" wide with a 1" bulge.

Using a little math, I can calculate that the radius of the circle that gives the appropriate arc is 41".  I can then use a stick (or piece of string) of that length and a pencil to lay out the curve.  I'll write more about the math below.

This stick will allow arcs up to approx. 48" radius

One end has a shallow slot to run a pencil in

You can put a screw anywhere on the stick for whatever radius you need. The screw tip exits the bottom side, and it is used as a pivot point for drawing the arc.

Here, I'm using the radius jig to mark the arc on the workpiece. Note that the screw has to be in line with the centerline of the workpiece.

The two methods give very similar results, so it really doesn't matter which you use.

You can see the slight difference in the two methods

But if you're doing a smaller piece, say an arc only 6" wide, then that bendy stick won't bend in that tight a space.  That's when it would be easier to use a radius stick.  For those smaller pieces, I can use my homemade trammel points to create the arc.  I'll show that below.

Another place where drawing a circular arc has come up is when laying out a camber on a scrub plane iron.  I recently made an iron that was 1 1/2" wide and I wanted a 1/16" bulge at the cutting edge.  For this iron, I simply filed a curve to get it close.  But if I wanted to be more precise, I could figure out what the radius of that curvature is and make a template.  Turns out it is about 4 1/2".

Cardboard template, 1 1/2" wide with centerline drawn

Homemade trammel points

Setting the distance to 4 1/2"

Drawing the appropriate arc on the template

Measuring the resulting bulge - it's about 1/16"

Comparing the template to the plane iron

OK, now here's the math part.  It has to do with right triangles and the Pythagorean theorem.  I'll start with the example of a table apron, which I want to put an arc on the bottom edge, starting some distance in from each end and rising up a certain amount.  In the picture below, points A and B are the ends of the arc, and C is a point centered between them.  The width of the arc I'll call "w", so the distance from C to B is 1/2 w.  The bulge of the arc is the distance from the lower edge of the board to the highest point on the arc.  I call it "b".

The workpiece with arc drawn.  The arc has width "w" and height "b".

Now I'm going to zoom out so you can see the rest of the picture.  The arc drawn on the workpiece is part of a large circle, whose center is at point O.  The radius of the circle, given by distance R, is the distance from point O to any point on the circle.  I'm using point B here.

Zoomed out pic shows the complete circle with radius drawn

Another radius is from the center, O, to the point at the top center of the arc, drawn straight up from the center.  That radius is made up of two distances, the distance from O to C, and the distance from C to the top of the arc.  The latter of those I've already called "b", the bulge.  So the distance from O to C is a radius minus the bulge, or R-b.  Triangle OCB is a right triangle, so from Pythagoras, the sum of the squares of the two legs (legs are the sides of the triangle making the right angle) equals the square of the hypotenuse.

R^2 = (R-b)^2 + (w/2)^2       (the symbol ^2 means squared)

R^2 = R^2 - 2Rb + b^2 + (w^2)/4

And simplifying, we get:

2Rb = b^2 + (w^2)/4, and then

R = (b^2 + (w^2)/4) / (2b)

So to draw an arc with a certain width and bulge, you can calculate the radius of the circle that describes the arc and use a stick to draw the arc.  I've put this formula into an Excel spreadsheet.  If you want to do the same, type the following in an Excel sheet:

=(C4^2 + (C3^2)/4)/(2*C4)

In this formula, C3 is the location in the spreadsheet where I entered the arc width (not half width, the whole width).  C4 is the location in the spreadsheet where I entered the bulge.

Here's a picture of what my Excel sheet looks like (replace the word "Iron" with "Arc")

The example shown above has an arc width of 18" and a bulge of 1".  The resulting radius is 41".

Here are the details for the other example of this - shaping a plane iron with camber to make a scrub plane.  It works exactly the same way.

The plane iron drawn in gray, with markings like the earlier example.

Here's the upper end shown closer up

Using the spreadsheet for an iron that is 1 1/2" wide and giving a 1/16" bulge, I get a radius of 4 1/2".

The cambered iron example

For anyone who is actually interested in this stuff, if you can't figure out how to get the formula I wrote above (shaded in yellow) to work in your own Excel spreadsheet, contact me using the "contact me" gadget somewhere on this blog page.  Specify that you want the radius spreadsheet, because I've got another spreadsheet for a different application and don't want to send the wrong one.

Lately I’ve been contemplating the concept of “scale” in great part because I am now incorporating the making of smallish things for smallish people (for 2, soon to be 3 grandsons) into my shop time, building my huge tool cabinet, and touring the largest timber frame structure in the world.

When we visited Li’l T and his family for Thanksgiving I had in-hand a small step stool I’d made specifically for him.  I made nearly identical versions for his mom and her sister when they were little girls, and these little step stools not only served them well at the time but are still in regular service 35 years later.  I expect the same results for Li’l T’s step stool and the one I make for his brother MightyM next year and his new cousin in a couple years after that.  This one was made to fit exactly inside a 12″ x 12″ x 12″ cardboard shipping box in case I had to ship it to him.

On our way home from Thanksgiving we made a couple of memorable stops in Kentucky, again emphasizing scale.  First stop was Mammoth Cave, of which we got to see about 1%, but what we saw was still monumental.  Then on to The Ark Encounter outside of Cincinnati, where an interpretation of Noah’s Ark was presented at full scale.  “Big” does not begin to describe the structure, and if you have any interest in monumental timber framing it is worth the visit.

It is over 500 feet from end to end, and although it has a modern steel frame skeleton the interior structures are built almost entirely of timbers including whole tree trunks.  I believe they employed Amish barn framers for the work.  I spent hours just looking at the structure itself.

Back home I have resumed work on the parquetry for the tool cabinet, probably the largest piece of furniture I will ever make.  Ironically the presentation surface will be a parquetry surface assembled by combining hundreds of small triangles approximately 1″ x 2″ into scores of parallelograms roughly 2″ x 4″, further enhanced in the final composition with hundreds of mother-of-pearl dots and ivory diamonds.  There will be much blogging about this as the project resumes more fully.

In addition I am delving once again into the world of Gragg, where I am still working out the details of a 3/4-scale elastic chair for Li’l T’s upcoming birthday (hope I get it made in time).  Again, at least two additional iterations will be manifest in the coming couple of years.

One of the issues with “scale” is the question, “Can something be scaled-up (enlarged) or scaled-down (miniaturized) and still be successful?”

I think I am about to find out.

 

PS – Warmer and sunny with an inch of rain tomorrow, so the snow should be all gone.

 Made a road trip to Koszela lumber this AM. I found the cherry and while waiting my turn I found a pile of maple for a good price so I bought some. Decided then and there to make a maple prototype because I have never made anything out of maple before. I have tried using maple a couple of times many, many, many moons ago but they all ended with me having a pile of maple kindling. But I have a good feeling about giving maple a reprieve. I'll see what shakes out in the next couple of days.

happy with this

I have two coats of shellac on this after sanding and scraping the shelf. There was a rather ugly looking patch above my finger but shellac is a wonderful finish. It has blended and smoothed it out and made it disappear.

Last night I went back to the shop and got another coat on the bottom. Before I left for Koszela lumber I put another coat on the entire bookshelf.

happy face on

All of the cherry is straight and flat still. None of them did any stupid wood tricks overnight. 

$100.24

One 4/4 cherry board 7" wide by 4' long and three maple boards planed to 13/16" and averaging about 5 1/2" wide by 8' long. Had them cut off at 3' on each board so I could get them all inside the truck cab with me.

calling it done

I'm nixing putting poly or oil on the shelf. I got four more coats of shellac on it and that is sufficient. I'll bring it upstairs and let it cure for a couple of days before I put the books back in it.

disappointed in this

I am not a happy camper with the cherry dowels. I fussed over them for a while trying to get a match between the two for color and grain. The one on the left pops out with the right one being shy and unnoticeable. The walnut ones look good and the they should lighten as time goes on. Especially so the left side which gets the morning sun. The right side gets partial afternoon sun.

right side

This side isn't as bad as the left but still not ideal IMO. In hindsight maybe I should have used walnut 2x dowels instead cherry.

trying it

This was $7 at Koszela lumber and I bought one. I am not optimistic that I'll get to use the whole bottle. Usually the nozzle clogs shut on me or the contents harden into stone.

$6 at Wally World(?)

This is what I usually buy in super glue. One of these has a clogged nozzle and the other has a ton of crusty, dried glue smothering it. Seemed a bargain to me to get a bazillion more ounces for a dollar more.

from yesterday

These are two pieces I got from the board from hell yesterday. I checked both for twist and they still had some. The good news is they looked like they didn't grow more of it. Before I flattened the new cherry board, I removed the twist from these two.

kicking my butt

Before this check I had removed the twist. The sticks were barely a frog hair off parallel from each other. However, the helicopter test failed. On the opposite diagonal, the stick laid flat. On this diagonal it is spinning - there is a hump but it also tells me that the board was still twisted. Went back to the twist sticks and planed the frog hair difference off and the diagonals agreed after that.

The second board was easier to do than the first one. It behaved and I got the twist sticks dead nuts parallel before passing the helicopter check.

front leg

Traversed the board at a slant R to L and L to R, then straight across followed up by planing it straight across end to end with the #6. After that I smoothed the board with the 5 1/2 and checked it for twist.

did it in thirds

Boards over 30" in length I will check for twist in multiple positions. This board is 41" long and I checked and planed twist out every 14". There was twist at the first third and almost nothing at the other two spots.

I used to only check for twist between the two ends of the boards. That has bit me on the arse too many times. I also inevitably will have a hump in the middle of the board. I have mistaken planing that away with removing twist. Doing the twist check in multiple spots has gotten flatter and straight boards for me.

reference face done

The board is pristine and dead nuts flat. There are undulations still but for running it through the lunchbox it is more than adequate. I left the board wider than needed. After it is planed to thickness and the leg cut out the off cut will be used for a X brace on the back legs.

opposite face

I did this on all the boards. This one is cupped on this face and I knocked down the wing high points and then I went across the width end to end because I had the time to do it. I'll sticker this and let it get any stupid wood tricks out of its system.

cherry kitchen stool/ladder stock

The top boards are the stretcher and X brace. From Left to Right, the front legs, treads, and rear legs. Still not used to how little wood this project is taking.

prepping the maple

Breaking the maple down into the parts needed was batting first.

maple kitchen stool/ladder stock

This is already planed to thickness but I intend to run it all through the lunchbox to clean up the planer ripple marks in every single board. I planed one edge square to a reference face.

stickered

Depending upon the weather but mostly how this behaves will determine when I run all the stock through the lunchbox planer. Today would have been a good day for it because the temp got up to 50F (10C). That almost felt a heat wave after the bitter cold of the past weeks. The weather sucks because there is nothing by cloudy skies and rain in the forecast for the next 10 days. If I have to wait that will at least give the stock a chance to acclimate to the shop.

cherry

I will have to find a hole for the maple to sticker in the boneyard tomorrow. I can't leave it on the tablesaw.

presents for me

The bottom one is from McMaster-Carr and that is the one I want the most.

aluminum tubing

This is 1/8" thick walled rectangular aluminum tubing. The other choices were brass, bronze, various steels, and cast iron. Aluminum was the cheapest and I can cut it on the tablesaw. The plan is to use this as a stop for the rear legs.

Lee Valley haul

All I wanted from them was the two magnets for the 5/8" door catches. But in order to get free shipping I had to raise the order up $50. Bought a couple of heavy duty hinges and some square drive bits for my Yankee screwdriver.

insert driver

If I remember this is for a 5/16" internal thread, threaded inset. This one works differently then my other insert drivers. 

for chair making

On my bucket list is to make at least one chair. I have the patterns for a Chris Schwarz chair that is patiently waiting for me. Lee Valley says this is for drilling pilot holes for chair spindles/tenons. It came with imperial and metric bushings for drill bits.

I'll have to think of something to amuse myself with tomorrow because it is supposed rain all day long off and on. 

accidental woodworker

Happy Year of the Snake from Hello Kitty and Giant Cypress!

I didn't go on walk about after lunch today. After a couple of days of the foot feeling much better it was acting up. It doesn't hurt like it did at its peak but it is still uncomfortable walking. I wouldn't have made it out of the driveway before I had to turn around back to the barn. I'll give it another week and see how it shakes out then.

yikes

This looks like total crappola. I had brought it up to the kitchen yesterday after I had glued in the dowels to cook. Those looked ok and this should spruce up after a coat of shellac.

flushed the dowels

I sawed them first with the flush cut saw and that left only a frog hair or two for the chisel to attack.

thinking on this

I didn't like the lines in the finish from the books. I am considering one of these two for the shelf top. The rest of the bookshelf will be shellac.

considered and shit canned

I briefly entertained making a prototype out these 2x4s. I would lose too much on the width due to squaring up the rounded edges.

going with cherry

Decided to make the kitchen ladder out of cherry because I didn't feel like going to Lowes to buy over priced poplar or red oak. I can get the treads from the two pieces on the shit can and the tall, thin board will give up one short and long leg.

had to back track

I had two thin width cherry boards that I thought I get all four legs from. I was wrong. I can get two short and one long or two long ones. I tried stretching them but that was a bust. I'll have to make a road trip to Koszela Lumber in the AM.

double, triple checking myself

I laid the boards on the full scale drawing and it confirmed that I can't get all four legs from this. I thought about shortening the ladder but I like the height of this one. I had another cherry board that was 10" wide that I sawed out a piece for the last leg.

the go, no go

If I didn't have to cut off splits at the end I would have had enough to get the four legs. The short ones would have been a 1/4" to 3/8" shorter than the drawing.

two long legs

I got lucky with the cherry I have to work with. It is flat sawn but the grain runs fairly straight and parallel to outside edges. It is rough sawn and I'm shooting to plane it out to 7/8" thick. In this rough state it is over an inch thick.

not much wood needed

The ladder needs only a few pieces of cherry. Four legs, two treads, one stretcher, and a dowel. I'm using a 1 1/8" diameter one because I have several of them on hand.

prep time

I will flatten one face, get it straight and twist free. I will thickness them with the lunchbox planer.

hiccup time

This board was throwing a hissy fit. There was hump around the middle - the straight edge was spinning like a helicopter rotor. Took a lot of calories to remove it. These are the legs and they not only have to be twist free, but straight end to end.

problem children

To make things easier for myself I sawed the 10" wide board in half. It will be quicker to flatten them as two thin boards vice a wide one.

straight as a dog's hind leg

I put a 4 foot straight edge on the flat portion of the leg to gauge how much the far end is screwing me. I set this one aside and flattened the other one first. It dipped a wee bit but not as much as this one. 

problem board

I removed a lot of wood straightening out the dog leg end on this board. I don't think I will get my 7/8" finished thickness. Some of this tear out will be sawn off but not 100%. I may have to put a dutchman in here.

this is bad news

I was criss crossing here and it didn't matter because I still tore out chunks of cherry both ways. I was still trying to flatten this and I was thinking I could put this down at the bottom of the leg. Plus the lunchbox planer might remove some of it and I could fill it in with putty.

ten minute pit stop

Had to do this by hand. I only sharpen this iron on the 3 stones, no stropping.

camber guide

I made this to camber the iron based on a radius recommended by Paul Sellers. I think it is 7 1/2" but I'm not sure. I didn't know that I had saved it. This is the only cambered iron I have. It is for the #6 which I only use for flattening stock.

what has to disappear

The other side looks to be about the same amount I had to plane. I did that and the ends were in line but in between them was a hollow. I dropped a ton of calories removing that but eventually I got it straight (according the 4' straight edge) end to end.

dog leg gone

This was just the start of the nightmare of trying to flatten the 2nd board. The opposite is cupped upwards and all I was trying to do was to get this side flat-ish, flip it and straighten out the side with the hump. That never happened because I never got even reasonably close to getting this side anywhere near flat.

got fooled

Got this face flat-ish but not twist free. I see sawed back and forth trying to remove the twist. One end would twist but the opposite one didn't. I tried doing it in halves, thirds, and quarters and the twist was having a field day screwing with me.

coffee break

I checked the board before the coffee break and I was one line off flat. When I came back down to the shop ten minutes later I was 3 lines off flat. Called No Mas here. There must be a lot of tension in this board and it is going to continue to go nutso on me.

cut it in half

I stickered these two along with the other boards. I expect these two be pretzels in the AM. Fingers crossed the other boards don't do any stupid tricks on me.

looking better

I got two coats on it and a lot of the ugliness is gone. There is still a hint of it here and there so I will definitely need to slather on more shellac.

O1 annealed tool steel bar stock

I got this from McMaster-Carr. The plan is to cut off a piece, bend a foot, and I'll have a router plane iron. I haven't thought the plan through all the way yet. I'll use heat to bend it to form the foot. Not sure how I'll flatten the foot into a triangle shape for the cutting edge. I bought annealed stock so I can harden it after I make the iron (if I can).

I had ordered something for the kitchen ladder too but it didn't come in this order. That is coming tomorrow according to McMaster-Carr and UPS.

accidental woodworker