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 After almost a month of work on the glass door cabinet is winding down. I received the 1/4 round moldings I'm using as glass retainers and the Lee Valley hinges finally came in albeit too late. I have to find some diamond glazier points - I'll try the paint store when I go to pick out a contrasting paint color. Fingers and toes crossed that  they will have the ones I want. Painting this is going to be a PITA and I am projecting that it will probably eat up a week plus a few days.

top line

That is how far up I have to move the latch side to be flush with the keeper. It is too much to ignore.

fill in the old holes

The dowels I used were a perfect fit. I just had to sand them a wee bit to get a snug fit with the screw hole.

crisis averted

There was much joy and rejoicing in Mudville. The mighty Ralphie had fixed the faux pas.

 

close

I made two more shelf supports. The one above to the right was the first one and I planed that one against the grain. These two don't have to be dead nuts because they aren't married to each other. They will be on opposite sides of the cabinet and impossible to focus on together. Close is good enough and besides most of it will be hidden under the shelf.

Right and Left

I made a practice cut on the against the grain one to eyeball the angle. I was happy with it and how it looked - this will be somewhat visible and will present a finished end to this shelf support.

WTF?

I lost one of the moldings I just made. Couldn't remember where I had put it down and I saw it 3 times and didn't recognize as the MIA molding.

found it

The MIA molding was atop the cabinet and I finally realized it the 4th time I looked at it. I made another one and I had a backup set of shelf supports because I am now leaning toward putting in 3 fixed shelves vice one fixed and two adjustable. It is still subject to change.

shelves

Flushing and smoothing the shelves. All three were flush on one face but a wee bit proud on the other.

major brain fart

One shelf is salvageable but the other two are toast. Both of them are short on width. I thought I had made them all an inch longer in both directions. The single one on the right is about a strong 16th short on the width - the depth is over long because I didn't do that one yet. From what I could measure I made these squares - the shelves should have been 16x19 and I made them 16x17. They won't go to waste and I'll use them for some future project.

new toys

I've wanted to try these clamps forever. Woodcraft has these on sale for 50% off. For the price of one, I got two.

superior tool site

I wanted everything but the level line sights. $122 shipped to me. If anyone wants the line sights make an offer - the box for them is great shape as is all the others.

hmm....

It was advertised that these will clamp 48x48 inches. They do that using a coupler to get the 48" clamp length.

need a box

Of course I have to make a box to hold all the goodies in one place. 1/2" plywood for the box with a1/4" plywood for the top and bottom.

dry fit

The miters fitted up good with no gaps. I will saw the lid off after it has been glued and cooked.

glued, clamped, and cooking

I will let this cook overnight and hopefully I'll finish it by the PM session.

brand new

There isn't even an errant scratch on it anywhere. This is another curiosity that I needed to have its itch scratched. The box even has the instructions in it.

still readable

I don't do door butt hinges but it looks like this would do the hinges for the current project. One of the arms has a measurement scale that is dead on accurate. I checked it and was surprised that it was.

doweling jig bushings

I checked all 5 bushings with the auger bits I have. Only the 1/4" and 5/16" bushings fit the auger bits. The 3/8" kind of fit with the initial lead in tight but once it went in about a 1/4" it turned freely for the rest of it.

L molding

This is the homemade molding I will use to cover the plywood edges. The plies on this plywood are particularly ugly looking IMO. 

WEN hand planer

The only metal topside on this are the screws that old it together. I have only used this once without reading the instructions. Still don't know what some of the 'orange' bits and bobs do. However, I was impressed and pleasantly surprised by how well this worked flattening a poplar board.

depth setting

This worked but I didn't measure how deep it was cutting. I set in at 1/64th because I wasn't sure how well this would perform. I didn't want to over stress it and have it burn out the first time it was let out of the gate. I had played with the two orange turn knobs - I don't what they did and they were hard to turn in either direction.

right, off, left

This gizmo directs the shavings to the right or left or shuts it off. Don't see what the benefit of that is. It didn't work that well. I had the shavings bag attached and it barely had some dust in it when I finally took it off. I finished the poplar board without the bag and just let the shavings spew out.

the sole

The sole is aluminum with a V groove on the front shoe. I did see that this is for chamfering but I didn't try that function.

3 1/4" width

I bought two sets of replacement blades. I haven't changed these yet and supposedly they no set. I like that because IMO these hand planers can be a bit fiddly when replacing the blades.

thick sole

The end has a plastic kick stand. The thick sole should stay flat but aluminum can turn gummy and sticky. That can make pushing this hard and cause it stick and stop. That didn't happen on this one use though.

35 year old Makita

The blueish case holds my Makita hand planer. I haven't used it a bazillion years because it needs new blades. If memory serves me the ones on it are nicked pretty bad. This planer was a PITA (for me) to set new blades based on the one time I did it. I'll have to open it up and check it out. It has been a long time but my skill set has improved a wee bit since I last used this one.

Only time and use will tell how well the WEN holds up. I think for the infrequent use I plan for it (only to flatten/thickness boards) it should last a few years.

accidental woodworker 

In my last two posts, I showed how I made the oak framework for my new joint stool, which I’m making with expert guidance from the book Make a Joint Stool from a Tree by Jennie Alexander and Peter Follansbee.

So far I’ve been working oak from logs. But for the seat, I used cherry wood that I also got from a tree.

This cherry tree came down in the back yard of a friend in Alabama during a 2020 hurricane. I hauled off as much of the wood as I could, sawed it up into very rough short boards, and made a bunch of wooden spoons out of it. The rest got stacked up to dry.

Because this joint stool will live in my kitchen, which has cherry wood cabinets and trim, I decided that a cherry seat would complement the space nicely.

Making the Seat

I had originally quarter-sawn a bunch of the cherry logs to about 2″ thick, knowing that they would have plenty of time to dry before I got around to using them. But the top should be much thinner.

The plan was to resaw this little plank on the bandsaw, glue the two pieces together, plane it all down, and end up with about a 3/4″ thick seat.

Resawing a thick plank and gluing the pieces together results in a nicely bookmatched seat.

But if you look closely at the above picture, you can see that the two pieces are not anywhere near the same thickness.

My plan for the seat had gone awry almost immediately. The bandsaw’s blade wandered, leaving one side just shy of 3/4″ thick and the other side well over 1″ thick on one edge. So I needed to remove a lot of material from the face of the thicker piece.

(Side-note: you can see in the background of the picture above that I already have a joint stool, which is a modern reproduction of the form. I have no idea who made it, but I bought it at an antique shop a few years ago. And while I’m not replicating the existing piece’s dimensions exactly, it’s very nice to have a full-scale model from which to work.)

The fastest way to remove stock is with the coarsest tool. In this case, the coarsest tool turned out to be this hewing hatchet. Its edge is beveled only on one side, and it’s designed for squaring up small timbers.

There’s a specific technique to using it effectively to hew to a line, but I won’t detail that method here since I didn’t pause to take pictures of the whole hewing process.

But as you can see, I was able to knock off enough thickness, and I can handplane the surface down from here.

For heavy stock removal, it’s best to use a handplane with a blade sharpened to a slight curve, or camber. I used my wooden jack plane, whose blade I keep shaped and sharpened for exactly these kinds of jobs.

You can take off a thicker shaving if you plane directly across the grain like this. Just be aware that the edge on the exit-side is going to break off some. If this were going to be the underside of the seat, that wouldn’t matter. But this will be the show-side, so I made sure to plan for a bit of loss in the overall width.

You finish by planing the surface down with the grain.

Thumbnail Profile

Once I had the whole piece glued up and planed down, it was time to add a thumbnail profile around the top edges. I had never done this by hand before, but the book shows how it’s done. It’s a surprisingly simple process, and I will definitely use it again on other projects.

Start with the ends. Decide how far in you want your thumbnail. Mark the depth with a cutting gauge or a sharp marking gauge. Clamp a batten across the workpiece in line with your scribed line. Use a saw to cut a very shallow kerf. Just a few light strokes will do.

Now use a rabbet plane to remove the stock. A skew-rabbet like the one pictured above works best. But I imagine that any rabbet plane or shoulder plane would do a decent job if you were to take a light cut. Fortunately I had picked up a wooden skew rabbet plane at an antique mall a year or two ago. They’re actually fairly common on the secondhand market right now, and unlike a lot of wooden molding planes, they are often in usable shape and can be tuned up pretty easily.

Once you have planed this rabbet onto each end, you can plane the rabbet along the long edges, too. Use the same method, though it’s not necessary to saw the kerf if the grain is fairly straight. Just use the rabbet plane held tight up against the batten. It doesn’t even matter if the rabbets at either end are cut to precisely the same depth. Just adjust your strokes with the rabbet plane to make sure the rabbets meet all the way around.

Now that the the rabbets are formed, you can round over the edges. Again, you start with the ends. Plane a chamfer first. When you’re working on the ends, be sure to skew the plane so as to cut the end-grain cleanly.

Then plane off the two corners of the chamfer. The result will start looking like a round-over.

You can plane the initial chamfer around the whole workpiece first, and then go around and take off the corners on each of the four sides. Or you can just work one side at a time, which is what I’ve done.

You can plane or scrape off any remaining corners if you like. And if you really want the round-over to look round up close, you can sand it down perfectly round. I didn’t, though. It’s enough for me that it looks like a round-over from a distance. I don’t mind feeling facets, and it won’t make any difference when you’re sitting on it.

Attaching the Seat

The book admits that the seat attachment is the most fragile part of the stool. The authors note that antique joint stools are often found with missing or replacement seats. The traditional method was to attach the seat with pegs driven through the seat and into holes in the tops of the legs. Because the holes go into angled legs, the angles create a sort of “dovetail” effect that holds the seat on.

I don’t doubt that the result is good if you do it right, but I also know how much this stool is going to get used, pulled around, and picked up by the top. I think there’s a reason that the seats of these stools don’t always survive. If the tops shrunk or cracked a bit, or if someone pulled up on the seat just a little too hard, the seat could pop right off. Then it would be very difficult to reattach it firmly using the same method.

So I decided to use a method that wasn’t really an option for a 17th-century joiner: wood screws.

I made four brackets out of some oak offcuts from the project.

Because these brackets are on the underside, they didn’t need to look pretty. In fact, there was only one part of these brackets that needed to be precise. Everything else could be shaped quite roughly.

Here’s how I did it:

First, I chose a wood screw, and I cut an offcut into this shape.

The stock is approximately 2″ wide and 1″ thick, and long enough to be cut into a right triangle, but the exact dimensions didn’t matter. As you can see, I cut one end at 45 degrees. If your upper stretchers are consistent in thickness, then you can just cut both ends at 45 degrees. But if the stretchers’ inside faces were left rough, as mine were, then you need to figure out what angle you should cut the other end at. Don’t just assume it will be a perfect 45 degrees.

Fortunately, the angle is easy to establish. You don’t measure it with numbers. You just gauge it with a sliding T-bevel.

Use the sliding T-bevel at approximately the same place you’ll put your bracket. I’m screwing them to the short stretchers on each end. Each bracket’s angle is cut to fit a specific corner. They won’t be interchangeable, so I made and installed them one at a time, so as not to get them mixed up.

Transfer the angle to the bracket, gauging from the 45-degree cut.

Cut to the line you just drew. As you can see, the angle between the seat and the stretcher is not precisely 45 degrees. But this bracket will fit the angle perfectly.

Now to make the inside of the bracket.

Figure out exactly how deep you want the screw to go into the underside of the seat and into the stretcher. Gauge the distance using the screw itself. Make sure the screw will penetrate the wood enough to hold it securely but not so far that it pokes through the side or the top. Be sure to account for the whole length of the screw, including the head, since you will want to countersink the head.

Mark that depth with a marking gauge.

Make a shallow saw cut on each line. You only need to cut as deeply as the screw head is wide, not all the way through to the corner.

Split out the center with a chisel. Working from both sides will get the best result. Why not just saw all the way until the kerfs meet? Because splitting out the stock leaves more of the wood in the corner, resulting in a stronger bracket.

Now drill a pilot hole in each face you just sawed. The pilot hole should be wide enough for the wood screw to pass through easily.

Countersink each hole so the screw head will seat nicely and pull the bracket in tightly.

Set the bracket in place, mark the location of each hole, and drill smaller pilot holes into the seat and side stretcher. Use a drill bit with a depth-stop or some other kind of depth indicator so you don’t drill too deeply or stop drilling too soon.

With the top screwed in place, flip the whole thing over and take a look at your work.

With the joint stool assembled, it’s time to do a final once-over before applying the finish. I used a card scraper to level out a few rough spots and take off stray pencil marks here and there. And of course I signed and dated the underside of the top.

The Big Finish

I applied a couple coats of Danish oil to the whole thing. The Danish oil I use is my own mixture: one part each raw linseed oil, polyurethane, and mineral spirits. I apply a first coat very thoroughly so it saturates the whole surface. I let that sit for 10-15 minutes. Before it becomes tacky, I apply a second coat, ensuring that any spots that look a bit dry get plenty more oil. I let it sit another 10 minutes and wipe off any excess oil.

I let the stool dry in direct sunlight, which both dried the finish and darkened the cherry top.

Should the finish become damaged or worn, I can just apply more, though I haven’t needed to do so with any other piece I’ve used this finish on.

After drying for about a day, the stool is ready to be used.

Immediately after I finished this, I thought to myself: “I want to make another one.”

With the first stages of work completed on the body and neck, they can be joined together and fretboard fitted

 

1/4" margin

The door is resting on the bottom and the plan was to split the margin - 1/8" at the top and bottom. With that decided in the batters box was chopping the gains for the hinges on the cabinet.

top one set

This one rocked a wee bit and I trimmed and checked until it lay flat and flush.

did this differently

With past hinge jobs I would knife/mark each hinge at the same time and then chop both of them out. Today I chopped the first one and installed it with one screw. With the top one fixed, I marked/knifed the bottom hinge and then chopped the gain for it. I saw this on a Paul Sellers video and what a game changer. 

Usually what happened with the previous method was one of the hinges would be slightly off. I would have to chop the R or L end of the gain a bit more. It didn't happen all the time but the Paul Sellers method avoided those small errors that made me wear my grumpy face. 

done

This had to be the easiest hinge job I have ever done. The door opened and closed sweetly with the cabinet on the workbench.

still swinging freely

I was half expecting the door to hang a wee bit on the latch side (right) but it didn't. 

checking the margins

The top is tapered - high on the right and smaller on the left. The latch side looks kind of tight in a couple of spots but there is zero binding. I won't have to plane a back bevel on this edge of the door. The bottom margin I'm leaving as is - I don't see any need to go nutso and play with it. The only way to see it clearly is get on your knees.

the bottom

The bottom has a consistent margin but it is a wee bit smaller than the top one.

shelves

I am going with 3 shelves. The spacing between them is roughly 12".

15" x 18"

I have to glue up to get the dimensions needed for the shelves. Not my favorite way for shelves but I didn't feel like going to Lowes to buy plywood. 

done

Rethinking about how the shelves will be done. I am leaning towards making the middle shelf fixed. Doing that will increase the rigidity of the cabinet.

sigh

Got the snap latch installed but it isn't even. The left part isn't flush with the keeper on the right. It is enough that it is bugging me and I'll deal with it in the AM. The screws are too long also - they are poking out about a 32nd. Another sin with the screws is they are phillips head. I'll be switching them out for slot head screws but I'll have to buy some bronze paint so they will match the latch.

playing with molders again

Looking at profiles for the front edge of the shelves. I don't want to leave the front edges squared or rounded off.

shelf support

I like this profile for the middle shelf support.

contender

This is a window sash plane and it is one of two. From my understanding these came in pairs with #1 used first and #2 next for cleaning and smoothing. I don't have the #2 plane. 

my favorite

This is a Preston plane that was advertised as a profile for shelves and edges. I think I'll use this one because it doesn't take up as much real estate as the previous one does.

accidental woodworker 

If you follow us (@toolsforworkingwood) on Instagram (and please do), you know that we were recently featured in a video made by The Locavore, a NYC company that celebrates local makers and products. We know how hard it is to make a good video, so we are thrilled to have appeared in such a skillful and engaging one.

The Locavore sells a physical guide - you know, a book! - in which we appear. (And not just us. Our friends at W. D. Lockwood Dye have a fabric dye counterpart, Aljo Manufacturing, which also gets the nod.) The Locavore also has a bricks-and-mortar store in Manhattan, located at 434 6th Avenue (W. 10th Street), a few blocks from my old apartment at 6th Ave and W. 12th Street. The store sells products that are grown / baked / fabricated /assembled /crafted /concocted / sewn / stuffed / pickled within 100 miles of NYC.

I visited the store over the weekend. As you could imagine, the vibe is that of a friendly general store, with a range of goods to eat, wear, use to care for your home, or just serve as a cool NYC souvenir. Theres even a bulletin board to keep it really local.



If you live in NYC, are planning to visit NYC, or want to go down that rabbit hole and emerge an hour later, eyes bleary and blinking, check out their website with an interactive map. It makes our large city seem like a series of small towns.

In other news:

We have an opening for a part-time salesperson at our Brooklyn showroom. This time its just for one day/week - Tuesdays.

Sales at Tools for Working Wood is an interesting job. You get a range of customers and that's what makes it interesting. We have people who come in who've been doing this for 40 years and will tell you everything you've ever wanted to know about 80 grit sandpaper. After they leave, you experiment yourself to see if you agree. And then a week later somebody, a newbie, maybe just a newbie in that particular area, will come in and you will get a chance to repeat back everything you've ever wanted to know about 80 grit sandpaper. And frankly this is how we learn. You keep your ears open, you keep your brain functioning, and all interactions are really interesting. Some people come in knowing what they want and some need help. Our goal is to point people in the right direction - and as many customers can attest, even if that direction is to a different store or product we don't sell or to the bad news that no such tool or process exists (yet). And you meet some interesting people too. We're looking for people who are interested in woodworking even if they're not experts because while we can teach people woodworking we can't teach you enthusiasm. I suppose I should mention the employee discount, which if you're outfitting a shop is not a bad thing to have. The most important thing we are looking for in the candidate gets along with people and a desire to learn.

We haven't posted this job elsewhere yet. We're hoping someone who reads this blog is looking to work in the craft and woodworking industries. So if you are interested in a great opportunity we'd like to talk to you. Send us an email to jobs@toolsforworkingwood.com.

In other, other news:

It's time again for Festool Fest! Our Festool rep and his tent of demo tools will be here on Friday, September 12th and Saturday, September 13th, noon - 3 pm both days. It's a great way to try out the cordless table saw, compare sander options or just see all the different tools in action.And of course we will have snacks!

 I got my Lee Valley order yesterday but no hinges. LV had split my order and the hinges were in the 2nd half. I got the shipping notice from LV but UPS says that they haven't received it yet. If I don't get it by friday it will be early next week. That put a crimp in my plans for finishing up the glass door cabinet.

part of the first Lee Valley order

All I wanted were the red #2 Robertson drive bits. I had lent my 2" stubby to my wife and she is clueless as to what happened to it. While I was at it I bought a #0 and a #3 driver bit, both I didn't have.

back door

Got the casings on the door nailed off and up next is dealing with this where the baseboard needs to go. I got two 2x2 foot 1/2" gypsum boards for this. The gypsum board I had is 3/8" and the repair boards had to be 1/2".

half done

This small job confirmed for me that I hate doing sheet rock repairs. Especially ones at floor level. Working on my knees to do this sucked pond scum. I thought I had some mud but all I could find was the tape. I didn't feel like driving back to Lowes so I'll get a pail of it in the AM.

oops

Confused myself here - I thought I had to shorten the coat rail by 3/4" because of the hinge side casing. FYI - I didn't have to do that.  The coat rail being short by 3/4" but (IMO) doesn't look out of place. Coats will hide the gap and it will look like a board with coat hooks on it.

2nd choice

Thinking now of using this instead of the big oval brass knob. If I use the brass knob I will also have to figure out a way to keep the door closed with a magnetic catch or something else. With this one I get a knob to open/close it and also a way to keep it closed.

3rd choice

This is the one I think I'm going to use. The 2nd choice lost because I don't have any dark bronze hinges. (I have one but I need two). I get the same benefits and I have hinges that match this finish.

first one done

This one was a bit fiddly to do. It rocked when I initially checked the fit in the gain.

done

Just a teeny bit of rocking on this hinge. Both of these hinges have loose pins which I don't like. Mostly because you have to check and make sure that the loose hinge pin end doesn't face the bottom.

 accidental woodworker

Things have been somewhat disorganized in the shop lately! I needed to replicate a previous frame (#256) to send to Diane’s gallery in Carmel to replace a painting sold there, somewhat confusing but it involved a commission Diane received through the gallery so a frame was needed. Diane sent the commissioned painting separately since making the frame required time, it was shipped last week. We are also getting ready to send 9 paintings to her Charleston, SC gallery so I’m busy with the packing of those. In the meantime these are the two frames recently completed.

Frame # 271

It may seem like more work than what is needed but for consistency I make a cutting diagram and annotate the exact chisel/gouge used to cut out the design. It helps me to make a left and right side since the design will be flipped and for me it’s real easy to get confused. At the bench I have the pattern clipped to the tool holder, after doing 3 or 4 of them I start to remember which tool to use but at 75 I like having that pattern to keep on track. For me, using specific tools for each curve helps to keep the design consistent. These pictures below show some of the progress, my goal was to have a consistent flow of the design on all sides. This frame started with what I refer to as my 15° profile and has 1/4″ beads that border the carving.

Plow plane for 1/4″ beads Beginning carve, small tools needed to remove waste Progress being made

Frame #270

Hope this blog helps any of you who are discovering new ways to make custom, closed corner frames. When I first started writing these many years ago it came about because of the frustration I had then trying to find information about how to do this “stuff”. Appreciate those of you that read this and the occasional comments and question you ask.

Keep making Sawdust (and chips!) — John

 Slow day and I didn't get much done. The PM session was a hurry and wait for my annual CPAP check up. Just like the cable company it was I'll be there between 1400 and 1600. I didn't set the world on fire in the AM session either. The House of Glass is still open and still in business. I got 1/8" glass and it was $78 which was twice what I thought it would cost. I had to go back after lunch and pick it up. They don't do wait while they cut anymore.

coat rail

Scraped it clean and smoothed it out with 40 grit. Happy with how it looks and how it feels. I filled in all the holes with wood putty. 

it's gone

Used the skilsaw to zip off some of the overhang. I am surprised by how smooth of the edge the saw left. The big bonus is there were zero fuzzy wuzzies.

looks better

The side overhang looks wider than it does on the front. But it isn't - I measured both and there is less than a 32nd difference.

the baseboard

Three of coats of paint plus one coat (or more) of a clear coat, possibly shellac. This paint/shellac scraped off easily.

from ACE

I thought I had bought a box of 4d and 6d finish nails. I was wrong and bought two boxes of 4d nails. Which are too thin and too small for nailing the casing to the door jamb. Rather then return the extra 4d box I'll just buy a box of 6d in the AM.

tomorrow's work

Filled in all the holes and a bunch of divots and ruts. I have to replace a strip of the drywall behind the baseboard. I saw some 2 foot square pieces of drywall at Lowes the other day. I have some at the house (?) that I hope will be enough though.

got it

I cut my post lunch stroll short so I could go and get the glass and have time to check these before the CPAP rep came. Good fit of the glass in their individual homes, just need to buy some glaziers points to secure them.

The hinges should be coming today according to UPS so maybe I'll get them installed in the AM. Time to start thinking about what will occupy my time in the shop next?

accidental woodworker 

A couple weeks ago I went to a tool show put on by my tool collectors organization, PAST.  In addition to the conversations with like-minded people, there are always great things to see and play with.  But I usually don't come home with anything because I just don't have the space to be a tool collector.  My tools are user tools, although I will admit that I have more than I need.

Anyway, I bought a couple things at the show.  The first, for a whopping $8, was a nice moving filletster plane from Sandusky Tool. Co.  And second, a great book (for $3) titled "How to Build Shaker Furniture" written by Thomas Moser and with measured drawings by Chris Becksvoort.

Sandusky #68 moving filletster plane

The front end

I did a quick search online and found a 1925 Sandusky catalog showing a #68 plane as a moving filletster.  And that's why I'm spelling it like that, when mostly I see and hear it said as "fillister".  BTW, I doubt this plane dates from 1925, but it's probably something close to that.  The only difference I can see between my plane and the one pictured in the 1925 catalog is that my wedge has the back of the finial relieved so the back end of the iron can be tapped with a hammer if it gets as short as the wedge.

This plane has a nice depth stop, but is missing the nicker.  I'll try to make one someday soon.  The recess for the nicker iron is dovetailed two ways.  Vertically, the slot gets narrower as you get closer to the sole.  And the recess gets wider as it gets deeper into the plane body.  So it should just be a matter of filing a piece of steel for a good fit.

The depth stop

It's fixed in its recess with a fat wood screw

Here, I'm pointing to where the nicker iron should be

The fence of the plane is made of an unknown hardwood - nothing special, I think - and it has two rectangular brass washers (not sure if that's the proper term) that the big fat wood screws bear against.

The fence

Removed and showing the big screws

Here's one of the brass "washers"

The side of the fence that meets the plane's sole has marks from many years of contact with the plane's iron.  I'd love to know if it was normal for a manufacturer to make a cutout here or if it just gets like this from normal use.

Showing the "recess" where the plane's iron contacts the fence

Finally, the iron and wedge are in pretty good shape.  I was able to cut a 1/2" wide rabbet without even touching up the iron.  I'm sure it'll be even nicer once the iron is tuned up.  Funny thing with this iron is that it's edge is not even close to straight - it's got a camber on it.  I didn't measure it, but it's probably about 1 1/2" wide.  The iron is skewed in the plane, so its edge is at an angle to the sides.  But the cutting edge is not straight.

The wedge and iron

Look at the camber on that iron!

Maybe the iron is just relieved where it is almost never used (near the 3 inch mark on the ruler in above picture).  It's hard to imaging needing a rabbet more than 1" wide!  If anybody knows something more about that I'd love to hear about it in the comments.

The second item I picked up was this 1977 book from Thomas Moser.  This looks like a tremendous book and I can't wait to dig into it much deeper and maybe even make a few of the projects.

Hardback cover, too

An example of one of the dozens of projects in the book

Well, that's all for now.  My woodworking has been slowed lately with some knee problems, so I've not been posting regularly.  I'm going to have the knee replaced in a few weeks and that'll for sure have me out of commission for a while.

I built this ramped shooting board by hand using hardwood offcuts. In this video, I go over the build, why I made it ramped, and what planes it’s made for. Simple, practical, and made using only hand tools.

 First thing this AM, after breakfast, I went to the House of Glass to get the lites I need for the cabinet. Closed, in fact it looked like it was a ghost town. Went home and found the next nearest 'house of glass' was over in Cranston. It was closed too when I got there. Then it dawned on me, today is Labor Day. A national holiday which explained why there was so little traffic on the roads. I'll try this again in the AM - fingers crossed the House of Glass is still in business because it didn't look like it was just closed for a holiday.

Got a shock on sunday when I went to Lowes to get the glass cut. Found out that they no longer cut glass. Gone, no more, no notice, and it has been gone for months according to the rep that told me that tidbit. 

After my post lunch stroll I jumped into getting the casings for the back door done. That turned into a 3 stooges routine in a heartbeat. Spoiler alert - I got it done just before 1600 rolled around.

lock side

This is a good fit and it aligns with the 1/4" offset layout marks dead on. It also lays up almost flush with the horizontal board on the right of it a little ways down from the top. 

I ran out of nails and I couldn't nail off the left side of the casing into the door jamb. I could have used my finish nailer but I didn't feel like breaking out the compressor and cluttering up the limited space in the back hallway. I'll go to ACE and buy some overpriced penny nails in the size I need.

sigh

Can't get the hinge side casing in place. The horizontal board is in the way and I would have to remove it to get it in place. The other choice is to remove the door from hinges. I would have to remove the butt hinge at top on the door jamb along with removing the door. Decided that removing the board is the better choice. I always leave taking a door off as an absolute last resort.

surprise

I brought 3 saws to do this and I got it all done with this one. I was floored that I was able to make the saw cut with it. 

expended a lot of calories

This is a carbide scraper and it took me seemingly a bazillion years to scrape this and I didn't scrape it all neither. I found where the studs were behind the board and hunted for nails or screws. News update - I found zero evidence of either one.

ta da

Got it off finally and there were only 3 nails holding it on the wall. And one of the nails was a small piss ant penny nail that only went into dry wall. I still couldn't see where the nails were on the face side, based on where the stuck out on the opposite face.

hinge side casing

 Fell onto the door jamb easy peasy. Remember Alka Selzter -  'oh what a relief it is' - that is what this popping into place was like.

hmm....

A 1/4" gap here at the bottom. The right side of the casing against the hinges is straight but the left is tapered. It goes from wide at the top to thin at the bottom.

not as wide

I'm leaving this as it is. Once all the coats go back on the board here, it will be invisible. I will fill in the gap at the bottom with backer rod and caulk. At the top I think I can get away with just caulk.

hmm.....

Used pine for the head casing but it is not wide enough. This is tapered too with it 1 1/2" on the left side end and 2 1/16" at the right end. The top of the casing is parallel to the ceiling L to R but I don't want to use backer rod and caulk for this. It is too visible and it may pop out too much.

grabbed the wrong one

The left end of the right one is 1 1/2" and it is the one I should have put in as the head casing.

done

Nice fit with a much smaller gap that is parallel to the ceiling. This one will fill in smoothly with caulk and not be visible. 

I'll get the hinge and top casing nailed tomorrow. I cleaned up my mess, put away my tools, and rested my hands quietly. My carpal tunnel in my right wrist started protesting and my right thumb was humming arias. Grateful it wasn't singing and I could still pick up and hold my coffee cup later.

accidental woodworker 

the forgotten pic

Along with forgetting to snap and post his pic several posts back, I forgot to apply glue to the back edge. The only thing holding the top down are the screws. It feels solid and I doubt it will give up the ship for a few decades.

2nd putty run

I sanded the first application and it didn't look that bad. With it horizontal I saw another hole underneath on the bottom round over. I think this will do and I won't need a third run. Updates and pics on the 11 o'clock news.

hmm.....

Made a command decision and I'm cutting down the front to match the sides. I don't like that the front overhangs this much. I don't need it be as much as it is because the door will be insert.

sigh

I got lucky on this because it is facing down and not readily visible. On the fence about whether to fill it with a shim or caulk. I have time to decide without calling a full board meeting.

done

Planed this down to the same thickness as the pine board I'll get the hinge side casing out of. This will give up the lock side and top casings with something left over.

divot

A chunk of this popped off when I ran this through the lunchbox planer. I can still use it and place this defect down and against the wall. I will saw out the casings I can get out of in the AM.

I struggled getting the lunchbox planer out of the back hallway and on to the stand in the driveway. I felt a couple of sharp pains from my groin and the old hernia repair site. I didn't sense/feel any aftershocks though. It looks like I might have to hire someone younger to haul it out and bring it back. I can pick up and move it but the initial lift didn't feel all that good. Oh well it is just another concession to age. 

accidental woodworker

ready

Changed my mind on veneering this box. I was going to use walnut but I don't like the dimensions of this box. This one is too wide and long along with the height being too short. I cleaned the box up, planed the sides smooth and the top and bottom flat/twist free. I will try out the LAP wax on it to see if it will pop on this light wood.

new jig

I finally found some small quarter round. I bought four, 48" long 1/4" quarter round moldings from Rockler for $7 each. I made this jig to clean the miters smooth at 45°. The moldings I have coming are supposedly a 1/4" on each flat and the groove is just shy of a 1/4" in both directions. I practiced on some 3/16" square pine scraps and I got a 90° corner. The moldings coming are birch (no pine available) which is a lot harder than pine so I will hone my chisels when they come.

need some casing stock

Pine is (IMO) too soft to use for door casings. I am going to use this poplar board I bought a few months ago. Step one is getting one face kind of flat and thickness it with the lunch box planer.

switched

Initially I started working on this face with my Lee Valley scrub plane along with my Stanley #6 with a cambered iron. Working this poplar was like scrub planing stone. Ornery and stubborn with swirling grain that grinned back at me. 

Then I remembered that my sister had given me this Wen hand planer. I set the depth of cut between 1/64th and a 32nd and went to town with it. I had expended a ton of calories for almost and hour and I barely made a dent in half of the board. The Wen impressed me with how well it worked. I was expecting it to be a total piece of crappola but it sung a #1 hit tune eating up this poplar. 

15 minutes vs 42 minutes

Got the board smooth from end to end with the Wen planer. The shavings are stringy but not wispy. The board is smooth but it is twisted with two humps, both on the right side edge that I had to deal with.

half done

Because of the length of the board (82") I checked and corrected for twist in quarters. I got the first 40" twist free along with flattening one of the humps. I did all of it with the Wen. I did try going back to the hand planes but this poplar was not cooperating. I have a ton of empathy for the old guys that had to do this strictly with hand planes. 

PITA half

The first half from the top to the middle is twist free. The half from the middle to the near end gave me fits. I was seesawing until it finally dawned me that there was a 3rd hump centered around the middle to the 3rd quarter line. I got rid of that but it took a while before the twist went bye bye. I must have planed and checked my progress 8-9 times. I'm more than happy that this poplar board started out thicker than 1" because I ate up over an 1/8" flattening it.

sigh

From the half way point to the far end I was reading twist free. In between these two I wasn't twist free. I spent 6-8 times as long removing the twist and the last hump on this end than I did on the top end. Again the plan wasn't to go anal and get this dead nuts flat end to end. I was just shooting for flat-ish surface to run through the lunch box planer. Once I got that I put the Wen away.

what a mess

The Wen did the job well and I was surprised by its performance. I don't think that it would ever survive being a daily user but occasional use for stone like ornery wood I will definitely use it again. And I have two spare sets of carbide blades for it too.

The board is twist free from end to end. I checked it first every 10", then at 20", half way, and finally end to end. All read twist free.

using it again

Epoxy and silica filler. I like this epoxy but not the cure time. Which is ~24 hrs but you can play with it for around 30 minutes to reposition or add to it.

where it is needed

I didn't think I would have exposed any dowels when I cut the top of the door. I packed the epoxy in the gaps at the ends of the dowels and along the tops of them. I did this because the top of the door will be visible to anyone over 5' foot tall.

clean bench and shop deck

The shavings didn't blanket the shop like when a router is flinging its bits of wood all over creation.

tomorrow

It has been a while since the door was installed. It has held up nicely since then through several days of rain and a few thunderstorms. No water came in anywhere around the perimeter of the frame. I also found no evidence of air leaks. Come this winter the back hallway should feel considerably warmer.

I have enough poplar for the lock side and the top. The hinge side I will use pine. It is out of the way and it shouldn't get any dings or bumps where it will be. I didn't feel like bringing the lunch box planer out this PM so I'll do it in the AM.

accidental woodworker 

Some of what I’ve been up to over the past month.

More later.

 I'm now on to the neck!

Thanks for looking, Gary

can you guess what is coming

Decided to make the glass retainers myself and I need to make thicknessing jig first. The one I have here is for a Stanley #4 and the Lie Neilsen #4 won't fit in it.

almost done

I had a 1/4" rattling around in the brain bucket. I made this sled a 1/4" too wide. My 5 1/2 is too wide and my Stanley Bedrock #5 is too narrow. Having it this same width as the plane is not 100% necessary.

a little help from my friends

I glued two 1/8" thick pieces of plywood to the side walls. The plane is now a nice slip fit end to end.

glued and cooking

I feel like I made a bridge truss. I only have 6 of these small spring clamps and the ghost strips did a good job applying even pressure against the 1/8" plywood.

hmm.....

Here's the plan for the retainer strips. Thickness a piece of pine to a 1/4" thick and mold a round over on the top and bottom edges with a beading plane. Saw that off and a small 1/4 round molding is my reward.

Houston.....

I like the round over but this is a 1/2 round and not the 1/4 round over I wanted. I figured it out (after minutes of giving it goofy looks) that I have to saw if off to get this and then saw this in half to get my 1/4 round.

too small

Got my 1/4 round but it is way too small to use as a glass retainer for this door. At least I got it figured out how to make it.

2nd attempt

This is better size wise but it is taller than it is wide. I want both flats to be the same or within a few frog hairs.

I like very much

I like that the height is just a frog hair below the top of the muntin bar. I also kinda of like the bit of reveal that is in front of it. IMO the quarter round is a bazillion percent better then caulking or a square retainer.

nope

Bumped the bead up from 3/16 to 3/8. I thought I could get two from each side of this donor scrap of pine. Not going to work because the quirk (the middle flat thing) doesn't extend to the same depth as the round over does. I can only use one of them to make a quarter round.

wrong pic should be a hand plane

This is a hand planed astragal which has the same problem as the beading plane. The quirk is not to the same depth as the 1/2 round is. But here it doesn't matter because I can only get one profile here. However, sawing this one out should be easy. I will have to set up and saw out all of them first for one saw cut and then repeat for the second one so they stay consistent.

Tried to do that and it turned out to be burnt toast. The first cut was a breeze but the 2nd one sucked pond scum. It was small and difficult to saw the second cut. It came out wavy and corkscrew like - it was burnt toast and unusable. On to plan 3A.1, rev 2, alteration 5Vii.

router beading bit and true 3rd candidate

Same problems sawing this out as I had with the hand plane astragal. I refused to accept defeat and I entertained making a router table. The thought was to put a quarter round bit in the table and rout a round over that covers the entire edge eliminating the second saw cut. I didn't get past doing some layout on a plywood router table top.

bringing up the rear

I made two cuts on a 3/8" dowel and it didn't come out that bad. I ended up with two sets that were pretty much the same size. However, I will need 32 retainers for the door and I doubt I would get any consistency sawing them out free hand from dowels. I would need a jig of some type to saw them out repeatedly on.

first one done

I now have two thicknessing jigs for a #4 bench plane. This one will take either the LN #4 or a Stanley #4 and thickness to a 1/4". The older one can only be used with a Stanley #4 will thickness to 1/8".

why not?

The plywood under the #3 I had used as a caul to glue in the 1/4" thick strips for the #4 to ride on. I noticed that it was wide enough to make a sled for the LN #3.

not quite a 64th shy

I thicknessed two pieces of pine and they both ended up being barely a 64th over 3/16" thick. I measured the side strips and they were both a 64th over 3/16" thick.

close

It is about 1/2 a frog hair from being dead on flush with each other. Threw it back in the planing jig and made a few more shavings.

sigh

Needed a piece of 1/8" thick plywood and look at what I found. 6 panels of 12x24 6mm plywood. Forgot I had it and I didn't need to make two trips to Walpole to get some 6mm. Now I have a boatload and these are all different thicknesses too. But they are all pretty close to each other.

1/8" thicknessing jig

I needed a 1/8" thick piece to act as a stop for the LN #3 jig. I prefer these jigs to use bench planes. I've found that the LN102 will plane a high/low outside edge like it did on this one. A few taps with a plane iron setting hammer and all was well in Disneyland.

perfect fit

A slip fit that is a wee bit below the side strips.

ditto

The LN #3 performed planing to a 1/8" as well as the LN #4 did planing to a 1/4".

experimental box

The hinges won't be here until tuesday. That will give some time to rethink how to make my retainers and while waiting I'll work on this box. The plan is to veneer it with whatever catches my fancy from veneer filled pizza box. What type of lid is up in the air but I'll think of something to match the veneering.

accidental woodworker

One of my nephews has been joining us several times at the clays course. After he shot my Ithaca Model 37 pump, he decided he might want his own.  I don’t know if he was enamored with the brilliance of John Browning and John Pedersen’s design, the history of the gun, or if he was […]

I always keep my eyes open for interesting branch crooks that can make good spoons or other things. Here I’ve got a group of 11 available for purchase now. All of these were carved from branch crooks with the design … Continue reading →

In my last post, I showed how I did the layout and joinery for my new joint stool, which is a 17th-century design that I have wanted to try out for years. I built the piece from wood taken from several logs I got locally, one of which was an oak tree that once grew on my property. I’m so happy to be giving that tree a second life in this stool.

The stool itself is designed to sit on, or really to perch on. Your feet can rest comfortably on the lower stretchers if you like. Despite the flat top, it is a remarkably comfortable way to sit. It’s a wonder this design ever fell out of favor.

It also makes a great end-table, if that’s your preference.

In building this stool, I am following a book published over a decade ago now: Make a Joint Stool from a Tree by Jennie Alexander and Peter Follansbee. This book is an invaluable guide to building this project, but the book is so much more than that. The principles and techniques they illustrate are widely applicable to all manner of furniture making.

Detailing without a Lathe

Traditionally the legs on these joint stools are turned, and they do look lovely when done well. I, unfortunately, am still lathe-less after 20+ years of woodworking, so I went with a different design plan.

The book very thoughtfully offers an alternative for those of us who don’t work in the round. It shows how to cut stopped chamfers with a lamb’s tongue detail on the legs. It was the first time I tried this kind of decoration, and I rather like it. And because you may wish to use this kind of detail on your own work, even if you never make a joint stool, I’ll walk you through the process here.

Between and below the mortises on each leg, pencil a line around the leg. Then pencil a second line about 3/4″ or 1″ further away from the mortises. The second line will be your stop, and the first line will be the beginning of the lamb’s tongue.

Use a pencil to mark the depth of the chamfer. I went about 3/8″, though I probably should have gone deeper for a bolder detail. Make a saw cut on the second line, and chisel into it to make a stop on each end of the chamfer.

I used a drawknife to carefully remove most of the waste. A chisel works too. Work right down to the layout line–and to the bottom of your saw cuts. A spokeshave is useful for leaving a nice, finished surface. That does it for the chamfer.

Now it’s time to shape the lamb’s tongue on each end of the chamfer. Using a mallet and chisel (bevel down), you start at your first line and scoop out the first part of the lamb’s tongue.

Next, with the chisel bevel-up, round over the lower part.

You can see the result here:

Use the chisel to make sure the chamfer and the bottom of the lamb’s tongue meet together nicely. Don’t get too fussy with how each one comes out. There will be little variations between them, and some will probably be cleaner than others, and that’s okay. From a distance, they’ll all look great.

It really helps to be working with stock whose grain is dead-straight.

I formed this detail on three of the four corners of each leg. The inside of each leg just got a rough chamfer all the way down.

When you need to remove layout lines, the card scraper will take off whatever the eraser leaves.

There are fuller instructions in the book, but that’s how I did it. The result is a softened, lighter look to the legs. Plus it removes the sharp edge that would otherwise start splintering as the stool gets used over the years. Always remove sharp corners on your furniture, or they will be removed for you.

In my final post, I will show how I made and attached the top of the stool.

A post about a carved chest and box for sale. But first, a detour to Elia Bizarri’s site – he’s put his pandemic videos he made with a bunch of us on sale for the weekend. Half-price. Dave Fisher, Curtis Buchanan, Jane Mickelborough and me. Get ’em here https://handtoolwoodworking.com/spoon-carving-videos/

……………….

The other day my son Daniel & I emptied much of the shop:

it was so we could photograph the chest with drawers I made…

The chest is one I’ve mentioned over on the substack site- made 2017/18, delivered and never used, never even displayed. Sat in storage until I bought it back this spring/summer.

It’s featured in my book with Lost Art Press – Joiner’s Work. The chapter about making drawers and the section showing how I fit a lock to a piece like this. https://lostartpress.com/collections/joinery/products/joiners-work

It’s based on one I saw at Historic Deerfield years ago. The original was made either in Windsor or Wethersfield, Connecticut in the 2nd half of the 17th century. Mine follows the original pretty closely – my triangular corner plaques are walnut, I think the originals were oak. I don’t remember off the top of my head what the original moldings were, mine are Atlantic white cedar.

There’s a lock & escutcheon with two keys, made by Peter Ross, a favorite blacksmith.

The chest is not small – H: 40″ W: 47 1/4″ D: 22″. It’s available for purchase. Email me at PeterFollansbee7@gmail.com if you’d like to discuss it. Here’s a gallery of the rest of the recent photos.

side panel rear section open lidded till top drawer detail side hung drawer interior escutcheon & key end view front view center panel

………………………..

The other piece is a recent carved box w/carved lid.

Made with a Spanish cedar lid and base molding with what I thought was a Spanish cedar body – but is probably a type of mahogany. Iron hinges. Mitered dovetailed corners, based on an English box from Exeter, Devon. Lidded till inside.

another gallery:

H: 7” W: 22 1/8” D: 14 3/4”
price is $2,600 including shipping in US.

Email me at PeterFollansbee7@gmail.com if you’d like to purchase this box…you’ll have to dust the lid…