Hand Tools

More than a month has passed since my last post, and a lot has been happening around here in Tomobe. It’s been difficult to find time to sit down and update the blog, but I’m going to try and get better about that from here on out. So much I want to share. One update… Read More »PettyWork Saw

The post PettyWork Saw appeared first on Big Sand Woodworking.

Work progresses on the cupboard and there is no way I'll have it done this sunday. I might have but the cherry panels put the knife into it. I paid for 3 day shipping and they shipped it yesterday (ordered monday). UPS says I'll get it on tuesday. So no reason to rush and rush I didn't today.

dowel max experiment

I read the entire manual last night and I'm missing the DVD that it mentions in the manual. Included in the box was a you tube link with 14 vids so maybe they replaced the DVD with You Tube. Anyways I'm going to try to connect four pieces of wood together with 1/4" dowels.

using the first door

Squared the ends and sawed them to length. Labeled them with check marks just like the manual stressed I do.

hmm.......

 A couple of the holes I drilled were in La La Land. The nuts had loosened and that changed the position of the drilled hole. In spite of being able to tighten the nuts easily with hand pressure they still loosened with use. I didn't catch it for 3 of them because it was something I wasn't expecting.

yikes

These are 3 of the holes due to the nuts loosening. I had one more on another frame part.

nope

The rails are proud of the stiles. I do know that the first two holes I tried to drill were wrong. I drilled in the ends (of the left stile) instead of the inside edge. I obviously screwed up aligning all the check marks. On the flip side if I turned the rails 180 they were flush with the stiles but I could only use 1 (instead of two) of the dowels.

the key to this jig

There are two check marks on the wood - one on the outside face and the other on the top edge. You have to align these check marks with the ones on the dowel max. One thing that surprised me was the instructions stated to make hand tight on the nuts only. Do not use pliers to tighten them. Hand pressure is sufficient and that is one thing that worked for me on this.

I tried this one more time and I got 3 of the right with one OTL (out to lunch). It is going to take a few more practice runs with this before I will feel comfortable using it on the real McCoy.

right drawer tails

Tails done and I planed a shallow rabbet on the inside face. I didn't did this for the left drawer (why not Skippy?). I'm looking forward to see how the right drawer stacks up against the left one.

half blinds first

Pin sockets sawn and the bottom corners quasi squared with the card scraper. It definitely takes a wee bit more oomph in cherry vice pine. Another hiccup I picked up on was it was way too easy for the scraper to go down slanted and follow the grain. I'm glad I was watching it because I don't when I do the same operation in pine.

time for it to relax

It was almost 1500 and I didn't want to start and stop this. I'll let it chill out until the AM.

I couldn't wait

Not enough time to chop the half blinds but maybe enough to fit the left drawer. To facilitate that I had to remove the nails at the back. I thought I would get away with having to remove them from both sides but that was a big negative. I had to pull them from the other side too. After the drawer is fitted I'll put new nails in the holes. I have seen this done countless times on the restoration You Tube vids I watch. Spoiler alert - it works.

first try

I thought I would only have to plane the right side of the drawer because that side is slightly tapered. The vertical drawer divider is out of square on the left side and square on the right side of it.

after the 2nd planing

The right side is ok but there is/was a hump on the left side. Pulled the nails and planed the hump away.

fitted

It took 4 planing runs before it fit in the opening. The last planing run was to knock down the top a couple of shavings. The margin on the left is good and I have to take a wee bit more off on the top right.

came today

I started leafing through this and ended up reading 60% of it. Even though I don't like this style of tool chest, I do like looking at the variety of them. One thing about them that appeals to me is having all of your (or mine) tools in one spot. If I did ever make one of these it would be a monster size. I would guess-ta-mate it would easily be 4-5 feet wide, 14-18" deep and 6 feet high. I have thought some on this already.

at the end of the how to

I read every one of the tool chests featured here. One thing I noticed was the limited number of handplanes. I have 8 handplanes under my workbench along with 6 blockplanes, 3 tenon planes, and one bullnose plane. This is why my dutch tool chest would so big.

accidental woodworker

 

As I assembled the “tunnel” of the greenhouse from the cattle panel fencing I noted a lot of wiggle in the structure, even after tying all the sections together with zip ties at their edges.  Yeah, yootoobers swear it can withstand fierce winter weather but my friend Floyd over on the east side of the county, and whose greenhouse was absolutely the inspiration for this one, indicated that our occasional heavy snow (~18″) caused him some problems.  Being the over-builder that I am, I decided to add curved ribs inside the tunnel to beef it up.

My first step was to configure to tunnel to be symmetrical which required aligning the center of the arched panels with the center line of the overall structure.  Using a simple plumb bob I pushed and pulled the sections to be at least along the same center line.  I’d hoped that this combined with the rib-building process would make all the arch curves identical.

With string lashing to keep the arches aligned with the center line, along with diagonal wooden braces, I set about the task.

Using my little table saw more than I have in a long time I sliced off a pile of  3/16″ strips to build the laminations.  For the most part simply clamping the strips to the underside of the arches imposed a semi-circular arc, and this was enhanced by the continued build-up of the laminations.

A combination of spring clamps by the bushel, T3 glue and a multitude of crown staples the ribs began to take shape.  The enhanced structural robustness became increasingly clear as the glue dried, which took about three days given the moisture content of the PT SYP lumber strips and the weather itself.

All in all it took me almost three days to get the 10-layer ribs finished, but they are now in place for the next step, framing in the ends of the tunnels and adding doors and windows.

Seriously, the structure is now strong enough that I could crawl all the way to the top to staple the fence grid to the ribs.

Sigh. Things didn't go so well in the AM or the PM session. Sigh again. Nothing went all the way south but it still sucked the wind out of my sails. Tomorrow is friday and I'm going to Iggy's for fish 'n chips. I'm looking forward to that and also getting back in the shop and dealing with the drawers.

ready

All chopped and cleaned up. Ready to dry fit the first drawer together.

hmm.......

Call me crazy but I think fitting this is going to be beyond awkward to fit the drawer opening. 

Yikes

I thought I might have been able to salvage the sides and just redo the back. That got flushed down the toilet real quick. The left side tails are facing the wrong way. I must have had the side facing the wrong way when I marked the pins off it.

nope

I thought I could flip the side and have it fit. After all I tried to mark them them same but it wouldn't work. I have a finger and half tail that has to be at the bottom of the drawer. 

new side

This fit sucks pond scum and I split the front again too. The gaps are too big to ignore and use. I even trimmed the tails on the inside to improve the fit and that did diddly squat.

onto plan B, step 2.l-3, line alpha

Keeping the original side(s) because (they) it fit a lot better then the replacement one. I cut off the tails and planed a rabbet for the back.

early xmas present

This is a present from me to me. I always buy something for xmas that I want and know that I'll never get. I had wanted a good doweling jig for a long time and I pulled the trigger on it. Bought the Dowel Max from Canada. 

the Dowel Max Classic

I got the 3/8" classic with the accessory 1/4" dowel guide. Nicely made out of aluminum and brass. I'm impressed with it and I haven't even used it.

1/4" parts

It is an easy swap out between the 3/8 and 1/4 drilling blocks. I really like the knurling on the brass knobs. It is heavy and oh so easy to tighten and loosen them. 

figured it out

I was looking at and fondling all the parts and I couldn't figure out what this was for. I had to search through the parts break down before I found it. It is a distance gauge for long pieces. I'll go through the manual tonight to familiarize myself with it. I'll hold off buying 45 mitering jigs and other accessories until after I've used it for a few projects. Did you know that James Krenov used dowels to build his carcasses?

dry fit looks good

Got the back dry fitted along with the two side drawer slips. Made a bone head mistake here. I glued the back on and the drawer slips. What I didn't do was glue the half blinds first. Kind of hard to remove the front if the back and the sides are glued and cooked.

I caught it in time and was able to remove the back, glue the half blinds, and the back and drawer slips again. If I had screwed this up it would have been the final nail in the drawer saga. I would have had to start over from square one.

missed this detail

I wasn't thinking and I glued and nailed the back on. I was a little smug with myself thinking I saved myself from having to clamp the back and wait for it to set up. How will I fit the sides to the opening with nails?

It has gotten seasonal with the weather finally. The last couple of days have had the morning temps hovering around 32F (0C). The day time temps have warmed up with today hitting 73F (23C). Don't know how long this will last but the mornings are getting frosty.

accidental woodworker

I should take my own advice. I tell people to be careful to look for the tiniest checks in the end grain of a log because they will open up as the bowl dries. If a log section has been … Continue reading →

With overnight lows in the 20s bearing down on us, Mrs. Barn harvested and arranged the last of her garden flowers to grace the dining table.

She also gathered a pile o’ lettuce just before the hard freeze, so salads will be part of the menu for the coming days.

She’s looking forward to using the new greenhouse to keep greens and root vegetables growing all winter long.  Me too.

Life has ups and downs and making this cherry cupboard is having its share of ups and downs. To me it makes woodworking so exciting. Even though there are only a handful of joints to make the variation of them along with the myriad of ways to execute them is what really makes me want to go to the shop everyday. I think I'm at a stage in my woodworking career where I look forward to how I execute my joinery. Like today, it sometimes has more downs than up and on other days it is reversed. I'll think about today and I look forward to seeing what the up/down count is tomorrow.

set

It is hard-ish. It isn't  solid like a rock but good enough for this. I'll take it because I was expecting it to be squishy soft still.

back off

The wax did its job and it appears that the epoxy hasn't oozed out to where it shouldn't have.

ditto

The bottom one was/is the smaller 'hole' of the two. Both filled up that hole and nothing else.

done

No epoxy in the groove walls or bottom. I was concerned about this but what I did worked. The 1/4" scrap in the groove I put a piece of veneer behind it to force it tightly against the groove wall with the 'hole'.

flushing the epoxy

Epoxy planes very easily and it doesn't have a grain to be followed. 

ain't getting better

The over spill ain't going away quietly. I sanded it and card scraped it and it is still visible. The amount showing after sanding and scraping didn't improve much. Hmm..... I'll have to think on what to do with this.

got to fix this

The leveling screw on this side just spins and won't go in or out. This has been annoying me for months but I've been ignoring it. Stock steps down at this point and the saw blade make a tapered deeper cut there. 

first batter up

The insert is made out of MDF and I'm going to try soaking it with super glue and hitting it with accelerator. If this doesn't work the next batter will be using a bigger screw in a new hole.

Spoiler Alert - it worked. The super glue made the hole smaller and the screw going in it cut new threads. Solid feeling and the inset stayed flushed while making the door bridal joints.

done

I had a few downs and some ups making this. Got confused again when doing it but it was recoverable. I did the tenons first and I screwed them up. Recoverable but the top and bottom tenons aren't the same size. I don't know how but I made them too thin and I caught it after I did the top ones. I then made the bottom ones too thin also but not as thin as the top ones. They are still adequate for bridal joinery.

good - a B+

I couldn't use the same setup to do the bottom and top tenons. The slight gap is from tear out - the top tenon face looks the lunar surface. I had to center the stile on the rail and mark the slot mortise. Another hiccup that made this so much fun was the groove isn't centered. One wall is a 16th less than its neighbor. I did good and gave myself a pat on the back.

one of the bigger tenons

I'm happy with the fit at the four corners. I also think that the tenons will be more the strong enough for the door and to support the weight of the tile on the panel.

dry fit look

The door is a shade over a 16th long T/B and R/L. I'll fit it to opening after it has been glued and cooked.

a down into an up

The panel from the first door fits. Sometimes you get lucky or so I thought.

dry fit

The door is square. The LV square read dead nuts at all four corners. The clamps were in the way of using a tape to measure diagonals.

a real big down

The panel didn't fit and I caught it after I had glued and clamped the door together. I seated the panel in the bottom rail and that left a 1/8" gap at the top rail. Super, super, super happy that I used hide glue for this glue up. Broke it apart, gave the panel flying lessons, and wiped the hide glue off. If there is any left the new hide glue application should melt into the old one. I'll do the next glue up of the door with warm hide glue.

last pin socket

Doing half blinds in cherry isn't any worse or better than pine. The cherry leaves a better wall, but the chopping is exactly the same.

some gaps

Cherry is not as forgiving as pine. I had to trim all 3 sockets before it fit. I used 1:7 dovetails on this and I'm going back to my other dovetail guide, I like the slope of the tails on it much more. These look almost straight to me. I also made the tails bigger so I would cover more of the end grain. I usually make  half pins and center one tail between them.

the other side

A wee bit tight and I forced it. I was using pine muscle memory. Glued and clamped the split until the AM.

hmmm.......

It would appear that I am missing the left side of a tail.

saved it

It is the finger and half tail on the right that screws with me. I have fewer times that I get right and more getting it wrong. In my defense I will say that I don't remember a time where I had to shitcan it and start over from scratch. 

time - 1515

Quitting time and this will have to wait until the AM. I made a groove in the front and I will use drawer slips on the sides. Burying the groove in the bottom dovetail wasn't that bad. I didn't lose that much depth of drawer vice using drawer slips on 3 sides.

accidental woodworker

It is exciting that there is a new book out on how to build a Dutch Style Tool Chest, I know that many beginning woodworkers will want to try their hand at making one.

I built one in April 2019 to prepare for a move, we moved from our wonderful little cabin in the heart of the Colorado Rocky Mountains to the Denver metro area. The move was job motivated. 

This tool box was nice, but every time I moved it from one studio to the next, I had to empty it of all the tools, put it in my FJ Cruiser, then reload the tools. The process was reversed to place it in the new space. 

After using it for several months, I realized I should have made the chest deeper to accommodate my Stanley No.5 jack plane, tool totes, and several other tools. And it could have been at least 18 inches taller.

The DTC at my studio at 40 West Arts, Lakewood, Colorado, circa 2020.

One thing I didn’t like about the chest was the lid had this bad habit of slamming shut if I bumped the main body. It was rare for me to close the lid, I always needed access to my hand tools. And because I didn’t make the chest deep enough, I never put the front panel on, to do that I had to rearrange all the tools on the lower shelves.

My Dutch Tool Chest today. 

Several months ago, I removed the lid, cut off the angles of the angled sides and added to the sides and bottom of the carcase to make the box deeper. The lid got an extra piece of wood to make it deeper also, and now it is the fixed top of the chest. Down the road, I plan on adding some drawers to it and adding a taller base that will also have a drawer or two, but right now I am too busy building classical guitars to take the time to make this a decent chest of drawers.

As you can see in the above photo, all the tools that were in the original chest are now on the wall in easy reach. Sure, I have to dust the tools occasionally, but I really, really like this set up.

Would I ever make a Dutch Style Tool Chest again? I doubt it.

I hope that you like the DTC that you make!

My workshop is our attached garage at one end of the house. While it’s not an idyllic cabin-shop among the trees, I did get pretty lucky that there is a grove of quaking aspens just outside one window. For much … Continue reading →

Progress is moving forward on the cherry cupboard. The door didn't get done today and it was something I wanted to knock out. Just as well because I had to stop and think about how I did the first door. I didn't have any hiccups with it and I want a repeat for the second one. The key is to do the tenons first and then the slot mortise. Doing the slot mortise first is what undid me on previous bridal joints. Maybe tomorrow I can whack out door #2.

I'm impressed but cautious

Both of the breaks feel solid but I'm not even going to cross my fingers on it surviving.

nope

It broke right after I was going to bring it upstairs. Tried some heat to melt the break back together. That didn't work and I started and stopped doing another fix. Started thinking about that and thought what will the microwaves do to the epoxy?

I brought it upstairs and put it in the microwave with one break still together. I'll let this go as is and when and if it goes south I'll buy a new microwave.

prepping

Put wax paper in the groove an d filled it with a 1/4" piece of scrap. The knot goes from the top all the way into the groove.

ready for epoxy

I got both sides of each one dammed up. Fingers crossed that the epoxy won't ooze out to where I don't want it.

black leather dye and 5 min epoxy

I used this before but not with this 5 min epoxy. 

filled it

This stuff was more liquid than I expected it. This one is not that bad but I overfilled the other one. I went to Wally World after this to stock up on band aids. A half hour later it was still soft. Should have been set as it is 5 min epoxy.

The leather dye is alcohol based (I think) and maybe that effected it somehow. The only other thing I can think of is maybe I didn't squeeze out equal amounts of A&B. I put it on the dryer and I'll check on it in the AM.

right drawer fitted

This wasn't that bad to do. Did the bottom first then the two sides and finished with the top.

ready to half blind

The left one was a bit tricky to do because of the tapered out of square right side. I still did it the same way as the right one though. It just took three times as long.

did them all

I didn't have to do all the pins/tails. To keep them all the same I applied the super glued cherry sawdust to all.

hanging rail

Missed this and I thought of it while applying the glue/sawdust to the tails. I had to make a rabbet on 3 edges for it to fit the existing rabbets.

rabbets done

Did them on the tablesaw and used my rabbeting blockplane to fit it.

done

Glued and used 3 screws to secure it. I don't think screwing and hanging the cabinet from the 1/4" plywood back would be a good choice.

tails done

Started with the left drawer due it being the wonky one.

too short

The drawer sides don't reach to the back support thing. Marked them in the front face vise.

dull

I'll need these two to do the drawer tails. They were adequate for the these but neither of them are cutting cleanly. I'll do that in the AM.

6 hours later

It is still soft but not as soft when I checked it after Wally World. I hope it firms up overnight.

accidental woodworker

My recent conversation with retired broadcaster Brian Wilson has been posted for his Now For Something Completely Different podcast.  It’s a bit more pungent than usual, as it is an election post-mortem.  If you are enamored (or outraged) by my observations on the society around us, check it out.

The time line for completing the cupboard I think has slipped. If it hasn't it definitely has stepped a banana peel. Had a hiccup happen in the AM session that wasn't recoverable. I'll have to wait and see if I can still maintain the timeline.

On a brighter note I have lost weight each of the past 3 weeks. The last weight loss was only 1 pound but I'll take it. As long as I lose and don't gain I have a happy face on. I have changed my diet upside down. I am now going out for breakfast every monday and lunch on fridays. In between I'm watching what I eat and I'm not on a starvation diet. I'm eating protein and limiting my carbohydrates and eating lots of veggies and fruit which seems to be working.

top of the divider

Tiny gaps that I filled with cherry sawdust and superglue.

bottom of the divider

Gaps, the left side of the dovetail is off, and a chip missing on the right. I used super glue and cherry sawdust here too. I'm thinking of painting some of this with black paint to mimic gum pockets.

next project

I watched a You Tuber restore a 1940's school desk made out of oak. I bookmarked it and I'm going to make two of these - one each for the grandsons to use.

out of the clamps

The door looked good to me here but I didn't know it would bite me on the arse in a little while.

consistent gap on the top/bottom

This gap should get a wee bit bigger after flushing the proud tenons.

almost an 1/8

Sizing the R/L might be tricky. I'll have to balance it and shave the same amount off of both sides.

inside look see

You have to be searching for the veneer strips to see them. At least this part of the door worked out well.

flushing the tails

This being proud was bugging me so I flushed it. It sure is nice to have both of the 36" quick grips working. I had to stand on my shop stool to plane the tails flush.

need some cherry sawdust

Grabbed the sawdust under the tablesaw and sifted it through this mesh strainer. I am going to use the same super glue and cherry sawdust on the tails. I saw it on You Tube (he was making a cherry stool) where he used gel style super glue and mixed it with cherry sawdust. Filled in the gaps and hit with accelerator. After that he sanded it smooth and applied a finish. No close up pic of it, but it did look good.

this is working

This is what I got from the first sifting. It was working better than I expected it to.

20 minutes later

I think I have enough sawdust to do ten cupboards

ouch, it is toast

I was hoping that there were wood chips or something under the door but there wasn't. The door was twisted and twisted pretty bad. Even I'm not stupid or (stubborn) enough to try and fit a twisted door.

it is real bad boys and girls

Each line on the winding sticks is a 1/8" and this is over 2 lines. Which means that my door is twisted by more than a 1/4".

can I salvage anything?

The cherry panel can be repurposed for something else. The 3 frame parts on the right are all twisted - they teeter end to end when pushed on. The lone part on the left appears to be twist free. I am going to try and get the 'frame' for the tile out of these.

off cut

This is the offcut from the first panel and I think it is big enough for the 2nd one. I ordered 2 more panels today and I'll have them by friday.

what's behind door #2?

Going with a different look for door #2. The rail grain is kind of straight but it has a lot of color to it and a couple of gum pockets. The stiles have more straight grain and the color doesn't match. That doesn't look good against the rails.

why not

I had to decrease the width of the stiles and the top rail but I was able to get all of the parts from the same board. The stiles have a knot that I like and I'm going to use it. I will fill it in with epoxy and black dye. I have the other set of straight grain stiles to fall back on if needed.

very low expectations

Epoxy and plastic don't seem to like each other. I have yet to do a repair with epoxy/plastic hold on me. The only way I've had success repairing plastic breaks is with heat. This is the ring out of my microwave oven. I had checked on the cost of this a few years ago and it was ridiculously high. I can by a new oven cheaper.  I have the time so I tried it.

15 minutes later

Used 5 min epoxy and it still hasn't set up and bonded. Full strength is 24 hrs but I don't think I'll have a happy face on then. 

what I didn't do for door #1

Two of the frame parts had some twist to them. I planed that away and set the frame aside to relax until the AM rolls around.

flushing the back

The top left corner was high. I didn't go nutso on this because it is the back.

one last check

3 foot straight edge to check that four corners were all in the same plane.

need a rabbet

I had intended to do the rabbet with the electric router from the git go. I did not want to try and do a stopped rabbet before gluing the carcass up. Clamped a scrap board to it to increase the footprint for the router to run on.

so nice to have again

Both clamps worked fine and I couldn't tell you which one I put the new springs in.

squaring the corners

I was going to round the corners on the back but nixed it. I don't know the radius of this and having gaps here would put my OCD into overdrive. Quicker, neater, and easier to square the corners with a chisel.

back fitted

It will be hidden but the panel has several gum pockets to see.

new door parts

I don't expect any stupid wood tricks but I'll give it until tomorrow. Hopefully the cherry panel I have will be large enough to fit the new door.

accidental woodworker

Recently my friend JD came for a visit, bearing a crosscut slab from a cherry tree that fell across his driveway.  He wanted to turn it into a small tea table to hold his cup of morning coffee out on the porch.

I thought I might be able to smooth and flatten it only using planes, but the amount to remove (~3/4″ of very hard end grain) was simply too much.  So, I spent a couple hours sawing to get the two faces coplanar.

After that I did most of the work with my trusty #5 set up as a foreplane, followed by a companion #5 set up as a smoother.

 

Some vigorous work with my user-made scraper, picked up somewhere along my path, and I was done.

So a few hours of good fellowship and labor it was ready to go home with him for attaching the legs and finishing.  At first he was dismayed at the “washed out” nondescript appearance, but I assured him the rich cherry color would soon return.  Since it will be out on the porch for his morning coffee he will finish it with some thinned polyurethane for the greatest penetration and protection.  I’m awaiting the finished pictures myself.

I got a lot done today with things I had planned on doing yesterday. Since I don't have a clock to punch and no one is holding a gun to my head, it is ok as is. Don't want to jinx myself but I think I can be done with this by this coming sunday. I quit the shop early today but it wasn't because of any hiccups on my part. Just felt like relaxing and watching some Amazon Prime TV on the computer and muted football games on the TV.

I finished watching all 154 episodes of Elementary and then I found Castle. This was the 5th or 6th show I was previewing and I liked what I saw. I'm a 1/3 of the way into season two with 6 more to go.

some of my vintage chisels

I like these chisels - interesting styles with the handles, easy to sharpen, and most are firmer chisels. What I don't like about them is they don't hold an edge that long. Easy to get it razor sharp but it dull way to quickly compared to my Ashley Isles chisels.

fitting the panel

Two of the panels were snug, one was just right, and the last one was loose. I sanded the veneer I glued on yesterday with 120 grit until I got a snug, slip fit with each of them.

cooking

This is the front of the door. I picked the side of the panel with straight grain for it. The back side of the panel has cathedral grain. This grain is bland and it won't distract from the tile that will be glued to it.

 I

didn't need a chisel

I used the marking knife and the small router plane to remove the waste for the tail socket.

chiseled the tails

Easy enough to knock out. Used the dovetail square to ensure the slants were square to the faces.

short

When I marked this, I left the pencil line thinking that it would give me some wiggle room. No wiggle room in this universe. Threw this in the shitcan and moved on to #2.

gum pockets

I wanted to use this but now I can't. I checked my extra cherry boards and none of them had any gum pockets to display.

extra stock

All that I need from this pile are the flat moldings for the top and bottom.

awkward but doable

Took my time and used my marking knife to make the vertical cuts that I would have done with a chisel. These are the smallest tails I can recall doing.

worth the $$$

I could never tighten the original brass screw that came with this. This nut works great and no hiccups with tightening it and the iron staying put.

what is this?

What do you call this hiccup? A chip, a split, or something else? I like a lift up split that is still connected. I super glued it back in place.

too tight

The bottom of the vertical divider was too tight and wouldn't fit. I had to plane the sides of it before it seated.

ugh with a big sigh

Didn't notice this until after I had flushed it with the front with the carcass. Couldn't have happened in a more visible spot.

drawer divider

There isn't any need for this to be a bazillion inches high - just enough to guide the sides of the drawers in/out will do.

door cooking too

I used hide glue for the door. I had good, snug fitting bridal joints and I didn't want to use yellow glue on them. I also glued the panel into the grooves - it is MDF and ain't going to move.

sizing the drawers

The drawer openings are almost a dead on match. They are out maybe a couple of frog hairs. The right drawer barely fits the height and the left one didn't fit. I plan on planing both to fit snug in their respective openings.

sample stick

I don't want to have to plane the sides of the drawers other than to clean and smooth them up. Using this sample stick to get the R/L dead nuts.

this sucks

The vertical divider is square on the right side and out a 16th on the left. It is a tapering out of square too. Wider at the top than at the bottom. I used a square against the left side too when I knifed the tails.

drawer sides and backs

Using 1/2" pine for the drawer backs and sides.

bandsawn boards

This will be on the back face of one of the drawers. No need for it to be pristine on this face.

cleaned up a wee bit

I used the #7 and the #3 to clean and smooth all the stock I'll use for the drawers. I didn't bother trying to getting them all within +/- two atoms of thickness. 

all cleaned up

The four boards at the fronts are extras in case I have brain fart and make a me-steak.

accidental woodworker

giantcypress:

This has become a bit of a tradition here at giant Cypress.

This is one of the best Veteran’s Day songs, ever, even if it was written for Australia’s version of today.

God bless our vets, all of them.

When I heard that Shobha Industries, the country’s top woodworking tools maker, had come out with a new catalogue, I was intrigued. Did it mean new tools? A new approach perhaps? So, I asked Rajiv Chuttani, the company’s managing director, what prompted the new catalogue? He said it was primarily to provide customers with more information that would help them select the right tools. They have also upgraded their website (www.shobha-india.com/) to make it more informative and easier to navigate.

The catalogue was pretty good but there were no new tools, except for the router planes which have been missing from the Indian market. When I needed one some years ago, I had no choice but to get one from Veritas which proved pretty expensive. Now I see that Shobha has two router planes in their catalogue one of which looks pretty similar to the Veritas model. Then there are a lot of shoilder planes and vices I had not seen them stock earlier. I would have been happier though if their catalogue and website had some pricing information which is totally absent.



Clearly the company believes that India is a growing market and they are paying more attention to it. Though Shobha has grown almost entirely on account of successful exports to western markets, Chuttani says “India has a huge potential and we are now equally keen to serve India as a priority.”

The company continues to focus on the export market. For, as Chuttani says, the company “has received an excellent response from our distributors around the world. We have been exporting tools since a long time now and establishing the line of woodworking tools parallel to the product range we were already selling has been easier as we had built up trust in our customers in terms of quality and deliveries.”

“We always ask our customers for feedback on the products we supply to them and have open house days at our distributors where actual users are invited to give us feedback on our products. Small suggestions from a user can result in great improvements and technical upgradation of the product. Also, we have developed software in-house which helps us constantly improve our production processes,” says Chuttani, adding that today he feels their tools are at par with any leading American, Japanese or Chinese companies.



The company initially started by mainly exporting hand planes which remains their strength but innovated and branched into other hand tools manufacture. Hand planes, block planes, and spoke shaves remain their most popular products.

When I told him about some complaints Indian woodworkers had expressed about the quality of some of their products, Chuttani dismissed them, arguing: “Our products have great ratings abroad and it is not genuinely possible that the same product is not good here. We still look into the complaints in the Indian market but feel it is just competition trying to scare us in order to enter the Indian scene.”

He maintains that his company’s strength is their in-house expertise and insistence on quality control. “We as a company are quality driven and customer satisfaction is our primary goal. We completely finish the products ourselves. The raw material is bought and the complete product is finished in-house. This is our strength which is backed by a strong skilled work force of which we are justifiably proud of.”

Rajiv Chuttani, who travels the world promoting his tools and gathering feedback from re-sellers, is upbeat about the Indian market, a reason for the new catalogue. “Our people always looking for a great quality tools at reasonable prices”, he says. “And as a next step, we are working on new tools development for wood working and metal working as well as establishing our brand in India.”

Indranil Banerjie
November 2024

Got a late start in the shop this AM. I watched a couple of You Tube vids before heading for the shop. The first one was over an hour and a half - the latest from Matt at Diesel Creek. Nice to see someone else on this planet besides me who likes old construction equipment. The timeline I had running through the brain bucket yesterday went awry. (Translation for awry - it went south on the express)

different pic from yesterday

There is a coffee cup in this pic that was missing yesterday. Took the clamps off with no issues.

flushing the back

This was a bit awkward to do. I started with the 5 1/2 and I was tipping the cupboard up when I got close to the other end. The grain was squirrely which didn't help. I finished it with the blockplane. I'm leaving the back of the drawers  open too like I did with the prototype cabinet.

stiles and rails

I stickered these overnight and no surprises a day later.

sigh

The front end of the drawer guide dado is wider than it is at the back. When I fitted this vertical divider I did it at the back. 

snug fit

I couldn't find the rough sawn cherry I had yesterday to get the new vertical divider from. This was hanging out on the tablesaw's horizontal storage space.

another big sigh

The test piece I used to set the groove was not the same thickness as the rail and stile stock. I have a 16th gap between the panel and the groove. I set this aside and I dealt with it later.

bridle joints

I decided to do the slot mortise first. I studied the pieces before I marked them for sawing. I ran the procedure through the brain bucket a few times before I was satisfied I was doing it right. And that I foresaw any potential me-steaks.

sawing the cheeks

I think I had done it right this time. I didn't feel odd or that I was going off into La La Land. I had some clean up to do with both the saw and chisel - I was short on the height of the slot mortises. Better to be short than to be over.

nailed it

The top to bottom is less than a 16th and the R/L is about a 16th over. Nice feeling that it didn't come up short. But if it had I would have put cock beading on all four sides.

dry fit

It looks good but it still needs a bit of shaving and trimming here and there.

making veneer

Ran this cherry board through the tablesaw making a four 16th thick strips of cherry.

fits

Two of them fit snug and two fit a wee bit more than snug. I could still fit the panel with hand pressure. Not sure yet as to how I'll deal with that. It would suck pond scum if the veneer swells between now and when I glue up the door.

second dry fit

I put two pieces of the veneer in the groove and clamped it again. This was mostly a check to the fit of the panel. The panel was solid in the rails/stiles with no rattling or movement.

too wide

The veneer needs to be a 1/4" wide and these are a 1/2" wide. I don't like sawing strips any thinner than this. It looks like crap having it extend past the rails/stiles and I had to cut it down to a 1/4".

one done

I marked a line a 1/4" in from each edge and superglued the veneer to the back of the panel.

first one I cut off

I superglued the veneer on at the pencil line, held it for a few, and then hit it with accelerator on both sides. The marking knife easily cut off the proud edge of the veneer.

better look

The veneer is a frog hair below the tops of the stiles and rails. I did not want to have to trim any of them if they were proud. This is the back of the door and probably won't be noticed at all.

self supporting

Besides gaps, having a loose, rattling, noise making panel will set me off in an eye blink.

now I have two

I found the MIA extension cord while looking for my stash of old chisels. 

too tall

This would be perfect spot for offset mortise lock chisels. Lie Nielsen used to sell them but no longer. I quick search on the internet and  nada. I'm not sure what the proper name for them are and that could be the problem. If anyone who reads this dribble knows of them drop me a comment on it please.

I think I might cut the handle of this chisel down. I can't think of a way to clear waste at the back of the vertical divider tail slot. 

accidental woodworker

Things are looking better now that the carcass is glued up. I can actually see this done by next weekend. Everything I learned with the prototype is paying off with the cherry one. There isn't that much left to do - a door, drawers, moldings, and then ooh and aahing repeatedly.

8 helping hands

Used the F clamps to get some squeeze out from each tail. Nothing moved, shifted, relaxed or said aah when I took them off.

diagonals didn't change

The front was still a 32nd off and the back was dead on.

surprised me

Based on how much it was proud at the top left corner I was expecting to see a healthy amount of twist. Instead I saw almost nothing - maybe a frog hair.

no twist

I flushed the four corners and checked for twist and saw none. Used the 3 foot straight edge to check that everything was flat in the same plane 360.

marking my gaps

Used blue tape to mark the tails/pins that had gaps (3) for me to fill.

stopped here

I was going to plane/sand the tails/pins flush but stopped myself. It didn't make any sense to do that first and then fill any gaps. Shimmed the gaps first and then plane/sand later.

chip missing

I only had this one chip to deal with.

sizing the fixed shelf

Got the left right dead on. Next up was the notch at the front of the shelf. Had a bit of tussle with the brain bucket trying to wrap my head around it. Took a bit of back and forth before I figured out the negative and positive parts.

oops

This has been falling out quite frequently lately. I have been putting it back together and carrying on. However, today it was not staying back together. I thought I didn't have any epoxy and I was going to stop at Wally World on my post lunch stroll to get some.

test drawer divider

Used the bandsaw to saw the two notches on the fixed shelf. This was the test set up block. I only used one but it was the 4th and final test cut that finally fit.

dry fit is good

I had to shave the ends twice before I finally got this to seat all the way. I'm flush at the front with some proud at the back. That I will plane flush after it has been glued and cooked.

acceptable

The clamps aren't excessively tight with the fit between the notch and the carcass side being minimal. The right side looks better than this side.

right side

I chiseled the dado a little at the back edge of the notch and it improved the fit here. I did the same on the left but it did diddly squat for it.

teeny rabbet

Used the LN 140 to plane a 1/4" wide, almost nothing deep, rabbet on both ends. The rabbet faces down into the drawer opening and won't be seen. There is barely a frog's hair between the rabbet shoulder and the side of the carcass.

I had some

I'm glad I checked this. I was looking for the epoxy kit that my wife had given me and found this. Didn't know I had any 5 minute. Mixed a batch and attached the errant knob to the handle. I let it set up while I filled the pie hole.

need horizontal and vertical dividers

I cut off a piece that I then hand planed to the thickness to fit the drawer divider dado.

reference face

After I got the reference done I ran it through the tablesaw to get close to the thickness. I planed the sawn face until it fit in the drawer guide dado.

 

good fit

Longer than I need it to be but it is a good, self supporting, snug fit.

vertical divider

I have two of them with sufficient stock to make new ones for any potential me-steaks.

hmm......

My eyeballs deceived me. I thought the dado wasn't running square to the front but it is. It widens a little at the back making it look like it isn't square. 99.9% of it is.

which face?

This is the adjustable shelf and I was trying to pick which face would be up. I really the black gum pockets in cherry and this was my first choice.

the winner

I'm going with this face because the grain of it and the fixed shelf are the same. 

I got the fixed shelf glued, clamped, and cooking. Got into a groove with it and didn't get any pics of it. The hide glue was a good choice as it 'oiled' the ends as I seated it in the dadoes.

slight defect

Another reason I picked the winning face. This defect would have been on the bottom of the fixed shelf. With it reversed it disappeared when I planed a chamfer on it.

planed a chamfer

I ran into a bit of awkward grain in a couple of spots. Not a terrible amount of tear out but I'll have to card scrape the chamfer to smooth it out.

vertical divider detail

This is something that I wanted to do on the prototype but didn't. I will do it for the cherry one. This is just one end of the vertical divider. The top will look exactly like this one. Both of these aren't going to be that easy to chop especially the back top on both sides. The drawer opening limits the chiseling I can do there.

reusable

I thought I was going to have to make a new drilling guide for the shelf pin cups but I don't have to. Regardless of soft or hard wood the shelf pin cups require a 7/32" hole. Without using the cups the drill size holes in soft and hard wood are different.

test run

I could flatten and sink the cups flush with the cherry. I didn't think I would have been able to do that but no problem. Instead I'm going with the raised lip on the cups. I'll use super glue to secure them.

stiles and rails

Haven't decided on the joinery for this yet. The choices are miters, mortise and tenon or bridal joints.

flushed and labeled

I flushed everything to match the thickness of the bottom stile because it is the widest of them.

lots to come on saturday

I'll probably get the door done first. It can get it glued and cooking while I work on drawers. I think I'll do the adjustable shelf cups after the finish has been applied. That way I don't have to be fussy with keeping finish out of the holes.

accidental woodworker

The conceptual core of this greenhouse design is an arched tunnel made from heavyweight metal grids, known as “cattle panels [fencing].”  In fact that is what the product is used for, to fence cows in or out, and it is robust enough to withstand the rubbing of cattle against it.  Even our little feed-and-seed hardware store in the middle of the least populous county east of the Mississippi has a stack of it out in the yard, and since the dimensions are 52″ x 16′ I was glad they could and did deliver it to the greenhouse site.

Unfortunately I failed to get a picture of my pile of eight panels, but here is one lying on the ground.  They are #6 gauge so plenty stout.

These panels are not heavy but they are unwieldy.  Think of trying to handle a full sheet of 1/4″ luan plywood in a windstorm.  Once I got the hang of handling these panels and setting them in place on top of the knee walls it went fairly quickly.  I first strung parallel lines on top of the wall sills, then drove in nails along those lines.  The nails were proud about an inch to “catch” the ends of the fence panels as I placed them where they belonged.  In an hour or so they were all in place.

I drove fence staples all along the bottom edges of the panels then joined the panel edges together with zip ties along the joints to yield a single 30-foot panel from the multiple individual four-foot panels.

This is going to be a marvelous addition to the homestead.

Most folks building this style of greenhouse simply drape it with plastic at this point, assuming (correctly) that the arched configuration could withstand all manner of problematic weather.  I know this to be true but it felt a little flimsy to me, so I decided to build structural ribs to enhance the robustness of the arch.

That’s what comes next.

When it comes to finishing wood, there’s a classic piece of wisdom that’s made its way around woodworking circles: “Once a day for a week, once a week for a month, once a month for a year.” This catchy rule is often used to guide the application of oil finishes, especially for items meant to be treasured and handled for years. But was this actually how woodworkers approached oiling centuries ago, or is it more modern wisdom disguised as tradition?

The phrase sounds like it’s straight from the past, and there’s something appealingly old-world about it. However, in truth, the saying is more a modern adaptation than a historic process, particularly when we look back several hundred years. If we’re talking about woodworking methods used in the 18th century, things were quite different.

In the 1700s, woodworkers didn’t have access to quick-drying oils that are common today, like boiled linseed oil or tung oil. What they used was often raw linseed oil, a naturally slow-drying finish that required days or even weeks to cure. This meant applying oil every day simply wasn’t practical. Craftsmen would typically apply a coat of raw oil, then wait—sometimes for weeks—for it to fully cure before adding another. They’d keep applying coats only until they achieved the desired protection and appearance, which was usually a soft sheen that highlighted the grain without leaving a heavy film.

It’s also worth noting that linseed oil wasn’t the only finish used. Woodworkers of that time often relied on wax, especially beeswax, and resins like copal or even shellac, which started gaining popularity in furniture finishing by the late 18th century. These materials were more effective for creating a hard, glossy surface, which was especially important for items like cabinetry and fine furniture. Shellac, in particular, became prized for its ability to create a high-gloss finish that was both durable and beautiful. However, each of these finishes required different care, and oil was used far less consistently than the “daily, weekly, monthly” rule might suggest.

So where did this adage come from? It likely originated in the early 20th century, a period when many furniture oils on the market were refined versions of linseed oil and other drying oils, enhanced with additives to help them cure faster. The rise of tung oil—a naturally drying oil originally from China—also made it easier for woodworkers to build up layers more quickly, as tung oil cures in a reasonable timeframe compared to raw linseed oil. Applying oil frequently became more feasible, and the idea of building up a finish through regular applications took hold. It’s easy to imagine that, at some point, a clever craftsman or finish manufacturer devised the phrase as an easy way to teach people how to care for their furniture.

Does this mean the “once a day for a week” rule has no value? Not at all. In fact, it’s excellent advice if you’re working with modern oil finishes and want a rich, long-lasting surface. Oils like boiled linseed oil, tung oil, and commercially prepared blends penetrate deeply, adding protection and enhancing the wood’s natural beauty. The regularity of applications helps build a resilient surface over time, which can be ideal for furniture and wooden objects that see regular use. In a way, this advice is more in the spirit of traditional woodworking than an exact replica of historical practices.

The daily, weekly, monthly method may not come from the 18th century, but it captures the patience and care that defines quality wood finishing. It’s a reminder that finishes are best built slowly, layer by layer, allowing each coat to cure fully before adding the next. So while woodworkers from centuries past might not have recognised this exact routine, they’d likely agree with the underlying principle: fine finishes take time, patience, and a craftsman’s eye.