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 I woke up after 0700 this AM and I had slept like I was dead. I got up once for the toilet trot races and immediately fell asleep again. Me thinks I over did it yesterday in the shop. It was productive day but I'm paying the price for it now. I didn't want to do anything today except veg out in my chair. The only thing I got done from what I had planned for today was putting shellac on the tool tote. Maybe tomorrow I'll have a wee bit more energy.

minor me steak

The wedge didn't expand the tenon end much. That was mostly due to the size of the wedge but also because I centered the wedge. I should have done a double wedge, one each closer to the outside faces. I don't do enough wedging so I'm still  learning. 

One other thing I did wrong was the depth of the wedge kerf. I made it too shallow and the most of it extended out past the mortise on the outside face. I had thought of putting a shoulder at each end of the handle but I didn't. Something to file away in the brain bucket for the next one.

prepping

Sanded the tote with 120 and that was it. 

sanding sticks

I had planed the end grain on the angles so I didn't have to do much with the sanding sticks to get them ready for shellac.

insurance

I had wicked super glue all around the edges on both sides of the end panels. The wedge ain't given me a warm and fuzzy so I'm going to pin the handle (at each end) with a 1/8" dowel.

2 coats

It was a stretch coming back to the shop for the 2nd coat. I spent most of the PM sitting and wandering in and out of sleeping. I'll try to get back to the shop after dinner to get the 3rd and final coat on.

On the first trip to the shop I checked my wood and I have some cherry and a lot of poplar to make the console/entry table for my wife. She wants a shallow depth - 8 to 9 inches and a height of 3 feet. I can do that but I don't have any cherry or poplar thick enough for legs.

accidental woodworker

Disclosure: This article was paid for by Huuman Life GmbH.

My boy asked for a bookshelf he could one day hand down to his own kids. Building for family is as good a reason as any to keep working wood by hand.

Anyone who works all by hand knows how much of the job the body carries. Ripping, planing, chopping and carving take strength, yet most of us mind our bodies far less than our tools. We tune planes, set cap irons and hone edges out of habit. Let a plane go dull and it wastes more time than one kept in good nick, and the body is no different. The arms pull their weight, but a long day at the bench is hard on the grip, upper back and legs too. So what helps? Most of it you can do at home or in the workshop with next to no kit.

Photo: Anna Shvets, Pexels

Then there’s the bench itself. A low bench puts your legs and core behind the plane instead of leaving the whole stroke to the arms. When I carve, I raise my bench to 40 inches (1016mm) so the work comes up closer to my eyes and I’m not leaning down to it. For planing I keep it low, and the time I tested a higher bench settled that.

Every tool in a hand tool workshop must be held, and much of the muscle doing that holding sits in the forearm. Steering a plane while the body drives it, or holding a saw on the line through a long rip, keeps the grip working for hours. Sharp teeth, good light and a well-tuned saw mean less force is needed, so you can keep a light grip. On average, grip strength peaks in early adulthood, holds through middle age and then starts to drop. You can still build it in your sixties and seventies. Work that makes the hands hang on as they do at the bench is worth your time.

The simplest thing is to carry something. Pick up a couple of solid offcuts, or two buckets part filled with water, walk the length of the yard and back a few times, standing tall. That works the grip, the forearms and the upper back together, and you can edge the load up as you get stronger.

Planing at a low bench all day only works if your legs and back hold up. They’re what cop the load when you pull boards off the stack or spin a long one end for end. Regular exercise seems to make back trouble less likely. Back support belts and shoe insoles don’t appear to make a difference. Get up from a sturdy chair without using your hands. Bend at the hips with a flat back to pick something off the floor, and do a bit more of that carrying. Start light, then add weight or use a lower seat as it gets easy.

Photo of me planing

Twice a week, with the work getting a little harder as you go, is usually enough to build strength, even past sixty-five. For those who already train with weights, the training plan on Huuman’s blog, which starts at two days a week, shows one way to lay out a week like that.

Planing, sawing and chopping keep your arms out in front and your head over the work. So give the muscles between the shoulder blades some work pulling the shoulders back. Loop a resistance band low round a heavy bench leg and it does the job. Step back, pull your hands to your ribs and squeeze the shoulder blades together. A dozen or so each time you pause for a breather is a good start.

Heavy stock prep doesn’t have to be knocked over in one day. A morning at the plane, then an afternoon of marking out, sharpening or finishing, is easier on the hands and back.

Huuman Life reached out to me. I’ve had ongoing trouble with my back, so I was interested enough to look into what they were doing. I liked what I saw. The Huuman app takes a straightforward approach to building and maintaining the strength we need to keep doing the things we actually enjoy. It covers strength, movement and recovery, which are all useful areas to work on if you want to keep at this.

If I didn’t think Huuman Life was worth recommending, I wouldn’t have written this article. I don’t write in favour of something simply because someone offers to pay me. I looked into Huuman, liked what I saw, and thought it was something worth sharing with people who want to keep themselves strong enough to carry on working wood.

For those of us who work wood by hand, staying strong counts for plenty. We ask a lot of our hands, shoulders, back and legs, and the older we get the more we need to look after them. The aim isn’t to turn the workshop into a gym. It’s to keep the body strong enough that we can carry on planing, sawing, chopping and carving for years to come.

For me, that’s really what it’s about. We don’t work wood by hand because we want to spend our lives exercising. We do it because we love making things. If a little time spent looking after the body means we can stay at the bench and keep doing it, then it’s time well spent. I’d like to still be at it when my boy’s kids are filling that bookshelf.

None of this takes long or asks for much in the way of kit. It just needs doing regularly, like sharpening.

Disclaimer: This is general guidance, not medical advice. If anything hurts, or you have a heart condition or anything that affects how you move, speak with your GP or a physio before starting anything new.

Hello everyone. This project was building a desk with my son. Here is a picture to remind you of where we were:

four legs and four aprons

The lid was already glued up so next we picked some hinges to attach the lid to the stationary top piece. Here is some brass hardware I got from a thrift store:

selection of hinges

We went with the more curved style in the top left. I think they're a nice shape and they can be face mounted. I was worried just a few screws 1/2-3/4" long wouldn't be strong enough for the heavy lid, but they've held up fine. I

The top has a flat board with three narrow pieces to make a gallery. Here they are before being cut to size:

gallery back and side pieces

That brings us to the big mistake of the project. The top had already been cut to size, and it was too small!

coming up a bit short!

I think I had planned to cut the side aprons a few inches shorter and never did, leaving the base too deep. Since the base had already been dominoed and glued and pinned it was easier to make a new lid. Luckily I had a wide piece that was almost long enough.

replacing 1/2 the top with a wider piece

Note at the bottom of the picture the new piece is at least an inch shorter. This caused some problems as I had planned for a generous overhang on the sides, and now it would barely cover the base.

The base was out of square and I thought I could just work around it. But once the lid was cut shorter I realized I had to correct it. So I steamed the four corners and squeezed the longer diagonal to try to get it square-er.

steamer nozzle and squeezing the long diagonal

So back to the gallery. The two short sides and long back were dominoed together. I don't remember how they were fastened to the base. Usually I use a loose or sliding connection for cross-grain joints, but at about 6" long this may have been too short to worry about.

just trace a round object! gallery

Next we move to the inner section. I glued supports or cleats around the edges, along with one central support that was screwed to the front and back aprons.

adding cleats to support the bottom

You can also see the pocket holes drilled to later attach the gallery/stationary top to the base.

The bottom I made out of some cheap, thin plywood. I had to cut out notches in the corners to make room for the legs:

thin plywood cut to fit into opening

I mixed school glue 50/50 with warm water and slathered it over the plywood. Then I applied black felt all around. Once when replacing my car headliner I read a tip to use oven mitts when smooshing the fabric around, so I tried that here also.

applying watered down glue to plywood trying to flatten felt to plywood

After it was dry I cut it to size, leaving a little around all the edges to cover the gaps. After putting it in the desk the plywood was noticeably bowed:

underside of bowed plywood

This bothered me and I debated ways to fix it, but after a day or two it relaxed and flattened on its own. The bottom is not fastened or glued.

I don't have pictures of the finishing. For curly maple I apply water based transtint, then sand it lightly with 220 or 320 grit sandpaper. This is supposed to leave dye in the curls and remove it from the fields, making the curls stand out more. After doing that 1-3 times we applied several coats of zinnser sealcoat shellac with a rag.

Here's the curly maple Schoolmaster's Desk assembled and in place:

finished with lid open

Here you can see the battens under the lid have a fixed screw closest to the hinge, and slots for screws further out:

wood movement is real!

Here you can see how the sides of the gallery also work as a stop when opening the lid:

gallery sides stop the lid from opening too far hinges and gallery the lid and gallery are both angled where they meet the front apron, front legs, and sides all have matching angles

All those pictures are from May when the project was finished. Since then there have been requests to add a lip or a trough across the front to keep things from rolling off.

I had some thin slats leftover, cut one to size, and then glued it to the front.

adding a lip to the front edge need to use wedges to keep things lined up

Not trusting glue alone, I added 1/8" thick bamboo skewers as wooden nails.

wooden nails in addition to glue clip with diagonal pliers, then plane or scrape lip attached

So I think we're officially finished with that project.

Now my daughter says she needs a desk for her room.

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.