Hand Tools

 The time line slipped on the dresser and the box. Didn't figure in spots that didn't get any paint. But the biggest hiccup were the drawers. I checked them this AM and only one of five went in/out easily, 2 others hung, and 2 wouldn't go in at all. I wasn't expecting the paint build up to cause these headaches. So it is looking like later in the week that I'll ooh and aah.

done with shellac

Or so I thought. I had to plane and sand shellac off the sides, bottom, and top on 4 of the drawers. I have my doubts that the only drawer that fit easily will be the same after the 2nd coat of paint dries.

wish I hadn't

This bottom drawer would not go in and I finally saw that the guide had curled upwards at the end. The back of the drawer was held off from closing by over an inch. I used a bullnose plane to remove the upward tilt. It would have been a lot easy to do if I hadn't put the back on. I didn't think at that time that I would have headaches with the drawers again.

rubbing off paint

In spite of leveling the drawer guide this drawer was still hanging. It would go in/out but I had to fiddle and adjust as I pushed it in. I'm between a rock and hard space. The drawers were fitted loose before paint and I am leery about removing too much now and getting a sloppy fit. I switched to sanding the 'hang' spots with 80 grit.

same drawer, other side

It is rubbing and hanging with the blue spots showing me where I need to sand. I got the drawer to go/in out and stopped. I still have one more coat of paint and possibly two to go on - I'll cool my heels before working on them anymore.

painted the back

The back isn't pristine looking but if she decides to place so it is visible it looks better painted than the look of bare wood.

The second coat covered pretty good. Fingers, toes, and eyes crossed that I won't have to do a 3rd coat tomorrow.

peel 'n stick

In hindsight I should have asked my wife to do this. She is way more patient and angelical dealing with this )_%@#^%_@) crappola. This was my first time using this and the results weren't too bad. 

I like it

This certainly dresses up the box. Want I don't like is the plastic look to it. I wanted the flowers to be vertical but the peel 'n stick wasn't wide enough to do that.

test piece

The peel 'n stick is attached to a scrap of the same plywood panel for the half lapped frame. I wanted to ensure that this would fit in the grooves.

2 points for the home team

The test piece fit in all four of the half lapped frame parts. No binding - a nice slightly snug fit. I was able to move it up/down in every groove without any binding.

hinges

I got half of the hinges installed. I plan on applying shellac to the outside of the box only. I would do the inside too but I don't want to cut in and around the peel 'n stick.

slight twist

It was rocking a little when I checked it on my tablesaw. I planed the high corners and it laid flat on the tablesaw.

ACE hardware run

I don't use #6 screws that often and I do have a good selection of them but nothing longer than an inch. I needed six  1 1/4" long screws to attach the carcass to the base. It was cost effective to me to buy a box than spend 20 cents each for six screws.

needs shellac

I will wait to shellac the drawers again until after the paint has dried and the drawers are fitted for the last time. The two bottom drawers on the left don't have any shellac at all and one above them does. I can see the color difference from a bazillion feet away.

accidental woodworker

 The light at the end of the tunnel is getting bigger. The drawers are almost done getting shellac as is the base. The carcass got a topcoat on today. And I made lots of progress on the drawer turned into a box. I changed my mind on how to finish it a bazillion times but I think I'm done with that. I should be oohing and aahing over both of them by monday, tuesday at the latest.

last night

After dinner I went to the shop with the intention of applying shellac to the drawers. I rubbed them all down with 4-0 steel wool and vacuumed them clean. I didn't get to the shellac but I had 3 coats on the bottoms and backs with two coats on the rest. The idea was to get 3 on the bottoms and sides and 4 or more on the interiors and fronts. That is where I picked it back up in the AM.

half lapping next

 I dug out my test half lap joint because I always screw it up. After studying it for a few I jumped into making it.

Before I started half lapping I had come to the shop after breakfast and put another coat of shellac on the drawers and the front. I went back upstairs after that and failed badly on the sudoku puzzle - bit myself on the arse by inserting a duplicate number in a cell. While I was failing at that the shellac was drying and setting up.

fingers crossed

Thought I understood the steps needed to whack this out. Having this as visual was helpful but......

bowed

All of these were bowed and I planed that off. Because they are so thin on the width I didn't bother checking for twist. I established a reference face and edge.

0 for a bazillion

A big negative on doing it right in spite of having an example to look at after each step. The tenon is a 1/4" short on the width. I eyeballed my screw up and the example and I couldn't put on finger on what I me-steaked on.  This was a test joint so I thought I could correct it and do the 'real' one right.

test and example joints

Still confused because what I did and the example looked the same to me. But no idea why the tenon part of the half lap ended being toast. The width of it (T/B) was too short and the length just right.

sawed the 2nd part of the half lap

I sawed the mortise first and the tenon second. I was able to use the marking knife to remove the waste cheeks on the tenon. That didn't help with the resulting joint.

nope

Thought I had sawn the tenons correctly but I didn't. They came out short again. I put the frame together and it was short on the R/L. I had made the width and length over by 3/8" but that wasn't enough to make up for the tenon being short.

wash, rinse, and repeat

Plane the bow off and make a reference face and edge. Plow a groove and then stare at them giving it my best goofy looks.

got it right

I don't understand this but the proof is in the pudding. The example half lap has the tenon done first and then the mortise. I did it the opposite way twice - mortise first and then the tenon. After having this light bulb come on I'm hoping that I will remember it for the next one. I prefer half laps over miters.

it fits

I got about 1/8" overhang on the sides and a 1/4" at the front. That will serve as the lid pick it up.

Wally World

Peel and stick wallpaper because paper wallpaper was more than twice the cost. And I would have had to buy paste, brushes, and squeegees. I am not fond of peel and stick but this was $12 and wallpaper alone was $35.

possible spot

I am going to paint the frame blue, the same color as the dresser. I'm doing that because there is a gap on one of the shoulders from an errant slip while using a chisel. Putting the peel and stick on the panel insert would be easier than trying to put it into the bottom of the inside. 

stiles

The paint coverage on these wasn't any better than the last time I painted. I will say that the roller laid it down more evenly but it will definitely need another coat or more if subsequent ones are rolled on.

double coverage

I rolled on the first coat and it looked like absolute crap. It wasn't streaky but it barely covered/hid the white primer coat. After I had rolled on the first coat I went back and brushed on another coat. The carcass is better covered but it is still streaky with splotches of white showing. I only painted the tops of the drawer opening and the sides because that is what may be visible when the drawer is opened.

the back

As of now I have no plan to paint the back. I nailed and glued it on and it stiffened the carcass up a lot. It might happen tomorrow because of the paint I got on it at the top and making my OCD tingle.

inside bottom

I think I will tackle getting the bottom covered with this. That is because the inside is .0001% away from being 100% dead nuts square. As for the panel insert I may skip that if a test panel with the wallpaper doesn't fit in the groove.

almost done

The bottoms and sides are but I want to get at least one more coat on the insides and the front. This won't hold up the check mark in the done column but the painting might throw a hissy fit yet.

accidental woodworker

Chairs have angles and in the case of this stool the angle of the front legs is 6.5 degrees from the back legs. The design of the stool actually means that as long as you are consistent the angle could vary slightly.

I spent the morning dimensioning and cutting to size for the rails two for each chair (8 total). Generally things went smooth with a small problem.

As I finished up some of the lumber dimensioning a couple of fun things happened. The first was the movement in some of the off cuts I had set aside. Walked out of the shop for a few hours and these slits had opened up considerably. The second item is less enjoyable. Saw Stop blade struck what remained of a staple in the end of board, another blade damaged. If I had trimmed the end a few mm further up the board would have saved a lot of money.

It was necessary at this point to take a walk!

The open-air Voss Folkemuseum in Voss, Norway, is a wonderful place to visit. They have a great museum with a number of farming artifacts, and folk arts. Some of the most interesting artifacts are historic chests. Two examples are shown below, illustrating differing forms of assembly.

These chests are both small, and simple in construction. The first uses butt joints fastened using wooden dowels or pins. The second chest uses dovetails. Both have large strap hinges, top handles, and simple metal locks. What is interesting is the fact that the simplicity of the joinery does not detract from the beauty of the chests. This is quite different from the modern inclination to produce wooden chests with perfect joints.

Chest joined with wooden pegs

The chests both have very ornate decorations, embodying both chip and scratch carving. Undoubtedly the decorations elevate the beauty of both chests.

Chest joined with dovetails

Slapped paint and shellac on the dresser today. I would have gotten more of that fun done today but I had to help the wife out. She needed muscles to haul books to the storage unit. I wonder how many coats of paint it will take to cover the dresser? Today I applied primer and tomorrow will be the first top coat.

ugly plywood plies

There are two paper thin face veneers with a thick middle ply. This plywood is as a light as a feather and doesn't instill a warm and fuzzy that it is stiff enough. I used it because it is what I had and I hope that it will be ok for this. I'll be hiding this with banding.

looks good

I checked over all the fronts and only the biggest drawer had a few hiccups. 99% of it is stuck solid but there are a couple of dings and divots on the edges between the face veneer and the drawer front. They might crumble if hit just right.

sawing the ends flush

The cut off saw did a good job of sawing the overhang flush. The cut was smooth and I left it as it. I used a blockplane to flush the top and bottom overhang. 

smoothing the faces

I glued the smooth face to the drawer front and left the rough sawn face up. A couple of passes with the #3 left them glass smooth.

done

I went with a color for the drawers - it wasn't possible to do both color and grain. The two top drawers are one color and the 3 large ones are white with little grain showing.

knobs done

All of the knob tenons were a 64th over 3/8". I used my modelers rasp to thin the tenons to fit the drilled 3/8" holes. For the top right and the bottom three drawers I placed the knobs 1 3/4" in from the ends and centered T/B on each respective drawer. Eyeballing it here I think I should have placed it further in from the edge. 

bandings

I used super glue, accelerator, and yellow glue to attach the bandings. I didn't want to clamp them and wait. The super glue will hold them in place while the yellow glue cooks.

primer coat

It still surprises how quickly this dried to the touch. It is an oil based primer and the ones I was familiar with took hours to do that. No problems anticipated with getting the first topcoat on tomorrow.

top coat color

This is the paint I used for the shaker step stool I made for my niece Kimberly. I have other paints but I don't like the color of them. Besides I seem to remember that this covered better?

dust panel cooking

I was going to paint the base the same color as the carcass but I changed my mind. I like the dovetails showing so I will apply shellac to it instead.

maybe an oops

I planned on putting wallpaper or newspaper in the interiors of the drawers. Wasn't thinking ahead and applied a coat of shellac to all the drawers. I don't know how that is done but I'll search the web later to see if there is anything out there on it. Fingers crossed that don't make a me-steak again.

stiles and rails

This is for the lid and I will half lap it. Maybe I'll get to try the wallpaper/newspaper thing on the panel insert.

accidental woodworker

Another day where I made good progress. I got back to the barn from the VA at 0815 and went right to the shop. I didn't even stop to do my daily sudoku and crossword puzzle. Got all the drawers fitted and met my goal of all of them opening and closing easily. There isn't much more for me to do woodworking wise before I can slap paint on it.

from last night

I glued slips in the last two drawers and starting planing this one (smallest of the 3 big drawers). I got it to fit in its opening about 2" before putting it down. I didn't want to rush the fitting so I headed back upstairs.

about 4 inches

I took my time fitting the drawers. It is incredibly easy to take one too many swipes and end up with gaps big enough to throw a dog through. I stopped fitting this drawer and started on the smallest one at the top left.

evaluation

I had a gaps on both sides and the top but the drawer hung after 4".

look see at the back

The sides of the drawer are tight against the sides of the dresser. The gap at the top looking at it from the back is tight. Fitting the drawers consisted of looking from the front and then the back to figure out where to plane. 

first one fitted

The drawer slides in/out but not easily or smoothly. The margins at the sides aren't even. The margin at the top doesn't come into play because the top overhang hides it.

much better

The margins on the sides are consistent and the drawer easily slides in and out.

yikes

The margins are the sides are huge and a puff of air could open or close the drawer. I also don't remember putting a knot facing the front?

sigh of relief

This drawer is almost a square. The sides are a strong 1/8" off from each other. The T/B margin is greater than the smaller one on the left so I just had to contend with planing the sides to fit. The overhang is my friend here.

two down, 3 to go

Having second thoughts on my drawer size choices. I think now that I should have made the smaller drawer a wee bit wider R/L.

finished fitting it

3 down and only two to go and lunch time was still a ways off.

this sucks pond scum

I super glued the break and hit it with accelerator after waiting about 10 secs. The accelerator was melting the plastic. I seem to go through headphones as often as I change my underwear. All of them have gone south due to the cheap plastic breaking. The phones sill work and I'll keep using them until I can no longer put them over my ears.

back fitted

I will hold off putting the back on until the last possible moment. 

inset a wee bit

I planned for this and that is why I fitted the back now. All the drawer sides are the same length and the back will be the drawer stop. This small inset will be flush after I glue the pine veneer on the drawer fronts.

and then there was one

I kind of like the inset look of the drawers. I am committed to using the veneer though so this will be something for another one in the future.

done

All the drawers are fitted and all easily open and close. My margins aren't perfect but once it is painted I'll eyeball them again. The drawer fronts will be natural and will stand out against the paint. I'll make adjustments as necessary then.

this drawer was hanging

This is the top right drawer and it was bumping into and hanging up on the back vertical drawer divider. It wasn't doing it every time the drawer was closed but enough to annoy me. I rounded off both of the back corners which helped some with it not hanging up on it. Rounded both corners because I rounded the wrong one first.

gluing on the veneer fronts

To prevent the veneer from shifting when I apply clamp pressure I used super glue in two spots to hold the veneer in place. I used yellow glue and I applied a double dose on the end grain ends of the tails.

cooking

I will let all five of the drawers sit and cook until tomorrow. I don't want to have to deal with any of the veneer not adhering a 100%.

the me-steak drawer

This was the original middle drawer on the dresser. I made it too short on the height and I'm turning it into a box. 

I'm painting it

As I planed the sides little gaps popped out on the tails. I filled them all in with wood putty and I'll be painting this now. I have always had in the back of my head an idea to apply wallpaper to the inside of a box. I have also seen newspaper glued to the inside. I am going to give one of them a try. I think with the paint it will make it an unique box for my sister.

banding

I glued and nailed the bottom on. This plywood has some of the ugliest end grain plies that I  have ever seen. I should have used the 5mm plywood  as its end grain plies are solid and could have been easily painted. I'll hide these with the banding.

almost ready for paint

Got the chamfer on the sides and front done along with gluing the back stop thing on. I can't think of anything else that needs to be done on the carcass. 

prepping the base

I flushed the corners and cleaned up the base. A couple of gaps popped on it too that got filled with wood putty.

dust panel

This is the only one on the dresser. There are small gaps at the four corners that will allow for some air movement. It should keep the dust bunnies from invading the drawers.

I've been doing good on the diet since I strapped myself back in the saddle. I've lost over 20 lbs in the past 4 weeks with 30 more to go. Yes boys and girls I packed on 50 lbs but I am resolute in getting back down to at least 190 (currently weigh 215). 

One of the problems I have maintaining is the constant denial of eating the things I like and want to shove in the pie hole. What I have done for the past 4 weeks is indulge myself one day a week. I picked monday because it is the day after my daily weigh in. I've been going out for breakfast and lunch. I shove everything and anything I eyes settle on and then go back on my diet for the remaining 6 days. So far it is working and I look forward to losing and rewarding myself. 

For the rest of the week my diet consists of 3 Quaker rice cakes for breakfast. I smear two of them with peanut butter and the other one with nutella (yummy stuff). For lunch I alternate between a can of soup or a frozen meal (300 or less calories) with an apple for desert. For dinner I have a salad (lettuce, cherry tomatoes, a cucumber, a red pepper, and broccoli) with two TBSP of extra virgin olive oil with a splash of of balsamic vinegar. I have 2nd apple as snack around 1900. I figure my total caloric intake is less than 2000 calories a day. 

I don't want to be fat again and have to buy a new wardrobe again. Mostly I don't want the health problems that come with being over weight with diabetes being a big fear. I have also started walking again. I took about 7 weeks off because of the heat/humidity and not really wanting to do it. However, I have noticed a change in myself and I feel different now than I did when I was walking daily. Different as in I felt better walking and wasn't as stiff as I am now as when I was walking. Another thing I'll strap myself into the saddle with too.

accidental woodworker

I bought this old cabinet at an antique show last month. I didn’t realize it at the time that the left drawer was an imposter. It’s basically the drawer face screwed to a smaller drawer. Shame on me for not checking before I bought it.

here is the drawer. you can see Bentley is not impressed.

So I took the drawer face off the stupid faux drawer and decided to rebuild the whole thing with some white pine .

I cleaned up all the nails that the previous owner used to “fix” the drawer in order to use the existing pins as a jig to cut the dovetail tails. I also cleaned up the pins so that could work again.

Basically, what I did was scribe the pins onto the drawer side and cut tails into the wood. No different than making a drawer from scrap. The only difference is that not all the pins survived over the years, so there are ghost pins within the drawer side.

After I cut the front tails, I made normal dovetails on the back to match the other two drawers that survived.

I made a new bottom and stuck it in the drawer to make sure it worked. Everything was square and fit into the cabinet opening.

Here’s the drawer finished and glued together. They all fit nicely back into the cabinet and everything is good to go. I also glued one of the cabinet doors back together and attached both of them back on the cabinet.

Had a good day in the shop and I made a lot of progress on the dresser. I got all the drawers glued and cooking. I didn't think I would 3 drawers done today (the largest ones too) but I went balls to wall when I saw that it was possible. Fitting them tomorrow is happening for some of them for sure. 

Tomorrow I have an appointment with podiatry at 0730. I'm going to try the first appt of the day and see if I like it. I plan on leaving for the VA a little after 0600 (avoid rush hour traffic) so I'll have less than an hour to kill. I'll bring my cellphone and hearing aids and binge watch You Tube. The cafeteria and Starbucks doesn't open until 0700 so I'll drink my fill of Joe before I leave the house.

2nd drawer cooked

Before I glued the slips in I checked the bottom for twist. I planed that away and glued the slips in. The next day I flushed them.

ready for fitting

Got the bottoms fitted and nailed off at the back. No glue, just a few brads at the back. I like to have the bottoms installed before I do any planing on the drawers to fit them.

got lucky

I didn't think that I had this many small shaker knobs. The small ones on the left are for the two top drawers and the other 3 will get the knobs on the right.

I like them

I like the proportions of the knobs for the large drawers. I was going to use one knob on the top right drawer but changed my mind on that. It was long enough R/L to need two knobs.

off the saw

3 drawers done with two more to go. It was almost lunch time here and I didn't have a warm and fuzzy I would get the last two done before 1500. It was taking me longer to do that I thought it would.

drawer slips fitted

The drawer had to set up for a while and I still had to check and correct for any twist in the bottom first.

2 done, one to go

When I got this one glued I thought I would get maybe 75% of the last drawer done. 

broke out the Moxon

Used the Moxon because the last drawer was too wide and wouldn't fit between the guide rods in the face vise.

off the saw

I made it - 1448 and the woodworking on the last drawer  is done. I glued it up and dry fitted the slips for it. I will go back after dinner and glue the slips in. That way tomorrow I can flush them, get the bottoms in and start fitting them.

1505

From start to finishing at this point took a little over an hour. I don't know why but for whatever reason I thought it would only take me about 20 minutes to make a drawer. I was wrong and I don't think I dilly daddled but worked on all the drawers steadily. At least I have an realistic idea of long a drawer takes me to whack out.

accidental woodworker

Perhaps it’s an age thing, perhaps it’s a “working alone” thing, but I have had a lot of time reminiscing lately while up in the barn.

50+ years ago when as a teen and newly arrived into a real-live cabinet shop I was introduced to the deep-seated passions of European craftsmen.  Prior to that I was a “scratch and dent” man at a couple of furniture stores, which, though a legitimate service, is not the same as working alongside men with years of apprentice training and decades of life on the job.

This shop was operated by a New Yawker of Greek heritage and produced amazing interiors with frame-and-panel rooms, carved detailing, and exquisite finishing.  (I was an underling in the finishing room; they did not consider my week(?) at a Mohawk workshop to be really valid for what they did and trained me in their way of doing things enough that I could next catch on to the Schindler’s shop where I spent the following few years)  Since the talent pool in south Florida was not up to his standards the owner hired guys from Long Island to come and work there, they were amazing craftsmen/artists.

Hans was a German-trained cabinetmaker in charge of that side of things.  Joe was an Italian who was my boss in the finishing room.  Both men were incredibly generous in teaching me what they knew at a level I was able to learn, and sometimes that created conflict between them when Hans said one thing and Joe said another.  I mean, real conflict to the point where the big boss had to step in and send them back to their corners.

Perhaps the most intense quarrel I recall was about how to fold sandpaper.  Really.  Hans was insistent on the “quartering” method of preparing and using sandpaper.  In this technique the sandpaper was twice folded in half along the perpendicular center lines, then cut to the cross-fold along one line then folded into a stacked quarter.  According to him, this was the only way a REAL craftsman used sandpaper.

Joe bristled at both this method and the insinuation that he was not a REAL craftsman (they were both just shy of magicians in their work).  According to Joe the only true method for preparing and using sandpaper was to cut the sheet in half along the short axis, then fold the paper twice to yield three identical sections when folded over.  To be honest a version of this method is the one I have used more often in the subsequent five decades.

But the experience of watching two late-middle-aged men almost coming to blows over how to cut, fold, and use sandpaper was indelibly burned into my memory and provided a lot of insight into the human condition.  If we want to, we can gin up conflict over the most inconsequential things while letting the existential stuff slide by with barely a notice.

Design?  Pshaw.  Construction details?  Shrug.  Finishing schedule?  Whatever.

But sandpaper?  Put ’em up, buddy.

I am very excited to announce that I have a new online storefront at Luthier Bench, a new Online Marketplace and Knowledge Base for Luthier Built Guitars! Please visit my store to see some of my latest guitars.

I will continue to sell guitars through Savage Classical Guitar! Rich Sayage, the owner of Savage Classical Guitar, is a great guy and an amazing guitarist! I am very fortunate to work with him!

I also updated Guitars Currently Available on this site.

Currently listed at my storefront are two guitars, a Western Red Cedar/Santos Rosewood double top classical guitar and a circa 1832 René Lacôte style European Spruce/California Laurel Romantic Era “guitare à la Sagrini”. Guitar specifications are listed along with sound samples.

 I posted on Substack yesterday, check it out!

A me-steak free day in the shop. I didn't out do myself with any new bone headed maneuvers. I'm now at the stage of making the drawers and maybe wednesday or thursday I will start fitting them. I will try to resist the urge to fit them as I make them but no promises on that.

last night

I wandered back to the shop last night because I was fighting the urge to fill the pie hole. I laid out and sawed the tails for the first drawer - starting with the smallest one and going from there.

#3 iron

Tried to take a pic of this but I couldn't get the camera to focus. The edge of this iron looked like a serrated knife. Before I went to town on the drawers I had to sharpen the irons in the 3 planes.

my LN iron collection

All three of these irons fit the LN 5 1/2. One of them is an O1 and the other two are A2 (I think). LN labeled the O1 irons and left the A2 irons blank. Currently the O1 iron is the back up for the LN 51 shooting plane.

not working so good

I am used to the runway eating up irons quick but it ain't working so good on this A2 iron. It is 80 grit and it going painfully slow trying to remove all the chips on the edge. I made the switch to waterstones to see how well they worked. Before I switched to diamond stones I used water stones (Norton stones).

1000 grit stone

I was surprised by how quick it was to remove the chipped out edge with the 220 grit stone. After the 220 stone I moved on to the 1000 grit one and this (high?) popped out. I was able to get the entire bevel shiny.

over an hour later

Got all three irons sharp and shiny. The #4 took the least amount of time followed by the 5 1/2. The #3 was the worse of the lot.  

I got this setup from Lee Valley a bazillion moons ago (25 years ago?). I couldn't tell you the grit of the two brown waterstones but I used the 'pond' to soak the Norton stones in and use them to sharpen. No matter how you slice it waterstones are messy. You have to soak them, then clean them after each use and flatten them. However, I think the edge came out better than what I get with the diamond stones. It is looking like I will need to start using waterstones again for my A2 irons and the diamond stones for the O1 crowd.

RML shavings with the #3

Getting the LN planes spitting out shavings is so much easier and quicker than it is for Stanley or other Bailey planes. I got even thickness/width and full length shavings on the first try.

ditto for the #4

5 1/2

I got RML on all 3 on the first try. I went from thick to fluffy to see through without a hiccup. LN doesn't sell Norton waterstones anymore but the Ohishi stones they sell now are comparable in price to what I remember paying for the Norton stones. Water stones wear awfully fast too. I took almost a 1/8" off the thickness of the 220 grit stone.

didn't make it

I was hoping to get one drawer glued and cooking before lunch but it didn't happen. Sharpening the 3 irons ate up most of the AM session.

after lunch

Diagonals within a 32nd, glued, and set aside to cook. I had to clamp the front to keep the tails seated. Without the clamps there were gaps at the baselines.

doesn't fit

The top/bottom fit is snug and no go on the R/L. The fit was as expected.

blurry pic of drawer slips

I sawed and fitted the drawer slips dry. I'll glue them in after the drawer has cooked for a couple of hours.

lights out

Figured a way to glue the 3 slips all at once. I was gluing the front one first and then the two sides. I have two scraps of the plywood bottom in the slip grooves to keep them aligned while it cooks.

drawer #2

Two glued and cooking with 3 more to go. Punched the time clock and killed the lights.

accidental woodworker

Last time I wrote about the legs and seat.  Still much to do with them, but this post is about the sticks.  This chair will have 12 sticks - 6 long and 6 short.  I'm using red oak that I got from a neighbor's kitchen remodel.  I looked for pieces that had straight grain along the edge and cut on the face along the grain direction to get pieces that followed the grain fairly well.

Note the slanted direction of the grain.  There's a pencil line along one of the grain lines. I cut along those lines to get straight grain pieces.

Some reasonably straight-grained pieces squared up to 3/4"

Here's a stick sitting in a cradle waiting to be planed. Lines are drawn on the sides to plane down to.

Planed to the lines to make them octagonal

Then take off the corners with three scrub plane strokes to make them almost round

The short sticks will get 5/8" tenons on each end, so I put them through the rounding plane that I made a few months ago.  I did a test run first with a test piece and that was a good idea because the tenon came out at an angle from the rest of the stick.  For that test piece, I clamped the stick upright in a vise and turned the rounding plane onto it.  I found that I really need to put the rounder in the vise and turn the stick into it, concentrating on keeping the stick in the center of the rounder's entrance.

Taking a long stick to 5/8" diameter.  If I started the rounding plane this way, the end of the stick might be angled.  I had to start the sticks as shown below.

The test stick (above) has an angled tenon. The one below is nicely centered.

Rounder in the vise, stick being rotated into it. I can see whether or not the stick is centered in the opening.

Turning a long stick into the rounder, concentrating on keeping it centered in the opening

Here's a close-up, where I can see the even gap all around the stick entering the rounder

The sticks were to have a small bulge, centered between the arm and the seat.  After rounding the tenons of the short sticks, I used a scrub plane, then a block plane, scraper and sandpaper to smooth the curves.

Here's the short sticks (and one long stick) shaped

Tapering the bulge with a scrub, followed by block plane, being very careful not to go into the tenon area

A curved scraper removes most of the remaining facets

Later I'll taper the long sticks above the arm from 5/8" to 1/2".  So far, this has been the easiest and most fun part of the project.  I've run into issues with making the arm bow and boring the holes through the arm and into the seat.  But that's a story for another post.

 The train was only 12 minutes late. According to my wife the trains seldom run on time. When I took the train down to Baltimore last year (and back) it was late then too but I don't recall the times. In order to get the 15 drawer dressing down to daughter #1 we or just my wife will have to drive it down there. I got an estimate over the phone to ship it for 4-5 hundred dollars. A wee bit too rich for me so the dresser will have to wait.

it behaved

I wasn't expecting any stupid wood tricks. This stock has been in the shop for a few months. BTW this is the new base that I sawed up last night after dinner.

the me-steak

 This is how I measured and marked the base yesterday. To my thinking this should have worked but it didn't. 

the right way?

The left corner has the pieces that have squared off ends. I marked the opposite side a few frog hairs long. More options to hide it being too big over being too small.

off the saw

Diagonals were less than a 32nd off. This is the base I made too small yesterday all glued up and cooking.

checking for twist

New base parts being checked for twist. I found that if I'm dovetailing and there is twist, whatever is dovetailed will twist also.

new method

new base untwisted

Ready for dovetails almost. Had to check to ensure that I didn't have a hump in any of them.

from the #3

I need to sharpen and hone 3 of my handplanes because of this. The edge of the irons on all 3 have chips at the edge of the irons producing this crappola of a finish. I meant to do that yesterday (?) but got side tracked and forgot it. I need these planes to finish the drawer making so I'll have to make a pit stop to do it. As an aside if anyone who reads this has any Lie Nielsen O1 irons for a #3, #4, or a #5 1/2 that they are willing to part with I'll buy it/them.

my favorite smoother

I like using a #3 as the final step when planing stock to thickness or removing twist. These straight line ridges don't sand out that well even starting with 100 grit. 

I remembered

 Here I'm repeating for the sides how I measured for the front/back.

sides

Usually I put the tails on the longest pieces which would be the front/back. Instead I put them on the sides so that you see a square/rectangle instead of the tails. Moot point now because it will be painted and hidden.

not quite done

I was trying to get the base dry fitted before lunch but I didn't make it. I had to go grocery shopping for the wife so it would be a while before I knew if it fit the carcass.

off the saw

I didn't have to trim anything this go around. Initially the diagonals were a 1/4" off but a slight push on the high corners and I was about a 32nd off.

didn't forget

The carcass dropped right in - a nice loose fit.

cutout on the base

I don't like a base that doesn't have a cutout. It is much easier to adjust, fit, and get it level if all you have to play with are the four corners. If this was a big boy version and was going to live on a carpet I would do it with a solid base.

carcass bearers?

They bear the carcass so they should they be called carcass bearers? 3/8" down so there will be an 1/8" reveal between the top of the base and the bottom drawer rail. These were glued and nailed on.

back gap

A healthy bit of wiggle room for the back panel insertion. If need be I can put a shim in it or use caulk to fill it.

a real big sigh

My fault on this being too short on the height. I didn't check it any of them but relied on what I measured. Shoulda, woulda, coulda, but didn't do that. Penalty is making 4 new pieces.

old dog can learn sometimes

This is the first one and I sawed it to a pencil line struck off the opening. Sawed out the other 3.

untwisted

Two were twisted a bit and two were flat and straight.

test piece

Good use for an off cut that could be a piece of pine veneer.

cutting the back was next

The first one was tight and wouldn't fit. I shot this one on the shooting board until it fit with a hint of gentle persuasion.

change #2

Rather than do half blinds at the front I'm going to do through dovetails at the back and front. I will use the 'veneer' glued to the front to hide the tails. I am using the off cuts from resawing it from 3/4 to a 1/2 inch.

massive brain fart

I stunk up the shop so bad I was choking on the smell. You know that awful sinking feeling that you screwed up and screwed up bad the nth power? Well that didn't kick in with me until I was done sawing the last one and putting it back in the dresser. What did I do wrong? I sawed for the drawer slips on the sides instead of doing it on the back.

corrected 1/2 the problem

I sawed all the backs and than I had to contend with one of the sides on all 5 drawers being too short on the height.

saved two

I used the sides playing with them and I was able to get two complete sets done. That leaves 3 that I have to redo. Rather then trying to match the one good one I decided to make 3 new sets.

double, triple checked three times

I got lucky that I was able to get all the sides from off cuts left over from previous projects.That pile of off cuts has shrunk considerably building this dresser.  If I had screwed up the fronts or backs I would have had to use the stock I got from Gurney's. Killed the lights here and headed upstairs. 

accidental woodworker

First things first, I want to say thanks to everyone for the well wishes and comments in the last post where I introduced our new home/project. It’s been a little over a week since we more or less moved into our new house in Tomobe, and a lot has happened. There’s no shortage of work… Read More »Tomobe House – Week 1

The post Tomobe House – Week 1 appeared first on Big Sand Woodworking.

Sunday is my day to piddle around but I got a lot done on the dresser. Much more than I thought I would today. The AM session went off with a hiccup but I can't say the same for the PM one. Made two brain farts that were basically the same. After the second one I punched the time clock and killed the lights.

out of the clamps

Nothing moved or sighed when the clamps came off. The top is on securely and I am not going to add screws or nails.

the ugly gap.

At this point I was ok with leaving the gap. You have to tip the dresser back to see it. I am slowly learning to pick my battles with things like this.

side guide rails

Left a gap for expansion and I put it at the front. To my way of thinking it out loud, the front part of the drawer should continuously span the gap. With it tight against the back bearer rail only the back end of the drawer has to move over it. With no gap the drawer won't have anything to bump into or snag on.

glue only

I applied glue to back 1/3 of the drawer guide. No screws or nails mostly because the sides are a 1/2" thick - not much meat to screw or nail into. I think the glue will suffice.

froze on me

The back divider was a wee bit snug and yesterday I could put it in place with hand pressure. Today with glue it froze half way. I was able to get the mallet in through the middle and tap it home. 

bottom bearer rails

I wanted to use the same width for these as the bearer rails but they were too short on the length. These will work and the should be easier to fit the drawers not being as wide. Less of tendency for these to curl and do other stupid wood tricks.

glued and cooking

The bottom edges were proud a few frog hairs. The back one also had a hump that I had to plane flat. 

bottom side guide rails

Used the spring clamps to hold a scrap down to the bearer rails. That way the side guide rail will be in the same plane. I'll plane the bottoms flush after it has set up.

sigh

This is the corner that split and cracked on me yesterday. A thin sliver of it didn't want to get glued back on. I wanted to apply shellac as the finish but not anymore. I'll be painting it and leaving the drawers natural and covered with shellac. There were a couple of more dings that I filled with wood putty that the paint will hide.

thinking out loud

Maybe I should just paint the top? I still will have to flood the brown knot with super glue whether I use shellac or paint. The more I think about it the more I'm liking it. I'll have to be careful painting where the sides meet the top.

base first

Decided to get the base done before doing the drawers. That will help a lot when it comes time to fit them.

first PM brain fart

When I was sawing these I thought that they looked too short but I did the deed anyways. There must have been a stray pencil mark that I zeroed in on. I can use these to make drawer slips.

off the saw

Happy with the fit of this. I had to trim all the pins on corner #1 but other than that, off the saw. I used the board I was going to use for drawer slips to get two new sides from. 

will it fit inside it?

I was feeling pretty smug with myself for getting the base dovetailed and dry fitted.

nope

The 2nd brain fart deflated the wind in my sails. I had set the two sides rails together on one side and positioned the front flush with that and marked the other side for length. That worked perfectly If I wanted the dresser to sit on top of the base. Oh well hopefully this will be fresh in brain bucket tomorrow when 3rd base should the charm.

flip side of the coin

The base is within two frog hairs all the way around, just not in the right direction. I should still be able to get started on the drawers tomorrow.

The me-steak base will get used for something. I don't have a need for another box but that is the most obvious use for it. I think I'll do that and ship it with the dresser when I send it to my sister.

accidental woodworker