Norse Woodsmith Blog Feeds

For the past few weeks we’ve been afflicted by the nuisance of being bombarded by thousands of two-inch ball bearings cascading down into the yard.  You might call these ball bearings “black walnuts” but we just view them as hazards of the yard and hillside to be navigated around.

Neither of us like eating black walnuts so we see nothing beneficial in their presence.  In addition, many of Mrs. Barn’s plants, especially in the vegetable garden, are harmed by the toxic juglone in walnuts, walnut leaves, and walnut sap.  She’s had to reconfigure the garden continuously to accommodate the magnificent trees growing just outside the west end of the fenced area.

Bombing season is drawing to a close so I will rake up the trash-can-full of these dangerous nuisances in the coming days.  If only we had a better breed of squirrels to haul them all away.  We’ve got gigantic squirrels here (seriously, almost as big as the cat) but the bums are too lazy to bother with our needs and clean up the yard.

hmm.......

Made it to the shop late and I was determined to make something. Even if it was something I didn't need. On the flip side I just had the desire to work with my hands and have something to show for the effort. So a box it is but with a twist. The long sides will be thicker than the ends. I can't remember if I have made a box with different thicknesses of the sides. Not only different thicknesses, the dovetails will be on the teeny side.

made a detour

While I was figuring out the dimensions of the box I saw a scrap of pine by the tablesaw and resawed it to 3/8" thick. I'll make a box out of it first. Then plan was to get both boxes glued and cooking by the end of the PM session.

my shavings

I was able to plane the sawn face smooth and flat without expiring. I didn't have a coughing fit but I had to take 10 to catch my breath.

not my usual box

I sized the box so the long sides are twice the size of the ends. I also sawed the sides so that the grain flowed around continuously.

tails sawn

I have gotten in the habit of using the dozuki saw for stock thinner then a 1/2". No headaches sawing the tails which was welcomed. No fits or shortness of breath issues. 

no Moxon

I had thought of using the Moxon to do this but nixed it. If I was making a lot of boxes I would have done that. Instead I used this handy jig for setting the height of the pin board. 

off the saw

I didn't lose anything with my dovetail skill set. It appears that this type of work is something I can still do. It is relatively stationary and doesn't involve a lot of exertion. Both diagonals agreed on 8 3/4".

happy accident?

I thought I had centered the middle tail. The left pin socket is noticeably larger than the right one. I must have read my centering rule wrong. I didn't have my glasses and I didn't want to go topside to get them. Looks like I should have.

happy face

The inside corners are gap free. This is something that I don't always get.

opposite end

I usually end up with one or two gaps on the inside but not today.

it is square on the inside

No need for clamps as the tails/pins are on the snug side. I had to fuss with it a bit to get here. I had used a clamp to close one tail/pin and that threw the diagonals off.

kind of like the asymmetrical look

The plan is to glue a piece of 1/8"  plywood for the bottom of the box. IMO that would mean making sure the larger pin/tail is at the bottom and the thinner one is under the lid.

Didn't get to the thickness box but it will give me something to look forward to in the AM. I had to go topside during the AM session and that wore me out. I sat down at my desk to catch my breath and once I did, I didn't feel like getting back up. Spoiler alert - stayed there for over an hour.

Called the repair shop this AM and he said that he was out of the shop today. He also said that he has replaced the drive belt several times. I'll drop the lunchbox off to him tomorrow. 

accidental woodworker 

Find me at Ultimate Tools this Thursday to learn all about Suction Controller, plus lots of other amazing top-tier tools at their annual Oktober Tool Fest event which is one of the biggest woodworking events in the Lower Mainland.

Other reps will be there to demonstrate and educate you on tools from Mafell, Lamello, Mirka, Sia and Robbox. There will also be lots in-store deals you won’t find anywhere else.

Where: Ultimate Tools, 3847 1st Avenue, Burnaby, BC
When: Thursday October 22, 10 AM to 3 PM

Is creative woodworking art – true art? Though there are some exceptions, no, building woodwork is not true art. It is about much more than art.  Does it involve or use art? That is a different question. The answer is yes, virtually always! That is what’s important. Thus, woodworking is virtually always, at least partly, […]

 Yesterday was the first day of the heating season for me. The temp dropped down to freezing (0C) overnight and I set the thermostat at 70F. I don't play with it and I'll leave it set at that until I shut off the heat in may/april next year. I struggled taking the radiator covers off and stowing for the season. Coughed a lot and got short of breath quick too. Got it done albeit at an ninety year old man's pace.

need a good cleaning

I've been thinking a lot lately about a post by CS at Lost Art Press he posted a few years ago. It was about him going to shop and just looking around. No work just him contemplating the space he occupied. In that post he also wrote about a wood carver who couldn't work anymore but still went to the shop just to be in a familiar space. Enjoying his time there even though he couldn't carve anymore. 

I'm feeling a lot like the wood carver now. Two weeks ago I was aligned with CS. Today I went to the shop to do some woodworking and I did nothing. I looked around the shop noting the things I've made and the thought of that not happening again popped up and said hello. 

I don't have a warm and fuzzy about getting the console/entry table done now. Or it just might be the last project to leave Ralphie's Workshop. I am going to try and make it even though I will have to work slowly, I find that thought more comforting than sitting on my arse at my desk.

cherry Welsh stick chair

I think I waited too long to take my head out of my arse before starting this chair. I have been thinking more and more of selling it because I can't see myself being able to make it anymore. If I do part with it I'll include the templates for it too. I got to sit in a Welsh sitck chair at the Lost Art Press when I took a class there. It was the most comfortable chair I have ever sat in. That is when making one went on the future to do list.

On a brighter note, last night was the best nights sleep I've had in days. Maybe it was my wife coming home from North Carolina that did the trick. Coughed a little after the 3rd toilet trot race but I dropped off right away and didn't wake up again until after 0800. 

Wish me luck with the lunchbox planer saga tomorrow.

accidental woodworker 

This video is all about making the neck blank from some very special Cuban mahogany. Also, I set myself the challenge of making a head inlay to match the mandolin’s rosette as seen here-

Cheers Gary

clean up time

Put all the tools away except for the allen wrenches. Buttoning up the lunchbox was next on the menu. I had planned to go to the tool repair on Jefferson but it didn't happen today. I was getting the directions when I noticed that it isn't open on saturday. Saved me some time and gas on that one. It opens on monday at 0830 and I'll head that way after breakfast at Johnny's Chalet.

neat and tidy

This is all I got done today and this took a bazillion hours to get done. I woke up feeling ok but by mid morning I had a headache that felt like it was going to split my skull in two. It was manageable if I sat and did nothing but that sucked pond scum. I had wanted to go to the shop and make a box. After suffering with it I finally took a couple aspirin. I have to be careful with that because I take blood thinners for my A fib.

For the 3rd night in a row I have repeated the coughing fit dance steps. Again last night it was the 3rd time I woke up that was the worse. It looking like the early blog posting is going to be a thing of the past.

Fingers crossed that the tool repair shop will be able to get the belt on the DeWalt. Glad that I got two when I ordered it.

accidental woodworker 

 Having removed the rotten timber, it's time to use it as a template to make the new pieces.

Time is of the essence. This building houses a school, and it's easier to do the work when the children are not here i.e. at the weekend. 

Transfer the shape of the cruck plate to the new section.

Inserting the new cruck foot.

Inserting the new plate.

A nice tight fit. Bolting through.

A historic chamfer repair had to be removed, before making the cuts to remove the rotten parts. This unfortunately fell into pieces.

So, carefully glued it back together.

Offering it up, so trimming can happen, to fit the new shorter cruck foot.

The boltholes plugged with aged oak, the historic chamfer repair re-fixed over the cruck foot repair, the new architrave and the new oak darkened with it's own juices etc. The first visit from Prides Plastering, to apply a dubbing out coat of lime to the adjacent masonry.

FINALLY

I tried to get the belt on with the rod but got nowhere. I got a teeny bit of the belt on the big pulley and that was it. The belt would not cooperate at all and after 30 frustrating minutes I removed the rod. I felt like I had given birth when I got the belt partially on both pulleys then.

blurry pic matches my mood

I couldn't get the belt to fully engage on either pulley. I did manage to get about 3/4 of the belt onto to the bottom pulley and then I stalled. Even though I got 3/4 of the big pulley, the smaller one was gong in the opposite direction. I started with 1/2 of it on but by the time I got 3/4 on the big one, the smaller one had moved outward and barely had a 1/4 on the smaller pulley.

I cursed and threatened it with going postal on it and still nada. I tried to hit the belt with a hammer as I turned it and that did absolutely nothing. It wouldn't move even one more groove onto either pulley.

it got worse

I got most of the bottom pulley on but the smaller one was in danger. The belt was only on two grooves there. What idiotic engineer came up with this design? It shouldn't be this difficult to change a high wear part like this.

hmm...........

This was the last thing I tried trying to get the belt onto the pulleys. I turned the switch on and pushed the plug in briefly. I was hoping that the motor turning would cause the belt to ride over onto the pulley. No such luck boys and girls as nothing happened. As the belt didn't change its position on either pulley one iota. The belt didn't shred or break so at least that is a point in my favor. 

I tried doing it a couple of more times without any success. Maybe if I had another set of hands I could have used a screwdriver as lever to push the belt as the motor turned it. But I am done trying to do this. Tomorrow I will go to tool center on Jefferson and talk to the service tech about it.

came today

I'm glad I didn't wait for this to come in as it took a while for a in stock purchase. To further increase my fun, this kicked my arse all over the house trying to get it open. I could see that the bottom was screwed on but the label was adhered with a glue that wouldn't let go.

nice looking bit

This is the first purple colored router bit I have seen. The six cutters and the mass of the head should make for a clean and smooth cut. I'll road test on the twisted sapele board tomorrow or the next day.

Had another rough night sleeping. Woke up 3 times, 2 of them I coughed a little and drifted back off to sleep. On the third wake up I thought I was going to cough up a lung. I watched YouTube for over an hour and tried to sleep again sitting up against the head board. I had stopped coughing and I didn't want to risk another fit going horizontal on my side. "Wandered in/out of sleeping and I finally laid down on my side and after coughing for a while I finally was able to fall asleep. 

I don't know what time that was but I didn't roll out of the rack until 0815. Maybe it is time for me to change my blog posting to around lunch time. I felt better today than yesterday when I went vertical. No blah feeling and no feeling tired and washed out. After my first pot of coffee and finishing my two puzzles it was 1030. 

Since today was fish 'n chips day I waited until after lunch to do battle with planer. Thinking now that maybe I should have taken the entire day off from it and gone to shop and made a box. At least then I would have something to show for the day.

accidental woodworker 

I’ve never liked the idea of giving my instruments a name other than one that describes it, i.e. parlour guitar, twin-point mandolin etc.  Clearly, the different instruments must have some means of reference, especially as all enquiries for my instruments come via email and a prospective client needs to communicate their needs.

You would probably have seen my previous “New Model Mandolin” build series: I called that instrument “New Model” as, at the time I was undecided on a suitable name.

Around 2007/08 I was designing a couple of instruments to my own shapes. One was a steel-string acoustic guitar which I designated Model 1. Another shape was designed for multi-course instruments and this was designated Model 2.  Over the years that shape was scaled down and tweaked to become my electric mandolin and now, the shape of the new acoustic mandolin (temporarily dubbed New Model). So, after much deliberation it seems fitting, henceforth to refer to this new shape mandolin as Model 2 Mandolin. Simple!

If someone tries to steal your watch, by all means fight them off. If someone sues you for your watch, hand it over and be glad you got away so lightly. ― John Mortimer

A watch is an essential tool to anyone who must perform a job within contractual time constraints, or when She Who Must Be Obeyed demands punctuality using the cat-o’-nine-tails that is her tongue (ツ). Not critical for fishing, cleaning rifles, or watching TV perhaps, but indispensable when engaged in work-related activities such as installing cabinets, pouring concrete foundations, or erecting structural steel frames.

In this series of articles your most humble and obedient would like to relate a few ways I’ve used my watches at work, and the sticky ends some of them met.

In this first article I will relate a true story of an effective, time-proven way to use an honest wristwatch to stave-off venal, criminal bureaucrats for good purposes. I don’t know the watch’s ultimate fate but, for a time at least, it ended up in the hands of an undesirable person.

As background information, I should first share my sartorial philosophy about timepieces, because after all, fashion is my life (ツ).

In our time, the wristwatch is the only jewelry, besides a wedding ring, a manly man can wear during manly pursuits. That said, my exquisite sartorial standards do not mandate fancy watches, for while a finely crafted diamond watch can make a serious fashion statement, IMO an expensive luxury watch clasped on the wrist says nothing positive about the man, manly or no. That said, at one time in my career in international construction I was compelled to buy, wear, and even drop a luxury clepsydra (wristwatch) in public. No diamonds…

Allow me to explain this contradiction.

At the time of this story I lived in Tokyo and was employed by a major Japanese general contractor, indeed the largest general contractor in the world at the time.

As you are aware, commercial construction requires many sheets of drawings. Nowadays, we think nothing of transmitting vast quantities of digital data instantly and very cheaply, via the internet, data devoid of weight and volume. But at the time of this incident, internet access was available only to a few major research Universities and government agencies, so architectural and technical drawings, which were all drawn by hand at the time and printed out as heavy, bulky, paper blueprints reeking of ammonia copy fluid, were delivered to government agencies, bidders, suppliers, subcontractors, and jobsites either by slow boat, airmail, courier or hand delivery. Accordingly, the cost of reproducing and distributing such bulky documents internationally was a major project cost that made UPS, DHL and Fedex highly profitable back in the day.

Time and traffic aside, the taxes and extortion these drawings and specifications faced when the customs agencies of some countries (actually, many countries taxes and tariffs) got their mitts on them were monumental.

In this case, my employer had been awarded a turn-key hospital construction project inside the Philippines through an agency called JICA. JICA selected the designers, and contractors (always Japanese companies) and funded 100% of the design and construction costs with all payments made following JICA procedures inside Japan. This means there were no transfer of funds within the country where the public hospital was erected.

As you can imagine, while the local residents no doubt appreciated the improved, indeed unprecedented access to health care this facility provided to the poor, the JICA system prevented the local government kleptocrats from embezzling or stealing the project funds, so they hated JICA projects with a dragons’ bitter hate. Gentle Readers familiar with both large bureaucracies and international construction will gasp immediately grasp the ramifications.

Chief among these ramifications, IMHO, is the evidence it provides that corrupt governments would rather their citizens suffered and died if their survival meant local politicians and/or government employees might be denied an opportunity for graft and extortion. This is not even a tiny exaggeration.

I don’t know about now, but at the time Japanese taxpayers and general contractors smiled on JICA projects because it provided a an actual, physical, world-class hospital to people in third-world countries desperately in need of health care quickly, reliably and at a reasonable cost, thereby showing Japan’s benevolence to countries the Japanese military ravaged during past foreign adventures, all while maximizing retention of taxpayer funds within Japan. The Philippines is one such country.

But graft, corruption and outright theft are always a problem with construction in the Philippines, and the local politicians, at least those I knew at the time, also loathed JICA projects because funds for the construction work were paid directly to the Japanese construction companies, like my employer, in Japan, giving the famously corrupt government in Manila no opportunity to embezzle them. Likewise, Japanese politicians, also extravagantly corrupt, loathed JICA projects because the opportunities for graft and embezzlement were much much fewer than a standard construction project.

Here’s a word to the wise: Be extremely distrustful of any politician in your nation that goes to a foreign country to discuss, negotiate, or visit a government-funded construction project because it’s almost guaranteed that they will use the opportunity open an account in the Bank of China and arranage to receive bribes from foreign governments, contractors and suppliers free from the risk of detection of wrongdoing by their own government. I say this based on direct experience.

But I digress. Meanwhile, back in Manila, at that time customs demanded a payment of 25% of the full value of the actual physical construction work reflected in the drawings. Not just the cost of producing and/or printing the documents, but the cash cost of placing physical concrete and erecting actual steel. That’s a lot of money, millions of US dollars in fact, and involved a big time delay while the amount is evaluated and negotiated.

But as with most problems, there was a way to sidestep the problem. To whit, my superiors in Tokyo asked me to courier the drawings to Manila on several occasions. The reasons for this, as it was explained to me, is that Japanese companies have a history of being generally more agreeable to demands for bribes, so they are pressed harder than American citizens, such as your humble, befuddled servant, who have a reputation for refusing demands for bribes entirely, and then angrily calling on embassies to support them against undue pressure from foreign governments. It’s illegal under American law to pay bribes, donchano.

But because vague assurances from Philippine government officials of speedy, honest treatment could not be relied upon, in preparation for my visit at Manila Customs, my superiors required me to buy a Rolex watch, with my own funds, with the promise they would reimburse me in due time. So I bought a GMT-Master II.

At the airport I retrieved my bags and three big packages of specs and drawings and toddled off to customs inspection. As soon as the agents at Manila customs saw the heavy pile of drawings their eyes lit up, but before they actually demanded a percentage of the total construction cost, I followed my superior’s instructions, extended my left arm over the stainless steel inspection table, displayed the watch, deliberately released the catch on the watch band, and allowed the watch to fall clattering onto the table.

The inspector quickly picked up and examined the watch, and glanced at me questioningly. I just nodded to him respectfully, loaded up my documents, grabbed my travel bag, and left without saying a word. As I was passing through the doors isolating the inspection area, I glanced back and saw the custom inspector smile like a maniac, stuff my watch into his pocket, and wave his next victim to his station. And so the ancient game of taxes, tariffs, bribes and extortion continued.

Of course, my associates were waiting outside the airport in an automobile by the curb to receive the drawings. We drove to the office to drop them off, and then went out to one of the many clubs in Manila to relax until my return flight to Tokyo was ready to depart.

Why a Rolex GMT.Master II watch, you say and not the Breitling Navitimer James Bond wore in Thunderball or Scaramanga’s Rolex Cellini King Midas seen in The Man with the Golden Gun, or even the economical Swatch GE218 that Blowfeld wore with such panache? This was before the fake “Swiss Made” watches deceptively sold by Rolex recently destroyed their reputation were available, but until recently Rolex watches were immediately recognizable and were considered as good or better than cash in many countries, including the Philippines. Indeed, it was standard operating procedure back in the day for businessmen of all nations to wear a Rolex watch as a last-ditch source of emergency funds, especially since the prestige and value of this brand of watch was instantly recognizable, unlike a cheaper Omega or a more-valuable but little-known Patek Phillipe.

BTW, this is exactly why the solid gold Rolex Presidential watch sold so well for a time in many backwards countries.

And why was I instructed to ostentatiously and noisily drop the watch onto the metal table and then walk away without a word? Three reasons. First, because if one offers government employees cash, it’s obviously a bribe, a crime even if the customs officer demanded the bribe at gunpoint. And as in the United States, superior officers are always eager to use the color of authority to steal cash from subordinates. Just ask Congress, US military, or the IRS where they misplace billions of US dollars every year. But a watch is just a timepiece without a receipt.

Second, human avarice being what it is, an argument about the amount or method of a cash payment is likely to arise, especially if the prospective recipient has the power to demand a look into one’s wallet, as the man with the gun does. The Rolex simplifies all that.

Third, if one pays cash, unlike a single timepiece that cannot be easily divvied-up among other customs officials, arguments and long delays in backrooms will always arise. But if the bakshish is just a single watch of obvious value that cannot be divvied-up like cash, dealing with the custom agent’s coworkers and relatives becomes his problem to resolve after his shift is over and you and the drawings are long gone. Indeed, if he’s clever and discrete, they may never know the transaction occurred.

And lastly, if the customs agent suddenly decides a watch is not enough compensation, and in mighty, puffed-up, hypocritical umbrage tries to turn the tables by claiming a crime has been perpetrated, you can play dumb and insist you innocently, clumsily, or accidentally dropped the watch, and you thought the agent kindly picked it up to return it to you. Cash would not work for this approach.

Clever no? I didn’t think this technique up, but I saw it work well 5 times. Welcome to the wonderful world of international construction.

While it was good to provide a hospital to poor people, I’m not proud of my role in this tale. Gentle Reader will draw your own conclusions from this account, but I will be so bold as to state that it’s a stretch to criticize the person being extorted when the person doing the extortion is one government official among many making the same demand, and he has a gun.

Corruption always lead to destruction of civilizations and the suffering and death of innocents.

In future articles in this series well consider the attributes of a useful watch for the woodworker, and examples of how to use one to improve one’s efficiency at work.

YMHOS

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Ursula Andress, at one time considered by many in the West to be the most beautiful woman in the work, decked out as a blonde Ayesha

With days getting shorter and nights getting cooler, the forecast for a few days of below-freezing nights had us diligently wrapping up the squash harvest.  This is about 2/3 of the haul, I just forgot to take the last “all done” picture.  Winter is a time of heavy soup and stew lunches, and one of my absolute favorites is her squash soup made with fresh raw milk and heavy cream.  No need for dessert with that on the table.

.

Combined with Mrs. Barn’s relentless earlier harvesting and canning, we are just about wrapped up for the season.  There are a few more tomatoes in the greenhouse but we do not know their ultimate disposition.

I rode my bike along the cycle path that parallels the Thames. I can't see it, but it's there as I ride through the mist hogging the river. The geese signal my passing in the morning and I can hear the river in various places sometimes as I ride. The river is still lower than it should be, but that's bad river authority management. Heaven help us if the state takes it over. I'm in no hurry, and stop in the early mist to listen and see; the atmosphere changes in pockets of density where the cloud cover moves, thins, thickens and then leaf density and colours shift in range. The berries hang in clusters of red, of crimsoned jewels I knew a few weeks back to be green buds yet to form bright white flowers. Leaf fall has been more a shedding of excess for survival this year; our unusual heat of a long summer cyclically passes through every half century or so, reminiscent of my Texas summers long ago. Was it really 2008 when I endured forty straight days when the heat never dropped below 38C (100F in real money) even in the night. Leaves tell stories, transmit into the grain in ways we never see, a swelling growth ring followed by shrunken ones . . . still never seen. Surviving by shed leaves and deeper root passage reduces the intensity of deprivation. The grasses lose all colour to a sere yellow blandness we seldom see in the UK summers. Stopping takes determined effort to get off the conveyor belt that gets us through distance faster, yet pacing through we dismiss the journey as being of little value. Transitional spheres do that, undermine the value of being there, the allowance of time stops to shift reasonably from a zone that spans and then extends the breadth of our existence to process, compress and then decompress. It's something we should enter with listening awareness of both life and silence.

Cyclists of a serious ilk barrel through towns and countryside knowing nothing of what I speak and seek, things special we dwell in. Such groups centred on self and self-centred then on the roads of any kind and for the main part dismissing more self-disciplined users dominate all where they can by scaring speed. Cluster groups like these uniformed cycle junkies (unfortunate men) rarely stop except to adjust a Lycra skin and to glug water or crunch through another protein bar. But the paths I'm on aren't meant for the thin wheeled road bikes with dropped handle bars and ultra-thin bike seats. The deeper mud and rougher terrain is quite high demand in cycling skills but relatively slow speed compared to their workout. Heavier bikes take a little muscling through. I want the stops to listen in and look beyond what speed stops. The subtle colour changes of a single berry type like hawthorn brings me back to reality with another cycle called life. It's in this cycle that life prepares for the new winter migrants with berries in full ripeness and bright red leaning to crimson. In the US, I loved seeing the Cedar Waxwings drop by to crop the junipers, so much bird life in my former Texas life there is gone for me. And then there's the anticipated long-haul flights across Texan skies in continuous passing when the Sandhill Cranes cried across the skies en masse. Never heard them? You missed a treat of sky gazing, I can tell you. I have yet to see my first Redwings and Fieldfares arrive to feast over winter from Scandinavia and Europe. We might seem Bohemian Waxwings as an irruption now and then. In my North Wales backdrop of Penrhyn Castle where my last real workshop was housed for my workshop classes, I remember these Waxwings descending in a massive takeover of various berried trees. Their chatter came differently to other birds without the melodic song and more softly, with overlapping variations of pitch in thin whistles, the buzz and twitter of action through stiffened wing movement and constant position shifts for highly competitive berry grabbing.

My field trips embrace the impression wild life has on me still, it's governed my movements throughout my life since very young. Texas gave me some of the best years of wildlife because of the still wilder and big places I found where even in the late 1980s and early 1990s I frequented land that only a handful of human souls ever found over that and previous decades. It's saddening to see how people now more relate to nature only through the minute lens of a smartphone rather than the wide-eyed amazing human eye. As I pass along my path I see many people looking only at their phone screens with little regard for what surrounds them in the now of it. Worse still is the baby in the pushchair whose parent pusher rarely seems to see the baby and then even looks at the baby through their phone. It's as if the bigness of real life in nature has to be confined to a rectangular 12.5 by 5.5 glass-faced rectangle.

In some ways, I liken this to my woodworking where the majority never touch a sharp gents saw to cut a dovetail nor plane a surface with a hand plane, and yet they think what they have is the same as mine. A machine cut can never be the same as a hand cut anything even if it delivers a pristinely smooth and dead square cut end. I can't even begin to describe being surrounded by a hundred-strong heard of totally wild longhorn cows amidst mesquite trees in semidesert with the cactus in bloom and the sweet and even sickly fragrance of mountain laurel in a Texas bloom time. Javelina striking out of the undergrowth in front of you with screams so wild they chill you to the bone yet still represent the experience of being immersed in nature, no question about it. Life is tame here in the UK. The biggest challenge to our humanity is our humanity. Cluster groups on bikes travelling through towns is always intimidatingly done by the privileged as is those barrelling through individually these days on electric cargo bikes regardless of age, disability, space occupancy and so on. Their dominance in cities, noise and light pollution, air travel, changing patterns of life when we know the answer but don't do what we should or could.

My walks and cycle route excursions lack the wildnesses of past life for me and I surely miss the explosion of nature in Texas in my opening years there. Being alone in the middle of a hundred thousand acres of ranchland owned by a neighbour way down the canyon in Reagan Wells never caused me concern. His land surrounded my home and I never suffered any fear or doubt. I am more threatened here in the UK than I ever was in the wilds and alone in Texas wilderness life. There is an unfortunate element of people who are more belligerent living in a comfort they don't like disturbing. They rarely distance themselves too far from a luxury car, a road and familiarity. But I still enjoy taking time out for the wilder things, the stops and starts of the flash and snazzy blue of a darting kingfisher when and where I least expect one. I have mixed feelings about COVID. Pre covid days meant freer spaces from people, and now it's hard to escape them and their extreme habits of pure badness. It's been nearly three years since the cowardly attack on me from behind. The man broke three ribs and left me unable to breathe on the cycle path not far from my home but far enough in my inability to take a breath. Being surrounded tight by a hundred longhorns never spooked me one bit and neither did the wild-eyed bobcat that stared me down unflinchingly and would not move as I approached. It was me that stepped aside for a much wider birth in his country, but it was him that stalked me until I was a safe distance away.

I'm vlogging again in my different spaces and places, thinking about the coming week. I hope my pace of life matches yours. I have missed my workspace since we started building the new one, we are so close, just a week or so should do it.

This will be the most climate controlled workshop I have ever belonged in. It's more compact and I look forward to sharing it with you. I doubt that you will see any difference from your side of the camera but for me, it is a space I have evolved with and in to.

 Had an absolute horrible night. I woke up 3 times, and 3 three times I had coughing fit that lasted for a bazillion hours. The upside of that was I was able to fall back asleep once things calmed down. Not the best night I have had and it was awfully close to being the worse one.

I rolled out of the rack late and felt blah all day long. Not sick blah or tired blah but something entirely new for me. I played with the DeWalt a few times but most of the day I spent molding my butt cheeks to my desk chair. The crappy blah feeling didn't go away but I did get bone weary tired in the late afternoon. 

My patience with getting the belt changed is wearing super thin. If I can't get it changed in the AM (if I'm up to it) I'll bring it to a tool repair center. I found one on Jefferson Blvd which is only 5 minutes from my house.

hmm.......

I tried to get the belt on with the rod off. Don't know if not feeling 100% had anything to do with it but nada. I couldn't even get a smiles worth of the belt engaged on the big pulley.

I watched the YouTube vid again but it was muted. I learn better visually over reading or an oral rending. I was listening to a podcast at the same time. I watched it twice to make sure I understood how he maneuvered the belt unto the big pulley. 

ouch

I spent more then 5 minutes trying to screw the rod back on and nada. Initially I thought that it wasn't engaging the first threads but that wasn't the problem. The rod is threaded left handed. I was putting the rod back in because that is the way the vid has it.

nope, nope, and nope

I couldn't get the belt to partially engage on the bottom pulley. I could get it to pass by the rod after the 3rd attempt but couldn't get it started. The vid made a point of not levering against the rod and damaging the threads. I was able to get the screwdriver under the belt and the tip on the nut. Tired to pull the belt and turn it at the same time and got nowhere.

I left this here as is and watched the YouTube vid again with the audio this time. Discovered a tidbit that I missed from watching it muted. I had been putting the belt first fully on the top black pulley but I should have been putting only 1/2 of it on that pulley. I revised the battle plan for the AM. 

accidental woodworker

 Things didn't go merrily, merrily down the lane today. Spent the AM at the DMV getting my license renewed. The clerks there must attend 6 months learning how to be arrogant and exasperating all the while smiling smugly. IMO the forms are confusing, and the instructions when available make it even more confusing to fill out. After filling the pie hole I drew up a new battle plan for replacing the belt.

my absolute best goofy looks

Cleaning up the two pulleys was a royal PITA. Holding a flashlight to see WTF I was doing and trying to scrape the remnants of the old belt off took me almost two hours. The lighting SNAFU was the worse annoyance to deal with until it came time to put the new belt on. BTW the goofy looks didn't help one iota.

hmm.......

I wanted to take this pulley guard off but I stripped out the screw. Made it awkward trying to get a pick and a steel wire brush on the small pulley. I could get the front 1/4" easy enough but the back had me cursing up a storm.

finally

Managed to get the big pulley cleaned up. I turned it slowly and got all the little spots I had missed. It looked brandy new to me. The smaller, black pulley to top left was not being as cooperative.

it worked

I got the acetone to clean up the big pulley and I wasn't expecting it to do anything with the belt residue. It softened and removed it. It worked on the black pulley but it wasn't as easy removing it. However, it did soften it sufficiently that I could get a pick at it and remove it.

I thought of drilling out the screw on the black pulley cover and went so far as to find my set of screw extractors. I only two, one for a tiny screw and one for a 1/4-20. Neither of them would have worked here. Briefly thought of drilling it out too but nixed it. I endured the tedious process of wiping it with acetone, picking out with a pick and knife, and then wiping up what I could. Wash, rinse, and repeat 25 bazillion times before the pulley was clean.

another hmm.......

I couldn't see how you could one, get the belt behind this rod and two, then get it on the bigger pulley. To my thinking this rod has to go. Started with removing the plate at the bottom held on with two screws.

nope

I got the plate at the bottom off but the rod wouldn't unscrew so I nixed doing that. I tried to get the belt onto to the big pulley and nada. I couldn't get it downward so I could get a piece of it onto the bottom of the pulley.

this sucked pond scum

I had to remove this sprocket in order to unscrew the rod. Up to this point all the screws were imperial but not so on the bottom boys and girls. Here it was, lets switch over to metric. The two set screws holding the sprocket were 3mm held on with blue locktite.

off and out of the way

The bottom plate on this is set in a groove on the rod which locks in the proper position of the rod. Nice touch that it doesn't need to be aligned or adjusted. 

frustrating 30 minutes

I tried everything I could think of to lever the belt onto the bottom pulley and nothing was working. I had soaked the belt in hot water from the tap for about 10 minutes. I don't think the water was hot enough because the belt hadn't seemed to stretch at all.

because I'm brain dead

I also like pissing into a head wind and say it is raining. Let the belt soak in boiling water, off the fire, for ten minutes. This was no better and the first hot water experiment. The belt didn't even feel hot to the touch.

No Mas

I called it day mostly because I was getting nowhere getting the belt on. Instead I went back on YouTube and looked up the belt vid again. I couldn't find the one I watched where the guy did the hot water trick but I did find one YouTube vid from 'ereplacement' that was an eye opener. 

First off I found out that you can remove just the side panels without having to take off the top. Secondly and most important is you don't have to remove the threaded rod. He showed how to get the belt in position on the big pulley after getting it on the smaller one. Then he uses two screwdrivers levering against the rod and using the nut on the big pulley as the fulcrum point. Zippty Doo Dah and the belt was on.

I don't remember seeing this vid when I searched the other day. If I did I might have ignored it thinking it would be an advertisement for 'ereplacement'. I will try the belt replacement dance steps in the AM following this vid (which I bookmarked). Right now all I want to do to the planer is see how well it will survive me going postal on it with a 3lb sledge hammer.

accidental woodworker 

A couple months ago I came into possession of an old Russell Jennings auger bit box.  Somewhere along its life, someone had altered the box by removing from the first two tiers the grooved shelves that held the auger bits safe from rattling around.

The old box

The top tier with grooved shelf removed and ugly compartments installed

Middle tier with grooved shelf removed

Bottom tier with grooved shelf still intact

This got me thinking about how to repair the box.  A few years ago I made a different (but similar) type of box for a set of auger bits, so I was confident I could recreate the grooved shelves.  But in the end I decided to make a whole new Russell Jennings style of box from scratch.

My version of the three-tiered box

I don't know what wood the original boxes were made from, but mine is oak with poplar bit trays.  The Russell Jennings boxes are made with 1/8" box joints at the four corners and no doubt they were made as a single box and then sawn apart to create the three tiers.  Due to the narrow recycled oak I was using, I decided to make mine as three separate boxes, each joined at the corners with 1/4" box joint fingers.

Before making the boxes, I played around with making the grooved trays.  It took some trial and error to get the layout right so that all the bits would fit in their respective trays, and so that the box would have the right dimensions.  If I remember correctly, the box needed to be 4 1/8" front to back, with 3/8" thick sides, which left 3 3/8" width in which to fit a bunch of auger bits.

Middle tier laid out - these need not be perfect half circles

Here's the middle tray partially grooved

I think I made each layout curve about 1/16" greater in diameter than the bit that would fit in it.  The grooves were cut starting with a plow plane.  Then, depending on the size of the groove, I followed with either round planes or scrapers in a scratch stock .  For the largest grooves in the bottom tray, I also used a gouge to chop away some waste.

Top tier almost done, plow plane and scratch stock in background

Middle tier was done with plow plane and a small round plane

Here's a preview of the three tiers

Grooves were plowed in each tier's ends to receive the trays, which were rabbeted to fit into those grooves.

Grooves in one of the tier's ends

Forming a rabbet: saw close, then clean with chisels and rabbet plane

The bottom tier was special with this rabbet ...

... and a rabbet on the underside so the tray's bottom would be in line with the box's bottom

One more detail: the square tapered shank of auger bits is wider than the business end for the 1/4", 5/16" and 3/8" bits, so they don't sit right in the box unless the end where the shanks of those bits rest is relieved.

An old Russell Jennings box showing the relieved area

Marking out

After careful paring with chisels

Now they play nice together

The hardware is nothing special.  I used cheap butt hinges and front clasps from Lee Valley.  Most of the small brass screws I had were 1/2" long, so I had to cut them down to 3/8" so they wouldn't go through to the inside of the box.  Screw holes were pre-drilled and the screws were waxed to ease them into the hard oak.  The hinges were not mortised into the box but were surface-mounted, similar to the way some old Russell Jennings boxes were made.

Hinges on the back

The front clasps were nailed on and I predrilled holes for the nails.

Installing the clasps

Clasps on the front

I gave the outsides of the box 3 coats of shellac and a coat of wax.  The box is about 3/16" taller than the old boxes.  I could have easily gotten the correct height in my box because my top tier tray was deeper than it needed to be.  But overall, I'm happy with it.

Something unexpected: I got a free can of shellac on "freecycle" and it was cloudy.  I've been mixing my own shellac for years and it's always clear.  But I tested this shellac on a scrap and it hardened properly.  Anybody have this issue with some cloudy shellac?

Cloudy shellac

If I was a real maniac, I'd try to duplicate the label that R-J put on the inside of the lid of their auger bit boxes (see pic #2 above).  I'll leave that for the real gung ho out there.  All for now.  I'll leave this with a couple of glamour shots.

The finished box

And with bits on display

The top moulding is made the same way as the base moulding. I ripped all the parts to finished width first, so every piece was already the right size before any mitres were cut. Then I cut a mitre on one end of two pieces, so they would meet to form a corner.

I took those two pieces to the top of the bookshelf, fitted the mitres together without glue and clamped them so they couldn’t shift. With the corner sitting tight, I looked down the length of the front piece to the opposite end, where it runs past the side of the bookshelf. At that end I held a pencil against the edge of the bookshelf and struck a line across the moulding. That line is exactly where the next mitre has to start, and I didn’t measure a thing to find it. Measuring is where mistakes creep in, and one wrong number means a ruined piece of timber. Letting the bookshelf tell you the length is far more reliable.

I cut the mitre on that pencil line, then fitted it back in place. For the last piece, I laid it on top of the mitre I had just cut, so the two overlapped, and scribed a line along the angled edge. That scribed line is the mitre for the final piece. I cut to it, again without measuring anything, and the three pieces came together in a U shape around the top of the case.

I let the moulding overhang by 1½” on the front and both sides. The back is cut flush with the back of the case. Then I glued and screwed it down. I could have plugged the screw holes, but the case is tall and nobody will ever see the top, so I left them as they were.

When you live in heavily wooded hills like Shangri-la, the term “sunrise” can have different meanings.  In the case of today’s post, it is the time when actual sunshine strikes the surroundings, or somewhere between 9AM and noon.

This tree exploded in chromatic brilliance once the sun was on it.  Last week’s pic was from a grim, grey day that was followed that night with four inches of rain.

My oldest picture (very distant and blurry) of this tree was from 25 years ago and it was a sapling probably the size of my wrist.  Now the trunk is the size of my waist.

 The weather forecast changed and now there was rain in the morning and cloudy skies in the PM. Based on that I decided to wait on changing the belt until tomorrow. The skies looked like they would open up at any moment and drop rain like a cow letting loose on a flat rock.

done

Got the jig set so both aprons are inset an 1/8" from the outside edge. The first leg was 1 1/4" and this one is 1 3/16". The dowels didn't bypass each other so I had to adjust and play with them until the aprons seated fully on the legs gap free.

only a 16th

I was surprised that I could see a difference between the two thicknesses of the legs. Once this one has the chamfers on it, it should look a little more thinner and slender.

Stopped here and did some grocery shopping and dropped off a package at FedEx. Decided that I would change the belt in the back hallway rather then wait until the next day.

ready to do battle

Didn't know it here but I hadn't brought all the tools I would need. I ended doing the one thing I wanted to avoid at all costs and that was trotting up and down the stairs getting things I forgot. Getting the outer shell off the planer was painless and incredibly easy to do.

worth it

I purposely made this little tray to hold screws etc etc. These things can go MIA in a heartbeat. As long as I don't knock it over I should have them come time to put it back together.

this sucks pond scum

The old belt had melted on the bigger pulley. The smaller one (up to the left) had some melted crappola but not as much. I have to remove and clean this up before I can put on the new belt. It doesn't look like it is going to easy to do.

found it

The block with the knives wasn't turning which was making cleaning the big pulley a ROYAL PITA. Now that I found this I won't have to flip the planer 180 so I could have access to the bottom of the pulley.

incoming headache

I got some of the melted crap cleaned off and stopped. I went back to the shop and got my vacuum and more tools. That wore me out and I sat at my desk to rest and fell asleep. When I woke up I tried to get the belt on - just to give it a look see.

Getting the new belt on isn't going to easy.  The belt has to stretch about a 1/4" to fit. The procedure says to install the new belt first on the top, smaller pulley and the bigger one next. The bigger pulley has a rod in front of it. No mention of any hints to help. The YouTube vids I watched, one of them soaked the belt in boiling water which helped him. I still have to clean the pulleys before I can have fun, fun, fun with the new belt.

accidental woodworker 

 Things are getting worse for me with my breathing issues. Leaving the shop and coming up stairs is exhausting for me. It now takes me about 15 minutes before I fully catch my breath and stop coughing. I'm learning to work around it by moving as slow as a glacier. That helps because if I do my normal balls to the wall walk I cough for a bazillion hours and get short of breath. 

So I've been carefully planning before I go to the shop (going down is problem free still). I try to stay as long as I can before going topside. I try to make that as close to lunch time so I don't have to make any extra up/down dance steps. Once in the shop I can carry on albeit nowhere near at the pace I used to do. Regardless, I'm just happy to be able to make shavings and sawdust no matter what my body annoys me with.

cut list

I didn't see any reason why I couldn't cut out the aprons, top, and bottom shelf now. I know how wide (front/back) my wife wants it but she made no mention of the length (R/L). The top is 9" wide and 30" long. The bottom shelf is 6 1/2" wide by 26" long. The aprons and the one stretcher are all 2" wide but different lengths.

ouch

I couldn't find the wrench that came with this router. The only joy I take from that is that it is too big to sweep up with shavings and shitcan. I'm sure it will turn up in some totally unrelated black hole.

done

End aprons, top and bottom shelf, and the bottom stretcher. I am not putting any long side aprons on the bottom of the table. That will keep the table light and airy looking.

hmm........

Rounded the ends of the top and the bottom shelf. It isn't much but it lightens up the top continuing the delicate look I'm going for. I'll hold off sawing the round off until the aprons are glued and set. Leaving it square will be easier to position them and do the layout for the table top clips.

done

Got check marks on everything on the cut list. Once I get the legs done, finishing this will take no time at all.

tough going

Initially I got winded quick but the more I did it the easier it went. It didn't go fast and I got all the aprons, the stretcher, and the top and shelf planned and smoothed on the edges. I'll the do the faces before I do the glue up.

This is all I got done today. There is nothing on the horizon yet as the next project and I had taken this one as far as I could for now. Tomorrow I'll saw out a piece of scrap 1 1/4" square because that is the size leg I decided on. I'll use that to set the length of the dowels and the offset for the aprons. 

2 for $18

These came as I was finishing up this blog post. The email had said friday but I'll take it. I checked the weather and tomorrow will be cloudy but no rain. I had watched YouTube on replacing the belt and none of the vids looked difficult. Taking the planer apart to replace the belt was what I thought it would be. None of the vids said that any alignment was needed and it was put back together in reverse order. That is a bonus. 

accidental woodworker