Norse Woodsmith Blog Feeds

One component of my activities organizing and streamlining barn/shop space and function this year has been taking a page from the American political handbook, wherein electoral district has been reconfigured to render a permanent advantage.   This process is known as Gerrymandering in honor of it first practitioner, early 19th Century Boston politician Eldrige Gerry.  Ostensibly this practice has been attributed to partisan advantage, but in practice it has mostly been used to protect incumbents.  (Actually, only one Party has this strategy figured out and the other is just spinning on its thumb.)

In my case the spatial reorganization has been centered on the question, “How often did I use this particular tool or supply?”  If the answer was, “Not in several years,” the item(s) got moved from a place of relatively easy access into deep(er) storage.

Given the termination of workshop activities here, thus no longer needing classroom or dormitory space, I have plenty of available space to use for storage and archiving.  Lots of stuff has been relocated to reflect more current usage.

One instance of that was removing the leather, mother-of-pearl, and veneer inventories in the giant map case in my main shop workspace.  I had already reconfigured the top of the cabinet quite a while ago to serve as the location for processing beeswax and shellac wax, and the occasional batch of Mel’s Wax.  The leather inventory consumed four drawers, the MOP four drawers, and the special veneers three drawers.

The mother -of-pearl went into two large storage bins now located on the shelves now ringing the former classroom.  The specialty veneers went underneath a rolling worktable that is moved to wherever it is needed (I have a giant stash of walnut and cherry veneers up in the former dorm space), and the leather went into two giant storage bins and a large plastic trash can now relocated on top of that veneer stash.

Seriously, what in the work was I doing with a complete buffalo hide and a zebra skin rug?  And a big pile of elephant hide?

Who knows.

The map case was about 90% empty, available for a large inventory of different tools that had previously occupied a nearby cabinet.

Gerrymandering, my friends.  Gerrymandering.

Handplane expert Bill Anderson shows how to beautify and protect a wooden hand plane using wood finish and wax Affiliate Disclosure: When you purchase through certain links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission, at no cost to you. Learn more. In

  Had a great day in the shop along with feeling pretty good. I got 3 hours in the AM session and almost 3 hours in the PM. It has been a long time since that has happened. I only had two coughing fits but even then they weren't as long as they used to be. I snapped a bazillion pics too so I think I'll go with pics with captions and as little verbiage as is possible for me.

tray dry fitted and original tote bottom repurposed

nope - stock isn't thick enough and too close to the angles

using 1/8" dowels - two down from the top

two angled ones inserted above the break

2nd handle mortise fitted

wee bit too snug

dry fit alignment checked out

inside joints are gap free

rounding the bottom edge of the handle

some spoke shave action with 100 grit last

saw kerf for the wedges

handle fits - 5/8" sticking out both ends

tray glued and clamped

cherry for the wedges

fitted in the kerf

Didn't realize it here but I made the wedges too thin and the saw kerf too shallow.

tray grabbie thing

 Showed a pic of the finished tote to my wife and she like the tray. Surprise again.

saved the cut outs for the glue up

flushing the plywood to the tray

flushed the top corners

half laps for the tray handle

gap on the bottom  had to trim the half laps

tray handle glued and cooking

flushing the ends with a blockplane and 120 grit

rounding the top of the handle

100 grit - no sharp arrises comfortable to the hand

miller dowels to help the rabbets

1/8" dowels

There isn't enough meat to use miller dowels on the ends.

why I used 1/8" dowels

had to angle the 1/8" dowels

glamour pic #1

ooh and aah glamour pic #2

I will slap on three coats of shellac because I'm sure my wife will paint it. 

The wife just gave me another honey do - she wants a small console/entry table. Wood choice left up to me. Surprise again.

accidental woodworker 

Recently, for reasons I shall not mention on this hand tools blog, I retrieved my old Fein Turbo II (model 9-55-13) shop vac from storage, where it's been for the last 13 years.  It's probably 25 years old now.  I mentioned this to a friend in passing and he said "Oh, make sure the sound-deadening foam isn't all falling apart.  You'll know it is if you get black foam bits coming out of the exhaust."  Well guess what - he was exactly right.

The Fein shop vac

Bits of black foam all over the floor

He said that happened to his Fein Turbo II and he fixed it with new foam.  He's a real tech guy and he had laser-cut new foam pieces for his.  I don't know how long ago that was, but he still had his drawings and leftover foam, so he laser-cut me a new set of foam pieces.  This post is about replacing the sound foam in the vacuum.

In the Fein owner's manual, the foam pieces are called the "cover soundproofing", the "side soundproofing", and the "motor soundproofing".

Disassembly was straightforward.  I'm usually a bit nervous about taking things apart, thinking I might not be able to get it back together.  Taking pictures as I go really helps.

Taking the float cage off from the underside of the lid

Revealed some crumbling foam

I replaced this later with extra pieces of foam

Some screws here ...

... and some screws down in this trench

Then turn it right side up and the top comes off to show some really messed up, crumbly, dirty cover soundproofing foam

A closer view of the cover foam that typically stays in the lid

This shows the three pieces of thicker side soundproofing foam

And there's a 1/2" thick motor soundproofing foam piece that goes around the perimeter deeper inside the unit that took removing more screws to get to

I didn't get any pictures of replacing that motor soundproofing piece, but it was probably about 3" x 20" x 1/2".

The cover soundproofing pieces were about 1/2" thick.  Here's one of the pieces cut and being placed in the top casing.  I don't have dimensions for these pieces, but I recall seeing a YouTube video of someone replacing the foam and they had a free download with dimensions for those of you who need to replace your foam.

This piece fits into the underside of the lid ...

... like so, with the two other pieces that fit into the underside of the lid

Here's the cover soundproofing foam pressed into place

But there's a small complication

One of the original foam pieces was held in place in the center of the lid with four "push nuts".  I had to cut the original nuts out with tin snips and, since I didn't have any push nuts, I fashioned some out of a brass furniture grommet.

Close-up of the original push nuts.  They are on plastic studs that were molded with the lid and I didn't want to break them off.

The grommets that I used to make new push nuts

New push nut holding the foam in place

The three thicker (1") side soundproofing foam pieces just drop into empty spaces.  My friend cut the three of them to different lengths - I was never certain why, but I suspect that's how his original ones looked and I didn't measure the ones that came out of my vacuum.  Each piece has two semi-circular cutouts, presumably for air flow.

Three thicker pieces in place

All that was left was to reassemble to unit.  As I was doing that, I was reminded of the little round foam piece under the float cage.  I was able to glue together some foam scraps to get a piece big enough to cut out the round shape and fit it into the opening.

The new piece, with two super-glued seams

The vacuum works great.  It has always worked great.  Many people rave about their Fein Turbo II shop vacs and it's no wonder why.  And now it's not spewing bits of old foam everywhere.

For anyone needing to replace their foam, I have three extra of the 1" thick laser-cut pieces - the ones shown two pictures above this.  If anyone wants them, I'd be happy to send them to you.  Just send me a message using the "contact me" gadget somewhere on this blog page.  Use a different browser if "contact me" doesn't show up on your view.

Having a drink with Matt and Julia
Heres a shout-out to Julia Kalthoff, the Swedish axe-maker. We first became acquainted with Julia via an article in Quercus magazine, and immediately started carrying her axes thereafter. We finally met Julia in person at Handworks. She came all the way from Stockholm! Weve been out of stock of the axes for a while but good news were expecting a shipment next month.
I also met for the first time Matt Johnson, a woodworker based in Iowa who was helping Julia with her booth and logistics. This is an example of camaraderie that we love to see in the woodworking community. We had dinner with them both, and Matt showed me his portfolio of some really wonderful work. Take a look here. He's got a great modernist take on the Arts and Crafts style, which I like a lot. Im also a sucker for walnut, my favorite wood. In addition to being a furniture maker, Matt also is a spoon maker and teaches spoon making.

Julia Kalthoff in her booth at Handworks

It was great meeting people in Amana. Some of the people I was meeting for the first time said they felt they knew me already, and its because they read the blog, which was fun. It was especially great to meet some of the people who had bought the Folding Treadle lathe from the pre-order list and had actually begun using it. (Reports: they are having a lot of fun with the lathe!)

An update on the lathe. We have finished the pre-orders. We have a few lathes in stock that we are offering to people who have previously put their names down to be notified when we have lathe to sell. When those are gone, there will be a bit of a break while we change vendors for the base. After that we should have lathes available for everyone.

Possibly the most important part of the treadle lathe experience is shared by most of the hand tools we stock. There is no motor - it is Powered By You. You are not a machine operator. With hand tools, you are the machine. This give you a sense of control and participation that many people find extremely satisfying. So we put this idea on a T-Shirt with an original design and artwork by Alyson, whom many of you met at Handworks (and others of you have spoken to when you've called on Mondays and Wednesdays). We had to rush the T-Shirt so we would have them in time for Handworks, but now the dust has settled and we can make them generally available here.

 Caught up on lost sleep from monday today. I didn't roll out of the rack until after 0700. I found it hard to get motivated and spent most of the morning engrossed in You Tube. I  started watching one vid and that led to another and another and another. By the time I had my fill it was after 1000. It didn't help matters much that I felt nauseous and tired too. 

I finally made it to the shop just before lunch to spend a few working on the tote. After filling the pie hole for lunch, I went back to the shop then and worked until I killed the lights at 1502.

first change

The initial plan called for the bottom of the tote to be 1/2" plywood (actually 12mm). Decided that would be too much weight for the size of the tool tote. My wife won't be putting any power tools in it. Swapping that out for 1/4" plywood.

missed it

The end panels had plane tracks on both faces. Used the #3 to smooth the tracks and followed that up with 120 grit in the RO sander.

handle layout

I didn't want to use a dowel for the carrying handle so I'm using a rectangular one that I will round the bottom corners off. It will protrude about a 1/4" on both outside faces and I'll wedge it to secure it.

nope

It looks too clunky to my eye. The sides and the height of the ends looks good but the end width is too much. 

better

If this isn't wide enough for my wife I'll make another one. I would have liked to have had all the tools on hand but I am going with just the pic of the blow pack looks like.

angles need some work

Before I can glue up the tote I had to saw the angles on the ends, clean and smooth them, chop the two mortises for the handle,then dry fit it and saw it to length. 

fitting the bottom

Screwed up on the first one making the length of it too short. I measured for that one and this one I'm marking it directly off the tote. Started with the width to fit in the ends first.

sigh

Shoulda, coulda, but didn't do it this way. This is where I went out into La La Land. I didn't account for the end panels and ending up making the first bottom a 1/2" short. Can't go wrong marking it directly this way.

new bottom fitted but

Got an ugly gap on this corner. The other three are tight. From looking at this I can't see if it is the end panel or the side that needs help.

it was the end panel

I couldn't fully correct this. There was some saw blade wobble and if I planed it smooth I would have to saw the other end panel to match it.

yikes

I seems I was a wee bit too aggressive chopping the first mortise. This throws a monkey wrench into the time line, eh?

2nd mortise

No hiccups so far with the 2nd mortise. Will it fit? A loose fit isn't a deal killer because a wedge will expand the 'tenon' some.

snuggish

I'm happy with the fit and I'll have to cool my heels are getting the length.

sigh

It is better it happened now rather then later. This popped off when I sanded it. These two boo boos are making me rethink the end panels. I will have to reinforce the breaks with more then glue. I have tonight to dream up something.

cooking away

The breaks were clean and went back together seamlessly. I'll let these set up until the AM.

tray bearers

Sanded the sides and glued and nailed the tray bearers on. The drop down on the bearers is 1 1/4" and the tray will be one inch deep. This is it for today boys and girls. I have had a wicked headache simmering all day and it picked this time to shake hands with me.

accidental woodworker

 My wife asked me for a tool tote. She bought a blow pack of 'apartment tools' and said that it was too confusing. But obviously all of those tools tossed together in a tote magically unconfuses a heap of tools. I have learned not to try and decipher her reasoning on some things. I started on the tote this AM.

ta da

Look at what the idiot couldn't see. I thought of this last night just before I hit the rack. It just popped into the brain bucket and I verified it first thing in the shop this AM.

updated glamour pic

I didn't need the domed nut I stole from the other tenon cutter. This wing nut would have looked better IMO if left bare metal but it was pitted and ugly looking.

MIA depth indicator

I kind of know this works already. The scale for the thickness of the tenon is confusing. I couldn't get it to fully engage on the largest diameters. I'll play with more later.

tool tote

I was going to make the tote out of this 1x12 7 footer and changed my mind. I have a lot of pine off cuts scattered around the shop that I can use first.

hmm.....

I am making a small classic carpenter tote with a tray. I don't have enough stock here for it. The end panels will be about 10-ish inches wide and 12-13 inches tall. You can't get 12-13 inches out of a 1x12. I'll have to glue up for the ends.

too thick

I am going to size the stock to 9/16" thick to help reduce some of the weight. Started prepping for that by establishing a reference edge and face first.

end panels

Got the panels glued up oversized on the width and a 1/2" on the height. The plan was to size these two in the PM session.

not quite

The tray is going to be made of 3/8" thick pine and this is not a perfect resaw on the bandsaw. Initially the blade twisted when I first pushed the stock into the blade. However, the rest of it looked decent. It wasn't tapered and outside faces appeared to be parallel looking. The bandsaw marks were heavy though and I made the resaw thicker to account for that.

hmm....

Did a couple of more test cuts with similar outcomes. The blade still deflected and twisted but not as much this time. I tried to feed the stock into the blade slowly applying pressure against the stock tight to the fence. Helped but didn't eliminate it entirely. Scratched resawing the tray stock on the bandsaw.

tote long sides

These are oversized in the width and length. Still trying to get a feel for them. My wife gave me 9x14 for the tote size, not too shallow and with no lid. I'm thinking of 10-11 by 15 for the tote. I don't think her 9x14 is the OD for the tote.

tray stock

Resawed it on the tablesaw. Got some thick pine veneer (on the right) that I like but will probably never find a use for. That ain't going to stop me from finding a home for it.

first long side

Marked the board and started with the #6 planing down close to the knife lines. This was tough going for me and it took a long time. Partially soaked my shirt sweating but catching my breath was the hiccup. This should have taken me maybe 10-15 minutes to knock out. Instead it took me over an hour to do both. I had to slow down and take a break to catch my breath before I could plane again.

It wasn't life threatening and I got through it albeit a lot slower and a lot more tired. Initially it was rough with a lot of coughing but that seemed to improve and lessen the longer I worked at it.

wash, rinse, and repeat for #2

I'm not sure if this is something I'll be able to do again. This is a relatively small thicknessing project but I'll wait and see. I just will have to accept that I can't be the speed demon doing this.

blurry acceptance pic

These two panels don't have to be exactly the same thickness within  +/- an atom. They are less then a frog hair from being flush with each other. Good enough for a tool tote.

start of the PM session

Late start as I ran out of gas. I had a sandwich for lunch and then nada. Didn't feel like standing up and going to shop for over an hour. I finally went back and started to plane the end panels.

troublemaker first panel

It ain't cooperating. It isn't twisted and this diagonal is throwing a hissy fit. Getting the reference face and edge can be a PITA sometimes.

hmm.......

This thicknessing session went a lot better then the first one. I only got winded a couple of times and then only because I pushed the envelope. The coughing was way down too - no spasm fits, just a couple quick ones.

done

Went quicker but these are smaller then the sides. A bit awkward due to the grain orientation running on the short width vice the longer length. I tend to not do good planing with the grain on stock this size but it came out acceptable.

best laid plans of mice and men

I fully expected to be a lot further along with the build then this. I thought I would have at least gotten the rabbets and the grooving for the bottom panel done. I'll tackle that in the AM.

accidental woodworker

 

clean up first

I had to clean up the shop and put things away. It seems that I only have a clear and clean workbench top when I start a new project.

hmm........

I can't bring myself to shitcan these leftover slats. There has to be something I can make with them. Nothing was rattling around the brain bucket so I'll have to find a interim home for them until then.

another pile

I really thought something would pop up besides a box but nada. This cherry is too nice looking to go to the landfill. Finding a home for this pile is going to be difficult but I will figure it out.

side by side

I needed the left one to get the right one together. Initially I had put the iron 180 out from where it should have been.

sigh

I lost the gizmo that sets the height of the tenon. I have the securing screw for it but not indicator. I searched the shop for almost an hour but no joy.

done

I painted this the same two colors it had when I got it. There are a couple of spots I left bare even though there were still a few faint paint spots. I left the two sliding surfaces clean and paint free. 

sigh

This was missing this nut and I took it from the tenon cutter. I looked on McMaster-Carr for a replacement but I couldn't find one. The top is domed and the bottom is flat - what is the name of this nut? 

glamour pic #1

Engells Coach shop uses an adjustable tenon cutter in a drill press. I thought about trying to get that setup on my drill press. It would certainly make doing the chair tenons easier.

business end

There is a scale for size that I'll have to check for accuracy. I will have fettle, adjust, and swear at getting the iron positioned correctly. I've did those dance steps when I got it. The iron is sharp and ready to go.

accidental woodworker

I’ve just started building my next mandolin. In this video, I look at making its rosette in quite some detail. Hope that you find it interesting.

 

top goes on first

I have six coats on the top and I was happy with the look and the shine. Clamped the top to the base - the towel was to keep the clamp heads from marring the top. I was surprised that these clamps alone pulled the top down tight to the base all around. I was expecting the slat sides to have daylight that they didn't.

wash, rinse, repeat for the shelf

Got the shelf positioned and clamped and then I flipped it to screw in the table top clips.

hmm........

Clips screwed in and there is a bit of daylight on the slat edges. From the bottom I could see the clip was visible from the there. However, on the opposite side I couldn't see it. 

hmm........

I had to do one more coat of shellac. There were four boo boos from the clamp pads. I didn't think with the towel that would happen. I had used wax paper on the shelf and nada. Zero hiccups with the clamp pads there. Easy fix - quick rub with 4-0 steel wool followed with some shellac.

first glamour pic

This is a good match for the tall drawer unit I just made for my wife. The oak legs look pretty good IMO against the poplar. 

2nd pic

Feel iffy about the bottom shelf. Not entirely happy with the margins with it but it is what it is. In reflection I think it was a better choice then a shelf that fit between the legs front to back.

last pic

After I shot this pic I went looking around the house and I found 8 things I had made that had slats in them. I don't know what it is about them but they have become a signature of things I make.

accidental woodworker 

Three days out from my last chemo cocktail and I ain't feeling so good. Not any of the nasty side effects but just feeling blah. Woke up a wee bit on the nauseous side but a pill knocked that down into the dirt. Glad that I didn't have a lot going in the shop. Slapping shellac on projects is slow going so that is working in my favor. Looking forward to feeling better in the AM.

hmm......

Both of them passed with flying colors. After dinner I had checked them and there was zero raised grain anywhere I checked. I got a coat of shellac on it then and the 3rd coat went on this AM.

done

I rubbed the carcass down with 4-0 steel wool and brushed on a final coat of shellac. It looked ok with the bazillion coats I sprayed on but I decided to brush on the final coat.

getting two more

As is the bearer is held on with one center screw and glue. I don't think that is sufficient to hold the top down tight. All of the downward pulling force from the screws into the tops will be on the ends of the bearers. It is just glue there securing the bearer so I am adding on more screw close to the bearer screw slot at each end.

had to put a finish one

I have several wax and mystery finish solutions to pick from and I chose this one. It is a simple one coat finish to apply. You apply it with a brush until no more of the oil soaks in. Wait a few and wipe off the excess before the oil gets tacky.

oil applied and wiped off

The oil certainly made the end grain of the plywood pop. The box underneath is the same plywood but it has no finish on it. I like the look of the finish on the rasp box over the raw unfinished look of the bottom box. The finish only needs 8 hours to dry so it should be ready to use in the AM.

4th one coming

Been a couple of hours after the 3rd coat and the 4th is getting slapped on now. I rubbed the 3rd coat with 4-0 steel wool before putting on the 4th. The build is coming along nicely but I think it is still going to take one or two more to satisfy me. So this should be at the ooh and aah stage by sunday at the latest.

fingers crossed

I have two coats on this and there are still some partially covered spots. Painting on what I hope will be the last coat. I'll check on it in the AM.

We have high winds and rain in my part of the universe. The wind has been picking up steadily all day but no where near the strength the weather seers predicted. So far no rain and same seers are saying the rain could bring on flooding. Supposed to be wednesday before the sun peeks out again to say hello.

accidental woodworker

 

I let it cook

I resisted the urge to play with this after supper last night. It is better I let it cook because it it only held together with glue.

why not?

Decided to spray shellac the entire base. There are still a lot of tricky drip and run spots for brushed on shellac to go nutso.

lid separated

Did the lid on the tablesaw. I don't know how but I got a step on one of the short sides. I had to plane and sand it flush more than I wanted to. thankfully I had more the enough depth to give up.

cherry keepers

I planned on mitering the corners but changed my mind. The short end pieces would have been toast. The butt joint corners will work for this. I also didn't have any more cherry to make two new pieces.

hmm.......

The files fit in the box but they aren't secure. They can bang around inside the box and possibly damage their teeth. I need to keep them in place in the box somehow. 

hmm.......

I got a 3rd coat on the shelf and the top last night after dinner. It felt dry to the touch and smooth. It wasn't tacky anywhere I checked. One more coat and the backs of these two will be done.

glued and cooking

I'll let this cook for a few hours and then I'll fit the lid to the bottom.

holder

This works, the files can't bang around and touch each other.

oops

I had sized the holder to fit inside the lid. Missed that the lid didn't have keepers to account for. I sawed a wee bit less than 1/8" off each side.

hmm.....

Initially it didn't fit but I sanded the outside edge with a 100 grit sanding stick. I kept at it until I got the lid to fit in either orientation. I got a snug fit too.

done

I planed a chamfer on the top/bottom outside edges. I like this look and it hides that the joint line isn't perfectly straight.

holder thing glued and cooking

The holder keeps the rasps safe in this static position. But with the lid on the rasps can get up and dance around with each other.

not anymore

This short block is a few frog hairs below the bottom edge of lid. That is still enough to keep the rasps from jumping out of the holder when the box is moved and handled. I'm not going to put any finish on it for now. 

any surprises forth coming?

It was in the green areas that had the raised grain on the bottom. Both of these were planed and sanded with 220 grit. Both felt smooth to the touch all over. I put on the first coat of shellac and I'll check it after dinner. I don't know what to expect but hopefully it will be a normal first coat of dried shellac.

Haven't been sleeping well the past few days. After sleeping through the night I am now waking up around 0200-0300 and not falling back to sleep. So I toss and turn and sometimes I watch You Tube. Neither of them make me sleepy and I didn't get out of the rack until 0730 today. It was nice to sleep through the night and fall back asleep after getting up for the toilet trot races. Fingers crossed it will come back. 

accidental woodworker 

bearers done

I was a good boy and after supper last night I glued on the two short bearers. I got one screw in the middle and I'm thinking of adding 2 more. One each close to the ends, R/L,

hmm.......

These rasps can't be used in either direction. There are arrows on them that point in the direction of use. They don't hog a lot of wood with one push neither. They are coarse and fine but IMO opinion both are 'fine'. These are detailing rasps for refining etc etc.

a lot of work

Made a hollow with the convex rasps and tapered the end with the straight rasps. They left a smooth surface, both the coarse and fine ones. IMO these are for fine smoothing, almost like using 320 grit sandpaper. Not so sure now that these will be any help in making the stick chair.

working the bearers

Had to flush 3 of the 4 of them.

passed

All four bearers are square to the outside apron face.

prepping for shellac

Planed both sides removing all the pencil lines. Planed poplar doesn't really leave a smooth surface. It was kind of smooth but I added an assist by sanding the top face with 220 grit sandpaper.

chamfer time

I am not putting a back stop thing on this. Since this is a bedside night stand a back stop isn't needed IMO. 

inside corner layout

I dislike rounded inside chamfered corners. I extended the lines and I chiseled the inside corners next.

one down, three to go

This is a much better, presentable look then leaving it rounded. If it was a larger corner it might have been acceptable but nothing of this size.

step one

Used the chisel to define where the two chamfers met in the corner. A light tap on the chisel to break the cross grain fibers.

hmm........

This helps with getting a clean chip when chiseled into the corner from the left and right chamfers. Getting a errant chip out here ruins the look.

cleaning the corner out

Take small sweeps with the chisel going into the corner. Small bites yields a crisp, clean corner at a 45 that is sloped. Of course having a sharp chisel is a no brainer. I ran the chisel on my strop before I did each corner.

sneak peek

The top is not dead flat but I know that once I screw it down it will be. I will apply shellac to the top and bottom shelf first and then I'll install them.

end grain work

I had sanded the end grain of the top and bottom shelf and I had to sand the chamfer after routing it.

hmm......

I got lucky that Lowes still sells this. $16 and that is the same price I saw on Amazon. If I had to order from them it would have been a while before I got it. I used the spray shellac on the slats.

ouch

I missed a couple of pencil marks. Easy to correct as I only sprayed on one coat. I wiped the pencil marks with an alcohol soaked rag. That removed the shellac and the pencil marks. If it hadn't I would have scraped/sanded the marks off.

got two coats on it

I always start with the bottoms/backs first. 3-4 coats there and 5-6 on the tops.

wow

I wasn't not expecting this from the shellac. A couple of spots on both the top and shelf felt like 60 grit sandpaper. The grain had raised up into a miniature mountain range. I first used 2-0 steel wool and it did nothing to knock those areas down. I had to use a card scraper to smooth it.

The shellac was a wee bit gummy too. I was not expecting that at all. It is a little on the cool side and I thought the shellac would have been dry and ready for another coat after almost 2hours. I had to do some errands while it dried.

no problems

The spray shellac behaved. I saw and felt no hiccups with it when I hit the slats with the 2-0 steel wool. I set the top and bottom shelf aside to set up more. I'll check on them after supper tonight to see how the feel. If I don't like it I'll let them cook until the AM.

can you guess what is coming?

I don't want these rasps rattling around in a drawer so I'm going to make a box to keep them in. Using leftover 6mm and1/8" birch plywood.

miters done

Made a groove for the 1/8" plywood in the sides on the tablesaw. The 1/8" plywood I have I had to plane/sand a small bevel to get it to fit the groove. This batch of plywood is the first that didn't fit the groove made by the 1/8" thick saw blade.

done

Glued, clamped, and cooking. I'll let this set up until the AM. Then I'll saw off the lid, make some type of a holder thing for the rasps, and keepers for the lid. I can the hear the oohs and aahs now.

accidental woodworker

 

thinking cap on

Started to think about this last night at my desk. Chopping the 8 slots for the table clips wasn't that appealing. Thought of gluing a bearer at each corner and then screwing up through it into the top holding it down. Should work, shouldn't it?

This is all I got done in the AM session. I had my final chemo cocktail party today and I am now in the monitoring phase. Every 3 months I'll get a CT of the lungs and have it reviewed by the oncologist. Fingers crossed that is a long time before 'it' returns.

On a brighter note the 'who is one first doctor routine' was figured out. The oncologist told me she does chemo and nothing else but she was a good friend with a pulmonologist. He came during my treatment and gave me some pills to help with my cough. Prednisone and azithromycin antibiotic for the nodules. And he told me to call the clinic right away with any problems. The bombshell, the original pills given to me he said don't work for the cough. I'll be thinking happy thoughts while I take those pills.

final iteration

Decided during my chemo to use a full length bearer vice smaller blocks just in the corners. To my thinking this will be stronger as it will glued across the full length of the apron along with a couple of screws. BTW the last cocktail party lasted almost 5 hours. Yikes!

first two glued and cooking

I will let these cook until after dinner. I'll return then and glue on the last two.

hmm.......

Originally I was going to notch the short bearers at the corners. Instead I sawed them to fit between the legs. The screws are still fairly close to the legs and will pull the top down tight to it.

why I'm waiting

This bearer is a wee bit proud of the top of the apron. I'll plane it flush before I do the last two bearers. The opposite side I got dead flush along the entire length.

done

Got the 5/8" tenon cutter finished. I think I finally understand what the two screws underneath the iron are for. They set the height/depth of the iron and this big screw on the top secures it in place. Makes sense to me.

the two screws

The iron is laying flat on the top cross piece. It was here that it looks like by adjusting these two up down, the iron's position will move up/down slightly. 

The PM session was cut short because I had to address a banking SNAFU. It was my fault and I finally figured it out. When I opened a new account at the credit union down the street from me I had switched a deposit from another credit union to this one. Forgot all about that little detail and chased my tail for over an hour researching it. All is well again in Disneyland until the next crisis wants to shake hands with me.

accidental woodworker 

In what will almost certainly be my last long trip unrelated to family matters, Mrs. Barn and I hit the road for a Labor Day weekend toolapalooza in Amana, Iowa, for the fifth (?) convening of Handworks, a mondo gathering of hand woodworking enthusiasts.  The trip was very long, two full days of driving each way (I took a full-to-the-brim truckload) and even though the gathering of several thousand friends old and new is a delight, it is just too much for us.  Part of the problem is that Mrs. Barn’s CR-V is excruciating for me to ride or drive; it was not made for linebacker-sized folks.  My large pickup is a perfect fit but Mrs. Barn hates driving it.  Oh well.  I still get many invitations to travel to speak and teach but at this point I decline them all.  The Wood and Shop school fits my needs just perfectly as it is two hours away from Shangri-la.  That I can do easily.  Two days each way?  Not so much.

 

We were joined by dear friends Mr. and Mrs. Ripplin’ John.

John was with me side by side throughout the event as multitudes of folks wanted to ask about historical wood finishing and we were delighted to explain and demonstrate.  While we were doing that the Misseses were out and about doing gal-pal stuff.

We were among the first to set up, near the center of the giant Festhalle.  I brought two of my smaller workbenches to use as display and demonstration space.  Soon the place was filled with enthusiasts of every stripe.  I was glad to see that the demographics of the attendees was becoming broader and especially younger.  It gave me hope for the future of the skill set.

The Festhalle was only one of many venues for the event, I think the total this time was seven.  They were all filled with a bajillion tools, old and new.  I only managed to get pictures of about 10% of the goings-on.

On the second morning the packed house was regaled first with a stirring rendition of The Star Spangled Banner magnificently presented by Mike Siemsen followed by a recitation by Chris Schwarz of some old-codger-ish correspondence between a Welsh Stick Chair maker and an American host regarding some workshops.  Very entertaining stuff.

One final note is a comment on the weather, which was a stark counterpoint to the first Handworks.  At Handworks 1 the weather was absolutely frigid, a very cold and rainy Memorial Day weekend fifteen years ago.  This year the air in central Iowa was stifling, temps in the mid 90s with a choking level of humidity.  With every handshake, two hands stuck together.  They day after the event was much cooler.  Oh well.

done cooking

I was a good boy last night and after dinner I went back and glued the two other sides. I didn't feel like it - I was feeling tired and if I sat for more than ten minutes I nodded out. I did it so I could keep working on it in the AM first thing.

flushing the tops

I used the scrub plane first to knock down the majority of the proud. Found the LN big boy plane (60 1/2) was easier and quicker than using the #4.

hmm......

There was a wee bit of daylight under Mr Starrett that I couldn't shut out. It was flat and straight across the legs so I left it as is.

no twist

I checked this across both the long and short sides. Both agreed that neither way had any twist. 

sigh

The top was rocking so I knew the sticks wouldn't show me their happy face. There was twist again with the front left and back right being high. The underside was kind of ok. It had a teeny bit of twist and I dealt with that first. Then I attacked the opposite face.

slow going

I don't like the grain orientation between the top and the bottom. Originally the top grain was running R/L giving a 1/2" overhang all around. Aligned the top and bottom grain (F/B) with a new overhang for the top. The overhang now on the top will be a 1/4" front/back and 3/8" R/L. 

frustrating

I did these dance steps yesterday with it helicopting on one diagonal and not the other. Played with it for seemingly a bazillion years before I got it rock free on the tablesaw table.

I didn't forget

There are no slots for the table top clips on the top or bottom aprons. I didn't do them before hand with the router because I confused myself. I thought that the clip slots would be where the slat mortises were. Here at the top that wasn't the problem.

the bottom was the problem

The clips would poke into the slat mortises on two sides of the bottom aprons.

found them

I wasn't looking for these but they shook hands while I was looking for something else. I didn't find that but I will stick these in the brain bucket so I can forget where they live again.

first one done

I thought I would have more room to swing a chisel then I had. I am going with one clip per side for the bottom shelf. If that isn't sufficient, I'll chop more slots and add more clips.

no help

Went searching for a 1/8" chisel that was shorter then the 1/8 bench chisel I was using. I found a 3/16" chisel that I was going to shorten to a stubby 3-4" length to chop the slots with. Rather then hack sawing the blade I thought of sawing off a portion of the handle and nixed the whole idea. I'll suffer through chopping the slots with what I have and rethink the stubby chisel idea.

last bottom one

Finished the bottom clip slots and awaiting me are the eight slots for the top. I am putting the slots close to the legs so the clips will pull down the corners tight to the tops of the leg. I'll be doing those in the AM.

2 out of 3 against

The stand is rocking on the workbench and not rocking on the tablesaw. The sticks are telling me there is no twist between any of the legs. I'm on the side of 2 and I'm calling the bottom good as is.

back order came today

These are japanese rasps - 2 coarse and 2 fine (flat and convex). I got them for the chair build. I haven't forgotten about that. It is just that I only have one bite at the apple and I don't want to screw it up. I've been thinking of making one out of 2x12 lumber first?

I had to buy it

I am attracted to miniature tools and the LAP small books have embedded their hooks me too. Always willing to see and learn how someone else builds something. 

how did they know

I've been thinking of cut nails for a while. I have two the nails show here and both have kicked my arse and I have split wood using both. For what ever reason these nails are like kryptonite to me. I don't achieve consistent results with them, it is hit or miss with miss in the majority. So I'm always on the search for anything written about them.

shop library bookshelf

Besides I have lots of room for more small books. My OCD goes into overdrive every time I look at this and see the empty space.

I had my audio/video link up with West Roxbury VA this morning. Got some clarification on the results of my last lung x ray and CT. There are nodules on my lower right lung. I had the cancerous tumor removed from my left lung. But the doc said that the x rays and CTs have been consistent don't show changes.

The doc was helpful and explained every question I threw at her and I had a bagful to unload. Because I'm going through chemo right now, the oncologist is my lead doc. I am going to ask her about my coughing because she rules my case for now. 

The coughing was gotten steadily worse and I get winded a lot after some coughing fits. I had one today that went on for 2 minutes (timed it) before it stopped. I quit the shop early because of it. I felt like a wrung out wet dish rag and I wanted to lay down and sleep until next thursday. The West Roxbury doc thinks it (the cough) might be treatable with antibiotics but that call will be the oncologist doc's call. I'll find out in tomorrow when I atttend my final chemo cocktail party.

accidental woodworker 

Well, I got back to the Handworks event in Amana, IA on Sept. 4th and 5th.  And it was awesome again.  Two days full of hand tool immersion.  The event is put on by the proprietors of "Benchcrafted", the company who sells crubber, the leg vise "criss-cross" thing, workbenches and other stuff.  And other than getting there and staying somewhere, the event was free to attend - though I did add to the donation jar.

One of the outdoor tents

This open-air timber-framed structure housed Pete Galbert,  Jason Lonon and many others

The main barn, with Lie Nielsen at the far end

The main barn on day 2 during Schwarz' presentation

Man, it was hot, hot, hot!  And humid!  Each day was about 95 deg with a "feels like" temperature of 97-98.  And many of the vendors were wearing long pants.  I felt really bad for them.  But if you focus on the tools and the woodworking and the comradery, it was easy enough to forget the heat for a while.

I wasn't looking for anything in particular this time.  But I did come home with two items.  There's a guy from Chicago named Slav who sells new "old stock" files and I bought some from him three years ago.  He was there again this time and just in passing I happened to see something on his table that I'd been looking for for a long time - Skroo-zon file handles in the #3 and #4 sizes.

Number 3 and 4 Skroo-zon file handles

These will add nicely to my #2, 5 and 6

If you've never used one of these, the handle "screws" onto a file's tang and holds it really firmly.  I know I can make (and have made) my own file handles, but these things are great.

Even though I didn't really need any new tools, it's always good to see what's out there.  One thing I might be interested in if I ever get around to making some more planes, is these tapered molding plane iron blanks.  The molding planes that I made years ago were with Lie-Nielsen (non-tapered) blanks.  But the way they were made 150 years ago was genius!  Opposing wedge action with the tapered iron and tapered wedge gives great hold and adjustability.

These are from New Heritage Woodworks

It was a really great event.  My thanks to the Abraham brothers and their staff for putting this on.  I can't imaging how much work it is, but I'm certain it is WAY more than I might realize.

first replacement slats fitted

No hiccups getting this set fitted. Wasn't sure that I would have room to move the apron up/down on to align the dowels.

hmm......

I tapped the slats down fully in the bottom apron. On the top one I set them in part way. I then use the mallet to tap the apron up/down until the dowels in the legs aligned with the dowel holes in the aprons. Yesterday this was dicey as the slats would pop out before I got the alignment set.

checking the 2nd set

I had 9 slats to chose from and I started with checking the slat fit in the mortises. I had to reject 2 slats because they were too thin.

6 slats

I had to reject a 3rd slat due to it being short on the R/L. It was the same on all 10 mortises which surprised me. I thought it would have been good on at least one or two of them.

Houston, we have a problem

I couldn't get the the top to align. Mallet work did diddly and I even tried clamping it. That failed too and the conclusion was I made these 5 slats too long (or just one).

almost a 1/4"

Laid the first set on top of the second and the second one was 3/16" longer. 

confirmed

Took one of the slats from the first set and checked it against the 2nd set. Not quite a 1/4" difference. There was no way this would align as is. I sawed off a 1/4" off on one end of all the slats and started over at square one.

something is amiss

Got the 2nd set of slats fitted with no hiccups and zero cussing. However, I put the slat assemblies on the wrong faces of the legs. My triangle ain't a triangle. Back to square one and redo it.

correct

 I marked the leg faces that get the slats with a piece of tape. I don't want to find this in left field after glue up and see I made a me-steak.

prepping for glue up

Planed the arris on the legs and then planed the faces removing all the pencil marks and smoothing them.

short aprons

Planed the long faces and I'll do the top/bottom edges before I glue them up.

glued and cooking

It was just before 1400 when I got these two glued, clamped and set aside to cook. I'll let them set up until after dinner and I'll glue up the short rails. I should have this done and oohing and aahing about before the weekend.

I opted for no glue in the mortises. I had a good snug fit with all of them and the length was spot on this time. The slats are captive and without glue I didn't have to deal with glue squeeze out. 

accidental woodworker

 

first set

I had to replace the two outside slats, #1 and #5. I had to replace them due to gaps and fit them again. 

80 and 120 grit

I sanded the rough side of the ten slats needed for the night stand.

extras

Sanded these for back ups in case I have to say oops.

first side dry fitted

I clamped it to ensure that the aprons got closed up tight to the legs. Washed, rinsed, and repeated for the other side.

hmm......

This shelf fit yesterday, I have photographic proof. 

stinky mind fart me-steak

I sized it for the wrong side. Totally missed this when I did it. This is toast and I'll have to make a new shelf.

hmm......

I hadn't wanted to notch the shelf but I don't have a choice now. I sawed out the notches on the bandsaw. I noticed that the cuts weren't plumb. That led me to spending a few frustrating minutes squaring the table of the bandsaw to the blade. Maybe this is why I am getting tapered resaw cuts on the bandsaw?

nope

This shelf is too small R/L for this purpose. The front to back is ok but I need the R/L too. The gaps are too wide between the legs and it looks like crappola.

a gap

Noticed this while fitting the shelf and marked it for replacement. I also replaced the #4 slat for a gap that I didn't like.

2nd shelf

All the notch cuts were plumb. I've been looking to do more machine work lately because of my breathing issues. I still do a fair bit of handwork and I'll continue this way until I can't do either one.

too tight

I had to saw the notches twice, on the first go around it wouldn't fit at all. It fits after the 2nd saw cut but it is way too tight. There isn't any allowance for expansion and contraction. I sawed off another 1/8" on each side (R/L), front and back. I also sawed off another 1/8" of the R/L against the slats. I left the cross grain part of the notches as is because they don't move.

not sure

Plenty of room for expansion and contraction. Might be a wee bit too much as winter is coming and the gaps at the front/back may get larger. I'm not sure how much poplar shrinks but I'll guess I'll find out.

bandsaw marks

Tried to clean up the bandsaw ripples with a chisel first and it was tough going. Used this large and smaller modeler's rasp to clean the two bandsaw cuts.

 

replaced

Ugly looking gap gone. With my experience with doing slats I have found that the mortise walls shrink and tighten on the slats. The short ends don't change much so gaps there usually stay.

done

I had to replace two slats but it was worth it. No gaps on any of the slats, top and bottom.

sigh

Got the ugly feeling that I made the slats too short. While assembling them a couple of them popped out. Can't have that boo boo happening.

measuring the length with sticks

I had measured the distance between the top and bottom aprons, added 3/4" for the depth of the mortises, and subtracted 1/8". The sticks remove any errors from measuring with a tape.

hmm......

This is what is above the tops of the legs. I thought about removing it on the tablesaw and nixed it. I'll do it with planes after the nightstand has been glued and cooked.

too short

I now know why the slats were slipping out. The slats are 5/16" shorter then the what the sticks say is the length. That means with the slats fully seated in the bottom mortises there is only about an 1/8" in the top ones.

new slats

I had a lot of slats left over from yesterday but I can't use because I had sawn them to length already - too short to use on round #2. I have five on the left ready to trim and fit. To the right I have enough to get the five needed for the other side. I'll do this in the AM.

nice ray flecks

This oak is too nice looking to paint. I will use shellac on this one and I'll make a couple more nightstands out of pine to paint. I have plenty of 1x12 stock and I just need some 6/4 or 8/4 for the legs.

accidental woodworker

About a year or so ago, I built myself a short scale bass, inspired (aesthetically) by the Kay EB-100 that I had previously restored. I play this bass pretty much daily: it’s set-up with flat-wound strings and I love its smooth richness of tone. However, having recently restored the Westone Thunder Bass which has a long-scale and round-wound strings and spent some time playing it, I have found whole new range of tonal possibilities, which contrast and complement the short scale.

So, whilst having a brief breather from mandolins, I thought that I would make a bridge for a bass guitar which I intend building at some point in the future!