Hand Tools

 Almost done with the prototype cupboard. I think I'm done applying shellac and I'm just waiting for the tile to come in. When I checked on them, both were still awaiting further processing before moving to the next facility. Your guess is as good as mine for when they come home to me. All of the hardware came in for the cherry cupboard with a final shipment coming tomorrow. No part hold ups with that one when I start making it.

more than a frog hair

This one slipped by sitting in the clamps.

flushed

This is the bottom of the new sliding lid box. I flushed the corners and ran the #4 a couple of times smoothing it.

no twist

This surprised me because of how much I had to plane to flush the four corners. 

hmmm.....

Flattened and removed the ridge. It is dead flush but I can see the glue line. This is the same board from the first pic. Used this to make some banding for the sliding lid box.

works

I have to admit this one is a wee bit more polished then the homemade one I had. Only needed 4 but I batched out 7. One was shy and didn't want to be in a group pic.

?????

The screw gets pulled up as I tighten the handle on the other side. That expands it and it grips on the outside walls of the miter gauge on the tablesaw. However, I really had to crank on the handle and get it to tight in the groove. Thinking out loud that I might not be able to crank it as necessary as I get older.

new idea

After sawing the banding on the tablesaw I ripped them to width on the bandsaw. The plan was to glue the banding to the outside edges of the plywood and glue that to the bottom of the box.

Previously I would glue the bottom on first and then plane a rabbit and then glue the banding on. This way eliminates the need to do the rabbit.

it worked

No frustration or horrors stories gluing this together. The banding is a wee bit proud and I'll plane/sand it flush after it has cooked. This just worked for me - I wasn't expecting to get the banding glued on in step one. The banding got some added strength by not only being glued to the plywood it is also glued to the box bottom of the box.

didn't work

The jig came with two washers and I added a 3rd one. I had to crank down as much as I had with only two washers to tighten it in the slot. As I typed this I thought that maybe removing a washer might help? Worth a try to satisfy my curiosity.

serious butt scratching

There is no scaring or other marks on the barrel or head of the screw. The screw doesn't fill the countersink neither. Maybe the screw for whatever reason isn't expanding the shiny metal - could be too stiff and the screw is too wimpy.

out of the cauls

The hide glue bled through the veneer and covered this face. I had to scrape it off with the razor blade. Decided to go with veneering one face. I had to scrape the opposite face too removing hide glue drips and drabs.

used hide glue

I had first clamped the box with the quick grips. I switched to band clamps because the middle of one corner was open slightly. The bar clamp slammed it shut.

2nd or 3rd coat?

I lost tract of how many coats I had applied. I like the look after this coat and one more will do it.

feels solid and heavy

These are flush mount hinges that came today. The top and bottom of both leaves are rounded so it wouldn't be easy to fit them as normal door hinges. These are for the cherry cupboard.

thick arse hinges

These are a frog hair thicker than 1/8". These are solid hinges that open/close smoothly and they look like they would easily handle a bazillion ton door. I bought two sets of these.

lid end grain

I basically polish the end grain of the sliding lid box. I start with 100 grit and stop at 220. This makes it looks nicer when the shellac goes on and when I rub it down with 4-0 steel wool between coats.

chamfer

The lid is a few frog hairs proud the box top. I sanded a small chamfer at the box so I won't see the proud so obviously.

wash, rinse, and repeat

Used the same sanding sticks to polish the front end grain.

done

Just needs one coat of shellac to get a check mark in the done column.

interior peek

Not thrilled with how the inside turned out. It works and the jig is protected but there is a lot of rattling around going on. I have more 3/8" and 1/2" stock to whack on version 2. Doing that will depend on how annoyed I get working with this one.

one more step

There is a slight gap on both half pins on the top. I filled them in with wood putty instead of gluing in shims.

only one coat

Got some visual interest in the top with these two. They don't appear to be knots but the shellac did make them pop. I am experimenting with this finish. One coat of shellac and one coat of Feed 'n Wax is all I'm doing. Trying that so I don't have to thin the rabbits on the sliding lid. I have a good fit between the rabbits and the grooves and 3-4 coats of shellac build will cause it to not fit. I will be able to apply multiple coats to the lid avoiding the beads and the rabbits.

these are history

These might be seen depending upon where on a wall this is hung. After I'm done applying shellac I'll swap them out.

gaps

Both the top and bottom moldings have gaps on the sides and the front. One screw isn't up to the task so I'll add two screws to the front and one more on the sides.

screw choices

My first choice was the brass screw but I changed my mind. I am going to use the black oxide screws because they match the other hardware on the cupboard. I will use black oxide oval head screws. I got both of the screws from Blacksmithbolt dot com. I have more than screws enough to do the top and bottom moldings.

accidental woodworker

Last Saturday was an exciting eventful day at the homestead as a long-delayed project got off the ground (well, in the ground).

A few weeks ago I was chatting with my friend KC about our way-behind-schedule plans for building a greenhouse on the terrace we had cut into the hillside two years ago.  From my perspective one of the big hurdles was building up the enthusiasm and energy to dig 14 three-foot-deep holes for the 6-inch fence posts I was planning on using for the foundation to the knee-walls.

“No problem,” sez KC, “I’ll just bring over my post driver and we will get it done in a snap.”  As a farmer/rancher with probably miles of fencing, KC owned a portable pile driver.  It probably should not have surprised me, but I actually did not know such a machine ever existed.

 

Last week I laid out the greenhouse footprint and cut points into one end of the posts.  This made it much easier to get them into the ground straight, provided we didn’t encounter a large subterranean rock during the driving.  Ironically the first post was the only one that drifted crooked during the whole process.

He showed up at 9AM as promised and left around 90 minutes later.  I suspect it would have taken me a month or two to accomplish the same work by hand.

We placed the posts where I had marked the ground, set up the machine to capture the top, used a level for both the X and X’ axes, he threw the switch, and the ground started shaking.  BAM, BAM, BAM with the speed of a jackhammer.

Like I said he was done and out the driveway about 90 minutes later.

The project will resume as soon as I can get a truckload of pressure treated SYP delivered to build the knee walls.

The only thing I did with the prototype cupboard today was to rub it down with 4-0 steel wool. Hopefully I'll remember to vac it off before I apply more shellac to it. That will happen tomorrow because after whining about yesterday I feel the opposite today. I had a productive day and accomplished something. I worked on a couple of boxes and and I'm this close to finishing both of them. Tomorrow should be as good feeling as today was and with no whining.

better

I played around with the hinge and I think I can position it so the left leaf won't overhang the edge. The barrel is centered on the gap but I think the best way to attach is to do the left leaf first. I'll sleep on it before I do it.
 

it worked

It took trying three pieces of scrap before it fit in the groove and I was able to widen it. I used 180 on the first two and I think when I do the other two I'll switch to 120.

good fit

Got the top and bottom panels fitted. The 45s closed up nicely with hand pressure. I got the panels fitted so I could glue the veneer to the top one. I need that done so I can use it to check the fit in the grooves as I sand to widen them.

top and bottom?

I got a good, snug fit on the two grooves I sanded with only one veneer. Two veneers don't fit. I'll have to decide whether to chance sanding the grooves to fit two veneered faces. I don't want to risk rounding the groove walls or sanding it off square from end to end.

self supporting

Happy with the fit and that I didn't make the groove wonky. I would like the look of having the top veneered on both faces - I want the box to be a wee bit fancy looking. 

glued on one face veneer

Glued the veneer with hide glue and sandwiched it between two pine cauls. This will cook until tomorrow and I'll decide then whether or not to glue veneer on the other face.

new toy

I had one of these before but it was a homemade version. Don't know what happened to it but I saw this on sale and bought one. Now I have to make a box for it because I really dislike cardboard ones.

blood offering

Nicked myself with a chisel while chopping the tails. Been a while since I have made an offering to the woodworking gods and I hope that aren't pissed off with me.

hmm.....

I have a wee bit too much wiggle room on the long dimension. I didn't account for the sides being 3/8" thick - the ends are 1/2" thick. 

perfect fit

I wasn't expecting this and no I won't be keeping the cardboard box. Let me rephrase that - I might keep it as I have a few cardboard boxes from some of the tools I've bought. Trouble is I don't know where I hid them.

not working

Alcohol did nada to the blood stains. I thought it was going to remove them but it didn't. I tried bleach too and got the same negative results.

card scraper

Sandpaper did diddly squat and it took a card scraper to remove the stains. I did the interior faces only. I'll do the exterior stains after the box has cooked and set up.

split

These two were going to be the sliding lid for the bloodied box. Both of them have a split that goes from end to end. It doesn't go all the way through and make two pieces of scrap. Three was the charm as the 3rd one was intact with no splits.

fitting the lid

Needed some clamp help to keep the tails tight and seated. It didn't hinder me from fitting the lid.

99% done

I just have to glue on the bottom and this will be done. I do plan on applying a couple of coats of shellac too. This box took me about 3 hours to get to this stage. I have made about 200 of them and muscle memory kicked it and it was like riding a bike after years of not doing that. I left the lid in place to help it from shifting and throwing the box out of square.

I still remember the first couple of sliding lid boxes I made. Those first ones took me 2 days to finish the woodworking on. Today it was a no brainer almost. It felt seamless and effortless to knock it out. Everything just flowed so nicely from step to step without any brain farts.

first lid cooking

I wanted to use my LAP piggly glue but it took too long to heat up. 30 minutes after letting it warm up it still was in a semi gel state. I switched to hide glue for the box and for these lids. I like the piggly glue because its glue line is clear and almost invisible.

being a PITA

As I tightened this lid it slipped by each other a frog hair. Clamping the ends took some of it out but not all of it. This split was about a 45 so that explains why it wanted to slip by. The first one was a lot closer to 90 and didn't slip by.

came early

 This thumb drive has the latest version of Linux Mint on it. It was supposed to come on the 25th but I'll take early. I have been playing around with my shop computer trying to restore it which went belly up in Feb. I've been trying off and on since then to fix it and I have zero to show for my efforts. 99% of the 'fixes' I found on the internet didn't work for me. Those fixes through terminal didn't match the version of terminal that I have. So after buying 4 books on Linux Mint I'm done.

Bought the thumb drive so I can blow out the old version and breathe the new one in. Besides I don't remember my admin password anymore. I plan on reformatting the hard drive and going with a fresh clean new Linux Mint OS. The instructions are fairly simple and they are almost a clone of what I would have done for a Windows OS install. Although having done a Linux OS install a couple of times I think it is easier doing a Linux one.

accidental woodworker

Machine cuts can distract us and for some it becomes lifelong to use machines only. Those advocating them as the better path influence others on a major scale and so then the path in life we’ve chosen for ourselves gets distorted. Even now, after over a half century of daily furniture making, someone out there, someone who just doesn’t get it, who cannot get it and may never get it, tries to persuade me that machines are the better choice. 

Paul Sellers, woodworker

When I was a real little kid, like four years old, my dad built a small shed in the backyard of the house, and my parents were a little slow in putting shingles on the roof. One day I decided that I would finish the work myself, because I had watched mom and dad nail the shingles onto the skip sheathing, and in my mind that meant I know what to do. With hammer in hand and my own nail bag full of nails I crawled up on the roof and started swatting nails into those lovely thin pieces of sugar pine. This banging brought my parents out of the house, and when they saw what I was doing, I was ordered to climb down and surrender hammer and nails. I was then scolded about being on the roof by myself, and that I was putting on the shingles all wrong!  One doesn’t shingle a roof by starting at the ridge beam! I presented a strong argument as to why that method would work, but my speech was cut short and I was ordered to my room. This was the beginning of my love affair with hand tools.

I did become a professional carpenter when I was thirty five years old, I was out of work and had just moved in with my girlfriend (we celebrated our twenty sixth wedding anniversary this year!) and the only decent work available at the time was construction. It was hard work that I took pride in and I eventually bought over five thousand dollars worth of power tools that I used as a framing and finish carpenter, some of those power tools are in the workshop. I bought these tools at the time I was getting serious about becoming a full time guitar maker and I made it a habit NOT to use those tools to build guitars. Speed, power and noise don’t always equal efficiency, and I didn’t have the workshop space to have a bunch of stationary power tools.

The studio workshop I occupy is just under 130 square feet in size. Hand tools are the practical solution, though I do own several routers that I use for routing binding channels and creating pockets on guitar tops for honeycomb NOMEX.

Today, I started making guitar neck. I laid out where to cut the headstock on the blank which was sized by hand with a Lie-Nielsen No.62 hand plane. The blank I clamped to the workbench with two holdfasts and then I went at the stuff with a vintage Henry Disston and Sons miter saw that has a four inch deep web.

This saw is longer than a guitar neck!

I cleaned up the cut with a plane, then I finessed the two glue surfaces on sandpaper glued to a chunk of plate glass.

It’s been a week since I’ve returned from teaching an October class at Peter Galbert Workshops. I carved this walnut bowl in July and took it along as an example for the students. I’ve decided to offer it for sale … Continue reading →

Looking back over this past week and even the one before, I haven't exactly set the world on fire. My output has been a fraction of what I was doing. Not a game changer and my wife did say that it was what a normal person does. I feel like I'm stuck in a rut. I'm in the finishing stage but it is all hurry up and wait for something to dry. Maybe I should empty out the boneyard and make that a finishing room?

close

The groove is a 1/8" wide made by my tablesaw blade. The 1/8" plywood is a loose fit in it (too loose for just gluing it in place). I was hoping that adding the veneer would make it a snug fit. Turned out to be a wee bit too snug. This is the thinnest veneer I had that I wanted to use so I'll have to find a way to widen it a smidgen.

This 1/8" plywood is a chinese import. I have baltic birch 1/8" plywood that is a slip fit in these grooves. I plan on using the baltic birch plywood for the bottom so I don't need to widen or play with those grooves.

nope and nope again

I tried putting the sandwich into the grooves on every single side. I could get it in some of them but I couldn't get it in any groove from end to end. So far I haven't thought of a way to widen it - it wouldn't have to be much neither.

wenge

This is left overs from the dresser I made for Leo. (That should be going to NC later this month.) I will use it to cover the end grain plies on the plywood. I have more than enough to do both boxes.

hinges or lift off

I'm on the fence about the lid for both boxes. The easiest route is to use these flush mounted hinges. These are also 90° stop hinges. The other choice is to do a lift off lid which I like. If I go down that road I'll have to make a groove on the inside faces of the 4 sides. 

second coat

2nd one on the carcass and the first on the other 3.

the shelf fix

The filler is almost flush with the rest of the shelf. There is a 2 inch run on the left where it is a 1/2 of a frog hair high. I left it as is because it is at the back. I didn't want to disturb the shelf by planing/sanding it dead flush.

hmm.....

I like this bark inclusion and the surrounding grain. I am going to saw this off and keep it for a lid. I will fill in the bark area with epoxy to stabilize it. 

I didn't clean up the two cherry carcass boards. The workbench was being hogged by the prototype drying. Too much of a PITA to move it elsewhere to free up the bench. Used that as an excuse to get it a few more episodes of Elementary. I'm a 3rd of the way through season 4 - 3 more to go.

I've been struggling over the past two months with my diet and weight. In the past 5 weeks I have lost 19 lbs and I have put 16 of them back on. I do good for two weeks losing and on the 3rd week nada. That has been very discouraging to me. I weighed 228.8 at this sunday's weigh in. That is almost 50 lbs more than the lowest weight I got down to. 

I would like to get back to that weight of 182 or closer to it than the current weight. Time to take my head out of my arse and get back on track. I know that as I get older losing weight is not easier. But it sucks pond scum to be taking in less than 900 calories a day and not losing any tonnage. Big sigh.

accidental woodworker

 Here’s the last episode! Both mandolins are now living happily with their new owners!

Things are inching towards the tape covering the finish line. I did have one gaffe this AM first thing but I survived it. The hinges came in and I had a minor brain fart installing them. The snap catches hit a snag and for the second time and the delivery is delayed. I bought two of them and they are supposed to come in now on the 24th. I won't be holding my breath waiting for them. 

sigh

I thought I had only purposely made a gap a the back of the shelf about a 16th. Instead I have almost a 1/2" gap between the back of the shelf and the plywood back. I think the easiest and quickest fix is glue a filler on the back of the shelf.

doesn't match

I cut the filler off of the same board as the shelf but the grain and color doesn't match. And it is about a 32nd thinner than the shelf. These are minor glitches that don't matter here. This is a shelf and it is at the back and won't be visible. All I had to do was to make the top of the filler was flush with the top of the shelf.

just as I have done before

I wasn't expecting any problems with this install. I have used this exact same hinge before. I have two cabinets in my house with these hinges. The plan was to install the hinges on the door with one screw and then attach the door to the cabinet. Get the fit adjusted if necessary then remove them and apply the finish to the door. All didn't go as my well laid out plan.

screw holes

I guess this gaffe was a bit lucky because after filling in the screw holes the new position of the hinge covers the screw gaffe.

thought it was good

I try to center the hinge barrel on the gap between the door and the carcass. It didn't work for this and I had to move the hinge about an 1/8" to right - closer to the right edge of the stile.

The gaffe was the smaller leaf of the hinge was overhanging on the left edge of the carcass. Moving it to the left improves it but a wee bit of the left leaf will still overhang the edge. I already notched the banding for the hinges so I am committed to using these. It won't be a problem with the cherry cupboard edges because they will/should be 7/8" thick. So a gaffe that really wasn't one. It didn't occur to me to check the fit of the left leaf on the edge before hand.

it is dry

Got some big arse drips on the underside of the stone holder. I chiseled off the ones on the feet and I left the ones (by the finger) on. No need to remove them. 

fits

The holder doesn't rock and it feels secure. No sagging or bouncing when I applied pressure to it along the the length of it. It will also be beneath the glass cover too. Glad that worked out and I'll be able to stow the holder in the tub.

secure

The wedge action worked well. I didn't have to go nutso with a hammer to set it. I used hand pressure and that was sufficient. Not sure at this time if I need to apply a second coat of the epoxy. I have to touch up the iron in the LN 51 and I'll evaluate it after that is done.

flattening cherry

This cherry is almost as easy to work as pine. I didn't go nutso with this flattening, I just wanted to remove the rough sawn marks and eyeball the stock. I cleaned up both faces first with the #6 and followed that with the 5 1/2".

beautiful cherry

This is my favorite wood and I wish I could afford to make everything I do out of it. The grain and color is what I like the most about it. I also like the sapwood and I will use it and leave it.

the door stock

I want to use straight grain for the stiles and rails. I think I have enough here to do that. There are some cathedrals but the outside edges are fairly straight. If I can't get all of what I need from this I'll use another board.

semi done

I was going to flatten and thickness the stock for this cupboard by hand but I changed my mind. I planed less than an 1/8" off any of these and I have to plane at least a 1/4" off all of this. I still have to fully clean up one face - flat, straight, and twist free. I think I'll do that and then run it all through the lunch box planer.

for tomorrow

The other boards are semi planed on both faces and these two are the carcass stock. I'll semi plane them tomorrow. I want to then let them do any stupid wood tricks before I go full nutso on them. I'll pick a reference face on them all tomorrow too.

oiled

Got ahead myself and oiled the entire panel (the front) on the door. I should have left a blank spot for the construction adhesive used for the tile. I'll have to test a scrap and see if the adhesive will stick to it.

one coat of shellac

I am still not impressed with the first oil coat. It did pop the pine a wee bit and after the first coat of shellac it looks to me like I already have 3-4 coats of shellac. 3 or more coats of shellac to go.

two boxes

I found these off cuts of plywood in the kitty litter pail of scraps. Decided to make a couple of storage boxes to send out to my sister in Indiana. Thinking of doing some veneer and edge bandings on them. 

accidental woodworker

Well, at least for one small slice of my life.

Given my forays into the woods for cutting firewood I must necessarily haul all the tool requisite for the task.  For a full day or two or three of cutting this includes stuff like cant hooks (the tools for rolling over logs), ropes and blocks for yanking on large logs, lotsa fuel and bar oil, and sometimes sledge and wedge and occasionally even a digging bar to get a big rock out of the way.   And there are lots of rocks as they are this region’s dominant agricultural product (just kidding, it’s cattle).

But there are other times when all I’m doing is a couple hours of clearing the understory or clearing a path to a larger trove.  This is especially the purpose of my new box.

A fitted plastic case for my chainsaw is useless for anything other than protecting the chainsaw.  I wanted to chainsaw container to do a lot more.  At the same time the molded plastic case has the advantage of being lightweight and I like that feature a lot.  To accomplish this I made the box out of 3/8″ plywood, not as light as the molded plastic but light enough.  Combined with glue, glueblocks, and lots of triangulation it is a tough, stiff, “lightweight” carrying container for everything I need for a brief chainsaw session.

The box holds my chainsaw with a quarter inch to spare in length, four replacement chains, two quarts of lubricant oil, two quarts of fuel, my gloves, some sharpening tools, a roofing hatchet, ear muffs, Kevlar chaps, and probably a couple more things that do not come to mind right now.

BTW, the box is painted orange not out of Stihl brand loyalty, but rather I paint everything that goes into the woods with orange paint so I can find it quickly when I mislay it.  Which happens a lot.

 I'm getting close to getting a check mark in the done column. I'm putting the finish on it and it is drying as I type this post. I only need the tile for the door to come in. It has shipped but it is sitting in a sorting facility with no clue as to when it will move on to the next stop in its journey to me. I need the tile before I can do the frame for it on the door. The final part of getting the check mark is the hinges and the snap catch. Clueless as to when they will be on my door step. I'm at the mercy and pace of the USPS.

came last night

Got it this AM and put it on a radiator to warm up. (It spent the night on the front stoop.)

easy peasy

This is not rocket science. The label spells out how easy it is to use this stuff.

feeling better about this

Getting ready to put on the first coat of shellac. I rubbed down the shelf and the drawers with 4-0 steel wool. I could see this AM that there was a finish on these. The shellac enhanced that first coat of oil. No problems with the shellac sticking and the first coat looked pretty good.

one coat?

The finish is already hardening inn the container but the stone holder is still sticky. According to the instructions this sets up all the way down to 40F (4.4C) and you can apply another coat of it even if it is still tacky. I think I didn't mix my batch long enough but I'll wait until tomorrow to check it.

carcass done

I was a little timid with how much oil I applied to the shelf and the drawers. On the carcass I kinda went nutso and I flooded it. The instructions say to apply the oil until it no longer soaks in. That is what I did and I could see a big difference. This looks like it has a finish applied to it even from 8-10 feet away. Tomorrow I can start with shellac. I'll oil the plywood back and the door tomorrow also.

stock break down

This is 5/4 cherry which I wasn't aware of. I thought I had bought 4/4 rough but this measures 1 1/8" thick. I'm pretty sure that I can get it down to 7/8". It hasn't curled, bowed, or cupped in the couple of weeks it has been hanging out in the shop.

sides, top, bottom, and .....

The two short boards will give up the drawer fronts and dividers. The thinner width cherry boards I have will give up the door stiles/rails. I will pick the one with the straightest grain for that.

3 coats on

It is looking good with 3 coats. Although I can see a difference with the first oil coat under the shellac it isn't enough for me to write home about it. These will get another coat at a minimum and maybe two. 

I'm using up the last of my blonde shellac but I mixed up another batch. As of 1430 it appears to be dissolved and ready to go. I brought it up stairs and I'll continue to shake it until I hit the rack. 

Still haven't found a large metal container to mix up a quart of shellac. I tried looking for liter cans but no luck. Imperial goes from one quart to a gallon. Still haven't found that elusive 2 quart can.

accidental woodworker

A friend wrote to me the other day about two of Drew Langsner’s chairs for sale on Facebook Marketplace – https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1010251304118586?ref=search&referral_code=null&referral_story_type=post&tracking=browse_serp%3A872fe9f5-62cf-45ec-ac55-358d0f852342

First off – I know nothing about Facebook marketplace, nor do I know the seller. But I do know the chairmaker. I wrote to Drew about these and he couldn’t quite remember who he made them for. From the pictures, the date under the seat looks like 2002. So some time ago…

Looks like a good chance for someone willing to drive to New Jersey to get 2 of Drew’s chairs at a pretty easy price. It would be nice if someone who can appreciate them ended up with them. I’d hate to see them eventually put out on the curb. I was reading Chris Schwarz’s new edition of his “Stick Chair Journal” (no. 2) and in it is a discussion about John Brown’s first chairmaking class at Drew’s place in 1995. A reminder that Drew was making these chairs long before many of us knew what they were/are…

Here at my end of things, it’s more of the usual stuff. I just finished up a box a week or so ago – but it sold before making it to the blog

I have another underway – I’ve been making them with carved lids for a few years now. Paul Fitzsimmons of Marhamchurch Antiques showed me a photo of a period box done that way. I have a 2nd box in the work. The box is done, now I’m onto the lid.

The lid is 2 oak boards glued up to get to 15″ wide. And I’ve been carving that in a couple of sessions thus far –

That carved lid takes me a long time to carve. It’s going to be about 12″ x 22″ (plus margins) and a pattern like this tolerates no mistakes -everything has to be right. I’m not done yet and I easily have a full day’s work in it so far.

At the same time, I’m working to finish up a similar, but different, panel that I started before the box I think. This one’s not part of anything – just a leftover wide panel I had around, so decided to carve it.

Then just to keep me going in five directions at once, I started some birch canisters (I bought the bark, didn’t harvest it myself) – and even though I probably have 50 or 60 carving gouges, found I needed a new one to make the joints for these – for carving I hate these deeply curved gouges. But decided I “needed” one for these things.

There’s some chairs too – but that’s enough for now. I’ve not kept this blog going much lately, but I have been writing a lot still, just over on the substack blog. I know many of you have seen my posts there. But if you’re new to this or that blog – there are thus far 8 posts this month over there. And sure to be more. At least two of them are free to all subscribers. The other posts have a free “preview” – where you get to read the beginning of the post, then the rest is for paid subscribers – i.e. behind a paywall. I structure them that way because of the people who have been supportive by purchasing a subscription – and I want to make sure it’s worth it to them.

https://peterfollansbeejoinerswork.substack.com/

End of the season

We’ve got two courses left this season; it draws to a close at the end of October. After that it gets a bit chilly in the workshop!

We’ve had a fantastic year so far: our first in our new workshops. Thank you so much to everyone who has attended. We’ve enjoyed every minute of it (except for that bit where StJohn cracked a tenon in a student’s stool! Don’t worry… all fixed.)

Course Dates: 2025

Loads more courses and more spaces on each course. Our course schedule for 2025 is now on our website. There might be a couple of tiny changes but if you book a course we won’t change that date.

Last year our March and April courses booked up over Christmas but we had spaces later in the summer.

Shows next year

We’ve got one show left this year: the London International Woodworking Fair on the 1st and 2nd November. It’s going to be a good one; we hope to see you there.

We exhibit at craft and country shows about once a month during the Spring and Summer. It’s a lovely way of meeting potential new chairmakers! If you’d like to have a chat about our courses and see some of the chairs, stools and benches you can make come along to a show next year and we can meet.

We don’t have exact dates for next year’s shows yet but this is our rough plan:

We look forward to seeing you there!

• March Eadenstone Craft Fair, Cambridge
• June Cambridge Town and Country Fair
• 12/13th July Strumpshaw Tree Fair, Norwich
• August Cambridge Country Show, Stow Cum Quy
• September The Wonder of Wood Fair, Burwash Manor, Cambridge
• November London International Woodworking Festival, LDE UTC, Royal Docks, London

If you think there’s a craft show within an hour’s drive of Cambridge that we should attend please drop us a line. We’re always grateful for new opportunities.

Tools

We’ve finally managed to put up a tool list on the website!

It’s a work in progress but it’s most of the way there. If you’ve been on a course with us and spot something that’s missing please let us know.

On which note…

Christmas List

It’s almost acceptable to talk about Christmas in October so we’re taking the opportunity to publish The Quiet Workshop Christmas List 2024. This might become an annual event! Five gifts for the chair maker in your life at a range of prices:

Under £10

Olfa Slimline knife. Our favourite marking knife for when a pencil isn’t precise enough. Also good for any number of other workshop tasks and as the blades are snap-off it doesn’t need sharpening.

£10 to £20

Folding rule with depth gauge. StJohn has been carrying one of these for years. It has survived the washing machine but we don’t recommend a fast spin cycle. Over the winter we’re replacing all of the tape measures in the workshop with these because they’re more accurate and easier to use.

£20 to £50

Ray Iles Rounding Plane. Ridiculously satisfying.

£50 to £100

Diamond sharpening stone. We sharpen with oil stones in the workshop but if we were starting from scratch we’d buy a double sided diamond stone and never have to flatten it.

Over £100

The Quiet Workshop Bench screw and nut: £150. We make these and you can order them directly from us. Everyone who takes a class at our workshop knows how quick these are to use and how tightly they hold. We have about ten left in stock but won’t be making any more until after Christmas. If you’re planning a workbench build this is a great place to start.

What’s for lunch?

Since this was so popular last time here are some pictures of Bryony’s gorgeous food!

As always, if you’re interested in coming on a course please give us a ring (07778 397328) or drop us an email. You can book all of our courses through craftcourses.com

Enjoy your time in the workshop.

StJohn & Bryony

James Wright has a nice summary of the demo I did at my talk at Woodworking in America. It was great talking to him there, too.

 Took the day off in the shop. It wasn't planned but it turned out that way. I put the finish on the some parts of the cupboard and that precluded me from working in the shop today. I spent most of it helping my wife out at her storage unit. I thought I might have thought of a interim project but nothing came to mind. I might as well start the cherry cupboard. The wood has been acclimating for a couple weeks so it should be ready to go.

hmmm.....

Not much of a margins on the stiles where as the rails have 3 times it. The rails are 5/8" thick and the stiles are 3/4". I'll have to pay attention when I half lap these. The stiles will overlap the rails. 

now I wait

Applied the finish as per the instructions on the shelf and the two drawers. After applying it I had to wait ten minutes before wiping it down with a clean, lint free rag. I didn't see any eye popping oiled finish look here.

15 minutes later

All wiped down and I still wasn't amazed with the finish. I could tell that it wasn't raw wood and I was expecting more than this. I picked the drawers to do first because they have pitch streaks running along the top edges on both. The finish didn't show any signs of not liking it and the coverage there looked the same as every where else on the drawers. 

The finish didn't soak into the shelf where I had applied super glue. Ten minutes after applying it I couldn't see the spots where the super glue had soaked into the wood. It won't be seen once the shelf is sitting on the pins. It will also further be covered with super blonde shellac - 4-6 coats. I already know that shellac covers and hides super glue.

prepped a piece of scrap

I had to do something with woodworking. I cleaned up the 6 surfaces of this sugar pine board. This sugar pine planes so sweetly. Even going against the grain isn't that bad. Made a small pile of shavings and that gave me my shop fix for the day.

six hours later

The drawers and the cupboard came from the same stock. I can see a difference between the drawer (with finish) and the bare (sanded to 220) cupboard. There is a bit of a sheen to the drawer but it could easily be overlooked and missed for having a finish on it. The instructions say one coat is all that is needed. After 8 hours sand with a high grit sandpaper or 4-0 steel wool before applying shellac or other finish of your choice.

change one

The cherry cupboard will be 24" high excluding the flat moldings top and bottom. The dimensions overall are only changing a few inches in all directions.

subject to further change

The width at a minimum is expanding to 16" and it may go out to 18". These measuremnts are the outside dimensions.

losing some height

The drawer opening width will expand and the height will drop to 4". I don't like the height of these drawers. They look odd to my eye although my wife said they looked fine to her. These openings are 6" R/L and the cherry one will be a couple of inches wider. I think that will help with the look of them.

the last change

The widest cherry boards I have are 9 3/4" wide and I think I can get a finished dimension of 9 1/2". That is what I'm shooting for on the front to back for the cherry cupboard. That will increase both the cupboard space and the interior real estate in the drawers.

None of this is carved in stone but this is what I will start with. I will dovetail the carcass and do the shelf and drawer guides the same. About the only thing to change on the cherry construction is the size. I can't think of anything to improve the construction methods I employed on the prototype.

finally got one

I've been waiting patiently for this book to show up on searches for it. If you want to geek out on anything wood and impress your fellow wine tasters at the next meeting this is the book to get. Bruce goes into incredible minutiae on everything about wood. It is far beyond anything I really have to know or need but I like geeking out on stuff like this.

accidental woodworker

About once a month I walk up in the woods, almost always incorporating a survey of the microhydroelectric waterline.  About three weeks ago we had a frog-choker of a rainstorm, probably the residue of one of the tropical storms.  Since it had been very, very dry this summer I was looking forward to by hydro turbine picking up the pace, but instead it stopped altogether.  I knew what that meant and so last week I trudged the quarter mile to the top of the systems to find the problem.  Every time I service or repair the system it requires about four trips up and down a quarter mile of uneven terrain with a 10% incline.  Quite a workout.

I’d hoped it was just leaf cloggage, but there was nothing wrong at that end.

So down into the ravine I went to gingerly navigate my way to the bottom and find the problem.

Here it is.  During the rainstorm a tree came down and cracked the PVC penstock.  PVC is comparatively cheap and easy to work with compared to polypropylene, but it is also comparatively brittle and I encounter some sort of break a couple times a year.

So I grabbed my penstock repair bag and returned to the scene of the crime, after first walking to the top again to turn the entire system off.  I cut out the damaged area and grafted in new pipe with couplings and PVC cement, and in a jiffy it was as good as gold.

You might ask why I have my pipeline sitting above ground rather than buried.  Well, given the nature of the terrain I can give twenty five thousand reasons, all of them named “Dollar.”

This year I am thinking about a deep dive into configuring the water line system to enable it to work all winter long.  Gotta get the incline perfect, though.

Stay tuned.

 

The heat is on. My wife played around with the thermostat and got the furnace to come on. It was welcomed because the outside temp was 42F (6C) and the inside temp was 64F (18C). As I am aging I'm noticing that I feel cold more than I have in the past. 20 years ago I would have been in a T shirt and shorts laughing at the temp. But not today as I have a long sleeve flannel shirt on with pants and I still feel cold. This is also the earliest I can recall turning the heat on. In the past thanksgiving was the goal day for turning the heat on. 

big oops

I was going to make the half lapped frame for this tile. I thought it was 6" square. It ain't so boys and girls, it is 8" square. This will work for the cherry cupboard but not for this one. I spent an hour on ETSY trying to find this tile but I couldn't. I went through all 20 pages of tiles 3 times. I bought two different 6x6 tiles and I will decide which one to use when they come in.

I found a set of 3 tiles (all the same theme but different) that I really liked and wanted but nixed it. The three tiles were $21. What killed it was the shipping - $41. I absolutely refuse to pay double for the S/H. Although if I bought two sets the S/H only went up $2 more. 

maintenance pit stop

I wanted to make the half lapped frame for the cupboard door but without the tile it wasn't happening. Instead I sharpened the iron on the shooting board #6. I ended up stopping that to do a subset maintenance pit stop. The sandpaper on the runway was dull and wasn't cutting the iron. I replaced the sandpaper on both of the runways.

the messy part

I use a heat gun to remove the sandpaper but a majority of the adhesive stays behind. So far all that I have found that works on removing it is alcohol. Cover the runway and let is sit for a while then scrape it off with a razor blade. And you have to keep it wet or it gums up into a sticky blob.

an hour later

It took a lot of calories to remove the adhesive residue. One of the runways has sandpaper on both faces - 80 on one and 120 on the other. Got the #6 to spit on RML shavings. 

better

Dug a scrap of pine from the shitcanned and shot 45s on both ends. This grabbie thing is worth its weight in gold IMO. Yes the plane will still stall when pushing it through the stock but it is so much easier to keep it on track and resume pushing it all the way through. Both 45s shot dead nuts according to Mr Starrett.

new home

I had this hot dog grabbie thing about where the handle is. Moved it here because that is about the same spot as the grabbie thing is on the #6. This felt better in this position than its previous home. I will have to play with it and tweak it just a wee bit more to get it a 100%.

might as well

I hadn't planned on sharpening this iron but there wasn't anything pressing on the horizon. This is an A2 iron and it sharpens much better on waterstones than it does on diamond ones. I started out doing it in a honing guide and swapped that out and did it by hand.

the before

This is what the plane was producing before I sharpened it. 

sharp and shiny

Got the RML shavings and it was on to shooting the end again. 

nice

The end grain came out ok. It was not as smooth as I thought it would be but it will work as is. This is soft sugar pine and pine doesn't plane smooth and flat well on the end grain. The position of the hot dog would be perfect if the black knob was on the opposite end. I will have to back this up a bit and retry it.

ain't working

This is my Lee Valley water stone tub. I bought this over 20 years ago when I floundering around trying to sharpen my tools. This was pre-internet for me and there just weren't any resources available on sharpening. It was a trail and error with mostly error on my part for years. This tub was just one sharpening set up that I tried and failed miserably at. Just my most humble opinion but before anyone touches wood in any way they should know how and be able to sharpen their tools.

These are water stone holders and they don't grip at all anymore. Time to make a new holder for the tub. The tub itself is adequate and I used it today without any headaches other than holders loosening. Making a new holder out of scraps should not take too long.

an hour later

I have 4 water stones and all are 8" long and 3" wide. There is a shelf in the tub that this holder will rest on and be above the water level in the tub. I ordered a pint of penetrating epoxy finish from Total Boat that I might get this week - Total Boat is a local RI company. I will use this to waterproof the holder. Otherwise the holder wouldn't last that long. 

This was the second one. The first one was only partially done out of 3/8" CDX plywood but it felt flimsy so I ditched it and made it with 1/2" thick plywood. Glued and nailed it together. The epoxy finish will work because I used the same stuff to seal my diamond stone holder and it is holding up just fine a couple years after the fact.

accidental woodworker

Felicity is walking and climbing now and soon she'll need to get up to a sink or countertop.  So I was asked to make a small stool.  I've made a lot of stools and just love these small projects.  I didn't take many photos this time, so here's a quick post.

Here's one that my wife painted for her daughter many years ago. I'm copying the main dimensions of this one.

Here are the sticks for the undercarriage: 4 legs, 2 rails, 1 stretcher

I'm not doing fancy leg turnings like in the first photo.  But I did make them tapered octagonal (with bulge in center), then 16 sided, then tapered round using planes and scrapers.

When time came to bore holes in the seat, I made a jig that I had seen in Aldren Watson's book, "Hand Tools: Their Ways and Workings".  Great book.

Bored a hole through squared-up stock, then cut the bottom at a 17.5 degree angle (resultant).  Cut out top right portion for clamping.

Here's that jig in action.  Stick your auger bit through the jig and put it's point at the boring location.  Then line up the jig with the sightline,  clamp it in place and bore the hole.

I tapered the 3/4" holes in the top and made tapered tenons at the ends of the legs.  The legs were wedged into their mortises with walnut.  The mortises and tenons for the rails and stretcher are all 5/8" and cylindrical.  The 8 1/2" x 13" oval maple top is 7 1/2" off the ground.  The legs, rails and stretcher are pine (or some other soft wood).  The legs max out at 1 1/8" diameter, while the rails and stretcher are 1" at their thickest.

The completed stool

Top view

The plan is to paint this stool, but my wife has to finalize just what she wants.  I'll probably give a sealing coat of shellac before that.  Hopefully that will happen soon.

 I ordered two more snap catches from Rejuvenation - $74 delivered. The prototype and the yet unmade cherry cupboard is getting expensive. I had to dip into my stash for buying wood to pay for these. But on the flip side I think I'm done ordering hardware for the foreseeable future as long as I don't make any changes.....

cooked

No surprises when they came out of the clamps. I tried to twist the miters with my hands and no surprises. All four of them held and the joint line (top/bottom) from heel to toe is tight.

chamfer

I planed a wide, flat chamfer on both. A 5/8" in from the front edge and a 1/4" deep.

sneak peek

No back up project yet but this will give me food for thought. The snap catch isn't coming until thurs/fri. I have made some decisions on what to change and what to keep for the cherry cupboard. I'll give this one away as a xmas present to someone.

the wind blew.....

Opted to attach the top and bottom moldings. Used 3 screws only (no glue) in both just in case I need to remove them for applying the finish. I don't think I will because I finish sanding the cupboard up to 220 yesterday.

curious about this

What attracted me to this finish was one its easy application. Secondly was it supposedly makes the grain pop like an oil finish was applied. Lastly is was the ability to overcoat it with shellac (or other finish) and preserve said oil popped look. I thought I would have been able to start it today but it didn't happen boys and girls. It is on the A list for the AM.

)#&%#()^%)#*)% thermostat

This had a low battery indication so my wife took it off to replace the battery and bent a couple of pins. From what I could see they weren't used and one was labeled as such. The other one I couldn't trace it out fully so I don't know. What I do know is I faffed about with this for almost two hours before I said NO MAS and bought a replacement.

The replacement sucks pond scum. There is absolutely no way to just set a temp and have it maintain it. This is a programmable one and you have to input a starting temp and time and a drop down temp and time. One each for everyday of the week. I ordered a non programmable thermostat and it is supposed to come tomorrow between 0700 and 1100. We'll see what shakes out with that.

I got a non programmable one because I don't like to raise and lower the temp. I couldn't figure out how to program the one above. With this one if I get ambitious I can lower it before I go to bed and turn it up when I roll out of the rack. But I doubt I'll do that.

can't remember

I'm not sure that I snapped a pic of the Willa memorial pic frame and posted it on the blog. If I did ignore it and if not, ta da.

accidental woodworker

We have two kayaks, which are stored outside on a large privacy wall in my backyard. When we first bought them, I bought two sets of standard kayak racks – and they worked, for a while anyway. Because most of these racks are made of painted steel, there is a point where they start to rust, and fall apart. The last thing I wanted to do was buy another set of mediocre racks. The problem is that there aren’t really any good kayak racks that are made for outside locations. Powder-coated steel, has a short lifespan, usually about 3-4 years in a cold climate, and wooden racks have to be maintained.

I investigated at a number of solutions – construct the racks out of 2×2″ Ipe, or 1.5″ copper pipes – all of which had limitations of one form or another. I found a nice stainless steel set of kayak racks from a company in the U.S., but 2 sets would have cost me C$600 with shipping and taxes.

The solution I chose was to construct the kayak racks out of 1″ metal electrical conduit, using connectors from Maker Pipe. Using this approach I could easily construct racks that mimicked the shape of the existing racks. For each end of the set, I ordered one Top Rail T Connector, two Adjustable Angle Flanges, and a Conduit End-plug. I liked these connectors, because essentially the only tool needed to connect them is a 5mm hex wrench. The electrical conduit is easily obtainable from any DIY centre (and for some reason, I already had more than enough 1″ conduit lying around).

Two pieces of 1″ conduit are required for each end of the rack. The diagonal is 23.5″ long, while the brace is 7″ long. The two adjustable angles flanges attach the brace and diagonal to the wall. The Top Rail T Connector connects the brace to the diagonal. Note that all connectors have a holes on the side which could be used for a split pin, or a self-tapping screw.

When installed, I used some neoprene pipe insulation as a temporary cushion on the diagonal and brace, until I can find some more appropriate neoprene material.

The great thing about these DIY racks is that you can really modify them to fit your particular needs. Perhaps using an Adjustable Angle Hinge Connector to join the diagonal and brace to provide different angles. The connectors are made of steel, and have a corrosion resistant coating, and like metallic electrical conduit, I imagine they will last for years. In the future I may put the lower rack onto hinged back-plates to allow them to be folded out of the way (the wall is along a walkway).

 I quit the shop at 1511 today and before I left I did a serious eyeballing on the cabinet. I made a couple of more changes because after all this is a prototype. The first change was the hinges. Butt hinges are out and I'm going with flush overlay hinges (ordered them today). The snap latch is history too. It has a coppery finish and I couldn't find any decent looking copper finished hinges to match it. I will use a different type/style of cupboard latch to match the hinges. So far these are the last changes (?) I think I'll make. 

The woodworking on the cupboard is 99% done. I have to attach the top and bottom flat moldings to be 100%. I'm not sure when I'll do that. It will be easier to apply the finish (maybe) if I put them on after that. It depends on which way the wind blows on that day. This puts me dead in the water with the cupboard and I don't have a backup project yet. Maybe a dream project will float across the brain bucket while sleep tonight.

dry fit

These Craftsman corner clamps are the same age as my Craftsman pilot drills. I couldn't pull the miter tight from toe to heel with them. I needed an assist from the clamp. The plan is to glue these up and set them aside to cook until the AM.

using biscuits

Normally I would glue a cross spline at the toe but not today. The finish will be natural and I don't want to see splines so I opted for biscuits. I don't like not using some kind of reinforcements for miters. Did I ever mention that I don't like miters?

I didn't forget

I surprised even myself because I thought of this and doing it before I glued up the miters. Marked the area to remove some meat and sawed and chopped it out.

hmmm......

The grip thingie extends past the sole of the plane. I had to excavate a wee bit more for it.

done

This wasn't the awkward adventure I thought it was going to be. The grab thingie is rounded going in every direction I looked at. There aren't any straight portions to it at all. I figured that would fight me with wanting extra dance steps to remove just a wee bit more.

finished

Now that this is done I made a mental note to touch up the iron. Since I have better control over the plane with this I need to ensure that the iron is sharp. That will ease some of the pressure of pushing the plane through the stock.

new door latch

I got two of these because there is enough cherry to make two cupboards. I will use one of these on the prototype cupboard. The flush hinges I ordered are oil rubbed bronze and they appeared to be just as black as this.

As an aside while searching for hinges on ETSY I came across snap catches that were less than $5. I am tempted to buy one just to see how they are made. They looked like stamped metal construction vice being cast. Maybe next week if I remember to do that.

close

The latch part of it is almost as wide as the edge of the cupboard. Not sure if I will have to remove any of the beading on the door. If I do it will be an arc of removal that I already don't like. This might be shitcanned in favor of a snap catch which means I'll have to buy another of them.

surprise

I had two sets of antique finished hinges. I thought I had forgotten to order them but I was wrong. I looked on the wrong site - I had ordered these from a different vendor than the one I had checked.

bin pull

This was on clearance for $12 off so I bought one (oil rubbed bronze). I intended to use it for the lone drawer on the cherry cupboard. I am now going with two drawers and I got one of the last two left on order today.

needs a shelf

The top to bottom is almost 14" and that leaves a lot of empty space. The bottom peg will be about 6" from bottom and I'm only using 3 shelf peg holes. The top one will be about 6" from the top.

almost done

Got the pin notches on the underside chopped and the shelf fits. I just needed to plane a chamfer on the front edge of the shelf.

now it is done

Chamfer whacked out lickety split. 

oops

I made the front pin far enough from the front edge but I forgot to allow 3/4" for the door.

yikes

There isn't a lot of meat in front of the front shelf pin notch. There isn't anything I can do to fix/move this without having 6 holes to plug and redrill.

on the other hand.....

The door now has room to close.

questionable

I don't have a warm and fuzzy with the shelf. It may or may not be a problem and blow out towards the front. I will keep an eye on it and see how fares until I'm done with the cupboard. I'm sure that I'll be taking it out and putting it in a bazillion more times before the check mark goes in the done column.

worth a try

I saturated the notch on both sides with super glue to stiffen and strengthen the wood fibers. This is sugar pine and it is soft and tiny areas of wood like this are ripe for blowing out. If it does I have an idea that might work. I will rip it off and glue on a piece of maple or poplar.

feels stronger

I pushed against it from the front and it felt stiffer. I really soaked this pretty good. Tomorrow I willgive it another helping.

accidental woodworker