General Woodworking

I occasionally sell prints of my photography, which has made me keenly aware of The Price of Art. The price of art varies from zero dollars to hundreds of million dollars for a possibly forged DaVinci painting. The interesting thing about purchasing art is that (money laundering aside) the art won't do anything other than sit on the wall. Certainly, whatever you hang on your wall should bring you pleasure, but ultimately it's a thing on the wall. People rightly look at art as a luxury -- precisely because it doesn't do anything. That being said, our lives are always made richer by having a nice environment.

The same goes is true of custom-made furniture. Whether you make a chair as a present for a relative, for yourself, or for sale, the real value of the piece isn't that it's a chair. I can get a chair at Home Depot for 100 bucks. A maker can establish a price to account for time and materials, but that is different than the user's idea of the value. While the chair has utility, its sale price is really driven by the joy and satisfaction it is expected to give to the user. This is the art price. And this presents the issue that affects every single one of us who makes furniture on commission, or even gives their work to a relative or friend for free: Will they value it? I'm constantly reminded of a kitchen that I had built in my last apartment. I designed it; it was all custom-made by highly skilled friends of mine; I loved it and felt inspired as a cook by its beauty and functionality. And then I moved. I was still in touch with my neighbors, so I learned that a couple of years after I sold the apartment, it was sold again. The new buyer, a young man, commented that he would like to replace the kitchen, not because it wasn't perfect, but because it wasn't new. His assumption was that a new stock, or Ikea, kitchen would be better because he valued brand-newness above all else. He had no understanding of the quality or replacement cost; and most probably he didn't care. (BTW, my former neighbor did tell him he was insane.)

If you build a dining room set for your daughter and 30 years later she downsizes, will someone else value the set? Truthfully we cannot and should not sit around wondering about these questions. It's too stressful. We hope our work will always be valued. Even if you sell something for $10,000, there's no guarantee it won't go out in the trash in 2 years. And in our society that's the way it is. But as people who produce creative and skilled things, we have a responsibility not for the future of the things we make, but in creating an environment here and now so people who make things can explain their value. And this is the point of this blog.

It would be wonderful, if every person who walked into a craft fair, art show, or furniture gallery could perceive the value in what is on offer. If that were the case, more people would be willing to buy custom-made stuff - and there would be more work for us. Now don't get me wrong, very few people have the budget to afford the same amount of furniture made by individual crafts people in the US compared to the same amount of furniture made in an Asian factory. But what really bothers me is that we have created a culture where even the person who can afford it can't tell the difference, or is encouraged to believe that the expensive-for-the-wrong-reasons laminate stuff they have in their house made by sub-minimum wage workers is high quality simply because of its high price. And it does not occur to them to have better furniture custom made by people like you - with probably happier results.

Note: On the subject of beautiful stuff for your walls: The video above is a time-lapse of the Art Committee at the Salmagundi Club hanging the Black and White Show early this year. I'm a member of the club and the committee, and if you look carefully I'm in the back on the right hanging pictures. (Yes, it's easier to hang art when you already have a full kit of tape measures and magnet holders from the store.) I'm not in the roundup at the end because I'm behind the camera "directing."

 I thought that it would take a few days to get all the crappola in my pickup sawn up. It took only one day which surprised me. My right shoulder still aches from all the sawing I did along with my lower back. It has been a long time since I went balls to wall like I did today. The upside is I now have an empty pickup bed again.

the last thing

Sawed off the top rail with the hacksaw first. After that I got the sawz-all to cut up the rest. The inner core is some OSB like wood that was like sawing stone. I was going to saw up the bottom panel but I left it whole. Even with the sawz-all it would have been a nightmare to do. It fits in the shitcan and it is going bye-bye on garbage day this thursday.

big screen, 2 storm windows

The two storm windows are very well made along with the screen. I put them on the sidewalk to see if there is any interest in them. If they are still there in the AM I'll put them in the shed. I already have making a wooden door with them percolating in the brain bucket.

PITA

I can't bring this to the dump because it has paint on it. It is a 2x4 piece of 5/8" plywood that I'm not sure how to cut up. But this wasn't the last of it. After I got back from Post Office I noticed 3 more fence rails in the pickup bed. They blended in with the white of the bed. Got them cut up against the protestations of my right shoulder.

new toy

I brought this for my next trip to Gurney's Saw Mill. I buy 12 foot long boards that I saw into 6 foot lengths - by hand on my pickup tailgate. This new toy will make that a whole easier and less stressful on my body. Came from Amazon as I was typing this blog post. It is a bare bones tool ($99) - I already have plenty of batteries. In hindsight I should have held off on what sawing I did today by hand.

accidental woodworker

 My annual eye exam this morning was excruciating. Last year they thought there were some problems with the macular. Checking that involves an intense light that is scanned vertically L/R and horizontally U/D. That brought tears to my eyes and left me with a dull ache at the back of my head that lasted for hours. The good news is there was no change noted when compared to last years scan. I'll endure the intense light as long as it gives good results.

The pupil dilation meds they give me seemed better this year. I had better vision and the usual discomfort waiting for it to wan wasn't that bad. I still had to wear my sunglasses for over 5 hours. 

That was appointment #1. #2 went just a well. #2 was with urology and the doc was pleased with my progress 2+ weeks out from the TURP. I'm still passing blood and scabs/clots with the blood color getting less and less. I still have 4 weeks to go before I'm fully healed.

nope

I went to the Warwick dump but they don't take construction debris. They will accept unpainted wood but not metal storm doors. However, I can cut it up and put it in the garbage can. Based on how much room is available in it each week I think it will take me about 4-6 weeks to be rid of all of it.

the upcoming workload

I didn't get anything done this AM. The appointment and going to the town dump ate up most of the morning. Blurry vision kept me out of the shop. After my post lunch stroll I sawed enough of the fence to fill one shit can. The plan is to saw up all the fence parts and the storm door. Fingers crossed that I'll be able to hacksaw that up. Anyone need storm panels? Not sure if these are standard. I'll put them on sidewalk and see if anyone wants them.

accidental woodworker 

I've been putting off making a dump run for over a week now. My pickup has the old storm door and moldings in it along with 40 feet of an old picket fence. The town dump is a 20 minute ride one way from my house. I have checked on line several times to see if this dump accepts construction debris. The site is as clear as mud on this. If not I'll have to find a statewide dump that does accept construction debris. 

Tomorrow I have two medical appointments at the VA. My annual eye exam is at 0830 and a follow up GU appointment at 1500. I couldn't rearrange the appointments so I'll have to make two trips. The plan is to go to the dump after the eye exam. Fingers and toes crossed that the town dump will accept my load. 

YIKES

Decided to grout the coasters in the AM session. That turned out to be a fiasco. It went not only south, it went sideways and did a U-turn. Things were a wee bit frantic for a few but I was able to salvage it. The first hiccup was the hole I cut on a corner of this quart bag. The first squeeze and a 30 pound blog of grout spit out on the coaster. It took a lot of calories to clean it up.

done

I was frazzled when I finally got the grout in the 7th one. I then spent the next 2 hours wiping the grout haze off the tiles every 15 minutes. I wasn't expecting this to be such a PITA to do. 

I also found a lot more bubble holes in the two tiled tables. Way more than I thought I had. Got all of them covered and smoothed out. Did the wiping the grout haze dance steps with the tables too.

hmm.......

I only got two pieces to fit the holder from one full sheet of sandpaper. I played with optimizing it for while and still only got 2 pieces, it was the best I could do. Tomorrow I'll start raising the grain and sanding the 7 picture frames. With all the other interruptions going on it is shaping up to be a short day shop wise.

accidental woodworker

 

all seven of them

This is next on the hit parade. Made these 7 frames for some Stanley advertising posters. This is all I got done today in the shop - took these from the boneyard and put them on the workbench. The plan was to wet them down with water to raise the grain and then paint them. Maybe tomorrow.

Even I need a day off and lately I haven't been exactly pushing any projects out of the shop. It was raining this AM so I couldn't go to Gurney's Sawmill and next saturday isn't looking too good neither. Got lots of ideas and things I want to try out but can't do it because I don't have any wood.

accidental woodworker 

I love taking care of old buildings. This one has been standing for 500 years and contributing to it remaining so, makes me a happy man. Water ingress and retention is one of the main causes of decay in traditional buildings, so keeping on top of leaks is of vital importance, and having breathable coverings allows them to dry out, if they do spring a leak.

Enter quicklime. Mortar made from sand slaking quicklime, is the best thing for rendering traditional stone built buildings. What we are doing here is moving in that direction, for this building; as the sliding sashes are renovated, they are being re-sealed with oakum and slaked quicklime.

Slaking the quicklime.

Soaking oakum in the still-slaking quicklime (after the reaction has cooled some; much heat is given off when slaking quicklime).

Sealing around frame with mortar made from sharp sand and the hot lime putty. This is not sand slaking (which is addition of quicklime to damp sand, a dryish process, where more water is added later to beat up a workable mortar). I have done it this way because I wanted three products from the same mix; oakum/quicklime 'filler', hot lime putty mortar to point the oakum, and thick limewash to coat.

Quicklime mortar (and the oakum filler) will give a much more breathable seal around the windows. The wood will last longer and the masonry which was built with clay/lime mortar, will be able to dry out if it does get wet. The cast iron gutter, hopper and downpipe have been re-jigged, so they all meet up, and dispatch rainwater away from the building (instead of into the wall, which was happening).

The new massive sweet chestnut sill, from Zav at Dart Valley Sawmills, will be shedding rainwater off this window, for many years to come.

The implication of using quicklime, is that it takes a long time to set. It is not hydraulic, i.e. it does not set by the addition of water. It sets by 'carbonation', the re-absorption of the carbon dioxide, that it released in it's making. It is effectively re-becoming the limestone, from whence it came.It needs to be protected with dampened hessian while this process takes place, so that it does not dry out too quickly. It's worth noting that modern portland cement, does not do this 'carbonation', it does not re-absorb the C02 that it releases, which means it is responsible for 8% of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere, it releases CO2, but never re-absorbs, because it sets HARD. It's not breathable and causes moisture from leaks etc to stay in the building fabric. It's a no-brainer. Using quicklime (air lime) and caring for old buildings in this way, is caring for the planet. It's exciting, why do anything else?

The chemical explanation of this.

The practical side of this; covering with damp hessian, and keeping the oakum/mortar/limewash misted for at least a few weeks afterwards.

The bottoms of the boxes and cheeks have been repaired, with new timber spliced in. The sashes have been to the window hospital, and have been re-installed also. The above box sash, and the below horizontal sliding sash, with another piece of the lovely reclaimed greenheart, for replacement sill.

Putty all tidied and paintwork re-freshed.

"Thankyou for taking so much care".

After a very long winter here in Cape Breton, we’re pleased to announce our Summer/Fall 2025 class schedule is open for registration.

Join me for a one day workshop or a week long intensive.

Lots of dates and options are available with topics to suit everyone. Beginners are welcome!

If your schedule doesn’t work for any of our listed dates, I’m offering private, half and full-day options this year. A great way for you or a small group of friends, co-workers or family members to spend the day, woodworking with me here in my shop on Cape Breton.

Check out the CLASS SCHEDULE for details.

Classes sizes are limited so reserve your space today!

Hope to see you soon.

The post Cape Breton Classes appeared first on The Unplugged Woodshop.

  I went to Home Depot twice today. The first trip Joe was at lunch so I came back an hour later to meet with him. I wanted to buy the door and pay for the installation today but that didn't happen. HD requires someone come and measure the door. Once they give that info to Joe I have to go back, pick out/order the door, and pay for it all. I was hoping that I could have avoided all this BS because they had already put in a full install back door. Turns out I was wrong, oh so @)%$&@)%*I_@%_ wrong.

raking light

The ladder passed everywhere I looked at it with the light. Packed this up and stuck it in the boneyard. I'll email my sister and see when I can stop buy and drop off all the projects for her and Sue. Doing that will free up 1/2 the real estate in the boneyard.

road test

I don't know the grit of the sandpaper - it is either 100/120 grit. I like this sanding block a lot. The size was just right to grip and control while I sanded this box. It cut through the wood putty and left it flush and smooth. Can't wait until I try the rounded parts on something. I'll keep this on the workbench as my go to sanding block.

big blog of putty

I have on occasion sanded big spots of putty like this and had the sanding block pull it out. Not this time, it is still intact and flush/smooth. I hadn't planned on sanding this box but it was a convenient object to try it on.

sigh

There were 3 spots that still showed a few streaks of white primer. I'm hoping that this will be it. I'll check it again in the AM and see if there is finally Joy in Mudville.

why not

Putting on 3 coats of shellac and that is it. And I'll be done with it today. I'll be heading back to the shop after dinner to slap on the 3rd and final coat.

accidental woodworker 

I'm asking for some advice in this post.  I picked up this snipes bill plane last year at a tool show.  I don't need or even know much about this type of plane, but it was $3, so I grabbed it.  It's by Wm. Banks and there are no other markings on it at all.  An internet search turned up nothing on Wm. Banks, so maybe that's a user-made plane and Banks is the owner mark.

Right side

Left side - looks like someone once nailed or screwed on a fence

Maker's or owner's mark

Toe-end view of sole profile, showing boxing

The bed is skewed at about 15 deg

The 5/8" wide iron is in decent shape and I think it will sharpen up nicely.  It's a laminated iron, though the lamination seems a bit sloppy.

Flat face - not yet flattened

On one edge, you can just barely see the lamination

On the other edge, the lamination seems to be "smeared" onto the bevel side - weird!

Well, now for the problems that I'd like to fix.  The body is slightly bent, but much more so near the boxing.  This next photo tries to show it, but it's a tough picture to take.

Looking down the sole you can see a bend in the boxing

The boxing seems to be glued well in place.  It's not loose at all, but it is far from straight.  You can see a little deviation from the body on the inside of the boxing where it meets the rest of the sole, especially behind the mouth where it bows out away from the plane body.

Here's the right side of the plane - the boxing looks fine here

On the sole, it looks like it's coming away from the body a little bit

Another view of that area

Aside from that, the wedge is slightly banana shaped.  This is not so much of a problem.  I can still get it into it's mortise to tighten up the iron, but it's a little tight due to the warpage.

I tested the plane by first making a shallow groove with the quirk of a beading plane, then following that groove with the snipes bill.  It will work that way, but clearly not as well as it should.

My dilemma is this.  I'd like to get this plane in better shape.  I believe the curvature on the boxing is severe enough to cause the plane to cut a very ragged quirk.  The body and boxing should be straight.  I'm thinking of steaming the plane and then squeezing it between two flat blocks to straighten it out.  I might have to pull out the boxing to get that straighter too.  If I steam the plane, the boxing should be easy to remove.

Any suggestions out there on how best to proceed?

Note to self: never, never, ever go shopping for a storm door with your wife. I had to rub my eyes repeatedly to make sure that we weren't looking for shoes. My wife obsessed about details that to me didn't mean diddly squat. Two agonizing hours and 3 boxes stores later, she had finally made up her mind. Of course the one she wanted and didn't want to compromise on, wasn't in stock and could possibly be a special order too. I'll find out tomorrow when I go back to talk to Joe and arrange ordering it and getting someone to install it. Decided that I didn't want the headache of doing it myself. Much nicer to ink my name on a check and stand back and watch it being installed.

one more

No drips or build up on the edges to deal with. All that was needed was to complete the paint coverage. There were spots on the shelf and two outside faces that still showed white primer. I'll find out in the AM if I'll need one last coat?????

hmm.....

It is still stuck the plywood the next day. This was encouraging because I was putting the kitchen ladder together next. I really want this plastic washer to keep the back and front sides from rubbing against each other.

sigh

I had convinced myself yesterday that I was putting this together and that would be it. However, there were several areas that needed some poly attention that I just couldn't ignore. Like the coaster holder, I'll have to wait until tomorrow to see if I'll have to repeat these dance steps again.

together

The washers stuck with a couple of dabs of superglue and stayed in place while I tapped the screws in through the holes. One hole was a bit of PITA to align but I got it without the washer coming loose.

glamour pic #1

I'm thinking now that maybe this would be better used if it was a plant stand. It is too heavy, IMO, to move around to use as a kitchen ladder.

glamour pic #2

I like the X brace on the back. I don't think the back bottom brace would have been enough to keep the back legs parallel. Besides it adds some visual interest to it.

came today

I got this from Jane at Timeless Books. I have learned that you pull the trigger on the book as soon as you see it. Have gone back a day later several times to buy a book but it had sold. I've always had a fascination about anything Shaker.

read chapter one

The Shakers thrived for over a 100 years but they were doomed to die out. They were a celibate society and that offered zero growth. However, they had beyond modern views of male and female roles. They were a lot more than just furniture makers.

fingers crossed

Its been beyond the drying time and it looks good. I will wait until the AM and use a flashlight to cast raking light on it to see if there are any other boo boos to fix.

$5 on Amazon

Saw this on a blog and I was intrigued by it. I bought one with sock drawer money  to road test.

5 profiles

That was the biggest reason to buy this. Two different half diameters and a slanted corner profile. Plus it is small and needs only one hand to use it. Sandpaper changes are held in by friction and it will take any grit I can stick in it.

learning more about it

I am a firm believer in pushing buttons etc to see what happens. Through that I learned that this small knurled knob at the end ratchets. It is just another way to turn the sleeve that advances/retracts the thimble rod. As soon as it stops the ratchet engages only in that direction.

Also learned that a micrometer only measures in one inch increments. That is why you only have a micrometer for 0-1 inch, 1-2 inch, 2-3 inch, etc etc etc.. The largest I have ever seen on the machinists I watch on YouTube is 11-12 inch.

It is now going on to week 5 that the saturday AM is forecasted to be raining. I've been waiting for a sunny one so I can make a run out to Gurneys Saw Mill. I can't make anything if I don't have any wood. This coming saturday is forecasted to be raining and the following saturday cloudy with a 25% chance of rain. Oh well I'll just have to make a double load run when I finally get a clear and sunny saturday. 

accidental woodworker 

I'll lead off with the good news. After 3 months we finally have a back door that we can shut and lock. I no longer have to wedge a 2x4 under the door knob to keep it shut at night. It looks good, the wife is happy, and I'm glad it is over and it didn't cost us anymore $$$$. I understand hidden hiccups but it was nice that nothing burped on this install.

Noticed a big hiccup with Linux today and it is effecting all 3 of my Linux computers. Updates for my Firefox browser(s) have been shut off. From what I saw online in the help forums, I am not the only unhappy camper with this headache. According to the browser enterprise updates have been turned off. I am not on an enterprise system, group, LAN, or association. So far I haven't found anything that is a fix for the problem. Hopefully Linux will sort it out and issue an update(?).

back door

I was kind of surprised by the carpenter who did this. He was young, on time, and professional. Not gabby in the least and made it clear it was not here to shoot the breeze. He put plastic up on both sides of the of door and when he left I couldn't see even one speck of debris left behind.

back door - outside view

This I didn't expect what I saw. Felt so good to see this being done by someone other than myself.

$1000 door

It was nice to see that the jamb wasn't fingered jointed. Top and sides were all one piece, solid wood and almost an inch thick. BTW this is a fiberglass door too.

last application

Fingers crossed that this is the last coat of poly to go on. It isn't as easy to correct surface defects - runs, drips, etc - in poly. Used the scraper to erase the sins and 400 grit to feather it all out. I'll know if it worked or not in the AM.

now it dries

This had 4 drips that ran across the width of the sides, two on each side. I really want this to be over with and out of the shop.

cleaned up

The whole of this platen had poly on it. Luckily for me it scraped off easily with a razor blade. I'm not sure I was as lucky removing poly on the black rubber drive wheel. I'll find that out when I put a new sanding belt in it and road test it.

lesson #1

You needs instructions? Turned I did because I couldn't make heads nor tails out of this. I started with a 1/8" drill bit which should read 0.125 on the micrometer. Gave it my best goofy looks but nada. I could see/understand .12 but I couldn't determine how to read the .005 part.

too many scales

I think I did find the purpose of the knurled ring here to the left of the numbers. I believe it is a locking ring to hold a measurement. Don't know that for sure but I was able to lock the thimble several times and keep it from moving.

hmm.....

The first YouTube vid I looked at and it was from Starrett. It was totally useless IMO. Pointed out some names for the parts but nothing of substance on how to use the micrometer nor how to read it.

I did watch and follow along with 5-6 other YouTube vids and they were heads above the Starrett one. I think I have a basic understanding of how to read it now but I need to find and watch more vids. This group I watched was all on how to read to 0.001 and my micrometer will read to tenths. Which confuses me to no end. 

teeny project, huge PITA

I had to scrape and sand this again for about the 4th or 5th time. Paint drips, build up on the edges, and incomplete coverage were all still laughing at me. I know down in my bones I'll be painting another coat on it tomorrow. Fingers crossed that will be the last one.

almost done

I opted to do the interior trim on the door to save money. I paid for a full install and that included insulating between it top, bottom, and sides.

done

This is awesome to have a back door again. And one that shuts with a nice sound and locks tight. I paid for PVC trim on the outside so I wouldn't ever have to paint it. But mostly I won't have to worry about it eventually rotting away at the bottom like the other door did.

My wife is very excited about this and has already picked out the paint not only for the door, but for the house/trim too. Decided to pressure wash the house and see how much of the paint comes off with that. The south side of the house is the worse for peeling paint. This is the easterly side of the house with the north side in the best shape.

done

Come hell or high water this going together tomorrow. The way I feel about it now is unless any defects are readily visible it is staying as it is here.

hmm......

Super glue doesn't work with a lot of plastic but it is kind of sticking this washer to the plywood. I made these out of a plastic milk container to serve as a friction washer between the front and rear sides as they move against each other. The super glue only has to hold it long enough for me to get the screws installed.

it is stuck.....

But it doesn't feel like it likes it or it will stay attached. Like I said it just has to last long enough for the screw to pass through it and into the opposite side.

accidental woodworker 

It's been a while since I've done a Paul Sellers project, but this one caught my eye because of the weaving.  I've done a couple projects that involved weaving, but this was a new pattern for me.  It's a simple project: four legs, 8 cylindrical rails and Danish paper cord weaving.

The legs for this stool splay (and rake) 3 degrees.  I bought 7/8" hardware store dowels for the rails.  They were all undersized, so my mortises were 13/16 and I shaved the rails to fit.  Here are some pictures of the build - the captions have relevant info.

Four leg blanks squared up and marked for front/back and left/right

Mortises marked out

Boring the mortises about 3/4" deep.  This 97 deg angle block guides the bit.

After mortises done on two pairs of mating sides, shaped the legs.

Checking one side frame for leg parallelity.  I was careful when gluing them up to get it right.

The mortises for joining the two side frames were done after the glue had dried. You can see the perpendicular tenon at the bottom of this mortise.

Due to the shaping of the legs, I had to make an 87 deg guide to bore the lower mortises.

First dry fit.  All the tenons will be fox-wedged into their mortises.

Glue up was not too stressful, but I did need to hammer the joints home with a bit more vigor than I wanted.  Titebond III was used.  Once dry,  I gave the frame three coats of shellac, sanding in between coats.

Now for the weaving.  I'm using Danish paper cord.  I bought a 10 pound roll of the stuff a couple years ago.  This'll last me quite a while. I think I used about 300 feet on this stool.

After the first few wraps: note the H-shaped cord carrier in the picture. It helps to corral the cord when weaving.  But I couldn't use the carrier after the hole in the center got too small.

Here's a close-up of one corner after a dozen or more wraps. Not exactly perfect, but passable.

Making a lot of progress.  I stopped here after 2-3 hours. Another 2-3 hours the next day and it was done.

Here's the underside and I see that I should have paid more attention to this. See the two angled cords where my fingers are?  I think this is the reason that my weave wasn't quite even on top.

At about 2/3rds complete, I stuffed cardboard between the top and bottom.

And here's the top view of the completed stool.

And a glamour shot of the stool.

The underside reveals the places where I tied on new lengths of cord. It also shows some areas that are not woven evenly.

I like weaving, but it is tough on the hands.  Maybe sooner than later I'll try another simple stool to get more practice with this weave pattern.  I'd like to see if more focus on what's going on with the underside will lead to a more consistent pattern on the top.

 Today my wife and I celebrated 25 years together. We met in 1999 and married in 2000. That certainly makes it extremely easy to keep tabs as the years pile up. Ran around in the afternoon and went out to a fancy restaurant for dinner. I went into in for all it was worth - appetizer, salad, dinner (chix marsala), and desert with a coffee. I'm sure I won't be dropping any tonnage on sunday's weigh in. I smoothed that all over by convincing myself that our anniversary only comes once a year.

I did get some shop time in the AM session but zero in the PM. Just as well because I've been in a bit of fog with the shop lately. No shortage of ideas for projects. It is what to do with what I want to make. Lately most of my itches involve projects a lot bigger than a breadbox. One that won't let me go is making a 18th century double door wardrobe.

lightened up

The box lost the 'wet' look and it isn't too far off the raw natural wood color. You can still tell it has some kind of a finish on it. 

who knew?

An 8oz can of this poly cost $11.99 this 32oz can cost $18.99. Even though I knew the 8oz can would have been enough I bought the big one.  It was a no brainer getting four times as much for $7 more.

LS Starrett 231x

I finally have a 0-1inch micrometer that I don't need. I got it from the HyperKitten tool site for $26. This one reads to tenths but I'm not sure of its age or its accuracy. I don't have any standards to check it nor do I have a warm and fuzzy on how to read/use it. It has 3 things that turn and two of them I'm clueless on. I bought it so I could teach myself how to use and read it.

I plan on sending it out to be checked and calibrated. I have been watching Keith Rucker (Vintage Machinery) for over ten years and he has mentioned several times about a technician he sends his measuring gauges/tools to to be fixed/checked. I'll have to find that YouTube vid with that bit of info.

accidental woodworker

Well it ain't xmas, it is yard work time. Along with yard work my wife has starting harping about painting the house again. Survived not having to do it last year but this one is shaping up to be different. House painting is something I can do but I really don't want to. I'll start with scraping the clapboards where the paint has blistered and spot priming them. I won't be doing the high work - we'll have to pay to have that done. With my metal hip and arthritis I am not risking climbing a ladder that high to paint the rake boards, eaves, and the second story peaks. I'm not holding any hope for getting a painter to do just that.

found it

I have looked at this stack of 3 containers ignoring the bottom one every time I looked at them. The bottom one isn't empty, it has the grout. I came this close to making a road trip to Lowes to buy another tub.

ain't happening

The little bit of poly that was left in the can has congealed and hardened. I won't be using it to finish applying poly to the kitchen ladder. I think I can get by with a pint can - I'll try ACE in the AM.

hmm.....

Got a wee bit indecisive about the grout. Do I mix up the whole tub and try the pastry bag trick or just enough to do one coaster. Never made up my mind of what to do with it today.

getting better

I think I have finally achieved consistency with mitered boxes. I have a couple dozen of this style of box under my belt. I'm getting decent corners with the heels and toes aligned with no gaps. The tops and bottoms are pretty much flush but there have been a few that I missed hitting flush with the mallet after clamping them. Gave myself an A on these but it hasn't made me like miters any better.

why not

I kind of like this wax. It is easy to apply and it looks better than just raw wood. I didn't want this to be in my desk drawer without a finish. I can get away with one application of this. I can reapply as necessary - or at least I think I can. Beats slapping on 3 or more coats of shellac.

it looks good

The raw look of the natural plywood (6mm) is in front. The box has one application of the hard wax. It imparts a low luster hue to it that IMO looks better then leaving it natural. 

I went for two walks today. I go out for breakfast every monday and I've been walking there and back. It takes about a 60-70 minutes for the round trip. On the lunch stroll I finally walked the distance I was doing before I played the bounce test with the sidewalk. That took me almost 2 hours. Felt a bit tired after that but it also felt good to be back to doing that much walking. I'm already looking ahead to see what else I can add to it to bring it up a full two hours. Before I do that I'll keep this schedule for a couple of weeks.

My TURP is getting better albeit not as fast as I would like. The peeing has improved vastly and the nightly toilet trot races are going down. Started at 6-8 per night and I'm down to 3-4 lately. I'm getting used to seeing blood that changes in color over the days. Passing the clots and scabs is still a bit disconcerting but so far none them have got stuck - fingers crossed with that. 2 weeks down and 4 more to go before it is healed. I have a follow up visit in july(?) with the urologist.

accidental woodworker

Thirteen year old me had a dream of getting a pump shotgun.  This was pre-internet so the only thing I had to go by was what I saw in “Guns & Ammo” and “Field & Stream” magazines, that and nonsense reporting from my friends.  I thought I wanted a Remington 870.  They probably had the […]

 I hadn't planned on it but my wife and I spent the afternoon driving around south county. This is the time of the year when this area wakes up and getting ready for the tourist influx. Especially so with the beaches in south county. Tourist season roughly runs from Memorial day to Labor day. Things have changed a lot since I was kid in Westerly. Lots of new developments with a lot of things I grew up knowing that are now long gone. Nostalgia isn't what it is all cracked up to be.

flushing the bottom

I made the bottom pretty tight with only 4-5 frog hairs of overhang. Mostly used the 120 sanding block to it. I only had 2 proud tails to flush and I did those with a chisel first.

got some warts and such....

There is some rot on a couple of pin sockets, chips missing, and this hole on this side. I think it was an iron thing based on the staining around the hole. Not exactly wedding gift worthy but it'll do for a shop container.

official glamour pic

Rubbed it down with Howard's feed 'n wax with 4-0 steel wool. That left a glass smooth surface. This will be a dust collector because I won't use it much but more so because it will live out in the open and not in a drawer.

needed this

I needed a small box to hold some things in my desk drawer. I had a couple of other boxes that would have worked but nixed them. This was made to fit and I had the scraps on the tablesaw.

where's the grout?

I know I bought another tub of grout - I looked back in my posts to confirm it. As usual, I hid it somewhere in the shop and after two days of searching I still can't find it. I'm thinking of applying the grout for these with an improvised pastry bag. My grout float (on the left bottom) is just shy of being the same size as the field of tiles. Can't do that until I find the )@#&%)_*@_)%_)@ MIA grout.

accidental woodworker
 

 The weather continues to be screwy necessitating keeping the heat on. The over night temps have dropped down to 45F (7C). It has barely been making into the low 60's by lunch time. I've had to wear a jacket on my post lunch strolling so I'm glad I still kept one out for just in case. The ten day forecast has warmer temps day/nite but it will be partly cloudy out to next sunday. Fingers crossed that it won't rain like it did during my stroll today.

why not?

When you have a bazillion things left undone, start another one. This is the stock I prepped to make a dovetail box with the dozuki saw a few months ago. This is the second of two boxes I made using the dozuki. I have fallen into the habit of sawing the tails together. I have found that I get straighter, square cuts if done this way.

tails done, pins next

One conclusion I have come to with respect to the dozuki saw is that it works. It cuts the tails/pins as well as my western dovetail saws.

done

Two corners didn't go together off the saw. I had to trim and fit the center full tails before the corners mated. The fit of the tails/pins overall is good with one gap on a half tail. That was caused by me having to take just one more swipe.....

Dry fit was good and the diagonals agreed. Glued it up and set it aside to cook.

hmm......

This long side is a 16th thicker than its sibling is. Not a problem because I mark each corner with the two that will be mated together.

The final report on using a western saw or the dozuki to saw dovetails. No real difference IMO. The dozuki leaves a thinner kerf and almost no fuzzy wuzzies. Of the two I think I'll stick with the western saw. The only quibble I have with the dozuki is that I have to pay attention sawing the vertical pin walls. I noticed that I saw a tapered cut and due to the thinness of the saw plate, it ain't easy to correct.

done

Got 6 coats of shellac on it and zero brush strokes in the finish. Tomorrow I'll rub it down with Howards feed 'n wax and put the wrenches in it.

bottom cooking

I will flush the bottom, pins, and tails and I'll call it done in the AM. No finish for this one. I'll probably use it in the shop somewhere to hold some crappola that I can't possibly live without.

accidental woodworker

When I was 14 my dad bought me a Mossberg 500CT pump shotgun for Christmas. The C denotes 20ga and the T indicates a less fancy model that was sold through department stores. My Dad bought it in 1982 from Two Guys dept store in Rochester NY. The company went out of business a few […]

A Heddle bar is a device that raises and lowers alternate strings on the loom to make passing the shuttle back and forth easier. You don’t need to have a heddle bar to use a frame loom, but it makes it much more efficient and pleasant. There are two types of yarn used when weaving on a loom like this. First you have the warp thread, that runs up and down vertically, and provides the structure to work on. Then you have the weft yarn, that runs side by side, and creates the patterns, texture, colour and design.

The "Christmas market" shopping trip of last year went to the German city of Dordtmund. I took the opportunity to visit the Museum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte, while the others were immersing themselves in glühwein and buying Christmas presents. The museum has a nice collection of medieval (and later) furniture, including a small strycsitten. I was able to make some rough measurements of the strycsitten, and of course took a lot of photos (without flash).

The Dordtmund strycsitten 

Writing desk

Triangular turned chairs