General Woodworking

 The temp today topped out at 83F (28C) which is really all I have to say about that. It was partly sunny and I worked up a sweat on my pre and post lunch stroll. Now that the weather is much better I have started to walk to Johnny's Chalet for lunch and then walk home. I did that today and last friday and I didn't feel stuffed after eating. In fact I was hungry after getting there and over two hours later I was kind of hungry again. But I wasn't 100% sure of that - it could have been me just wanting to stuff something in the pie hole.

done

I got two coats of the tung oil wax on this with two previous coats of Clancy's oil. However, this doesn't look nor feel like the other box I did with the tung oil finish and tung oil wax made by the same maker. This is a toolbox for the son in law so it is adequate for this purpose.

one on and one to go

I didn't smell any citrus using the wax on these 3. I must be used to it by now but it was a strong aroma the first time I used it. So far these 3 are heading for turning out the same as the previous ones I waxed.

done

I have to assemble the tables before I can do the tile inlay work. I was thinking of leaving the tops unsecured so they could be used as trays? Nixed that and I'll be epoxying and screwing them to the leg tops. Anyways, doing the tile and grouting will be the last two steps in this build.

I am not going to paint the top of the table. There is no need to do that because the tiles will be glued to it with silicone and then grouted. The silicone is rated to stick to anything and everything.

can't see it

The top of this rail at this junction had a big chip missing from the top of it. Since it was on the top and visible I filled it in with wood putty. The results are better than I expected them to be. I was prepared to put on more putty but it doesn't need it.

0943

I was done with the AM session. I got the bottom edges of the tables painted with primer. I couldn't do anything else so I went topside and whacked out a couple of crossword puzzles. These tables are finished with the primer coat on the top portions. Got that done at 1410. Another short day in the shop and tomorrow will probably be the same when I put on the top coat. Any guesses as to how many I'll have to put on? My money is on two.

made the choice

Using this varnish only because I have it and I want to use it before it goes bad. I had put some on the end grain and initially it was dark. I thought it was due to the age of it but over an hour later it had lightened up quite a bit. I just want this to be done and out of the shop so I can start on the cherry kitchen ladder.

accidental woodworker

I’ve never made a lap joint before. When I attempt something new, I like to read several accounts of how others do it, and ideally watch a few videos first. Lap joints would appear to be considered so obvious that I could not really find a detailed blow by blow guide. If anyone knows of a good one, please point me towards it.

 I've been using the Firestick for a couple of weeks now and I can say that I don't miss cable TV. Especially not missing the cost or the channel selections forced on me or loss without replacement. For the most part I am disappointed in the 'free TV' offerings. 99.99% of the selections are TV series from the 60's and 70's with most of the newer series being paid for view only. None of the free TV services offer local programming other than news. I haven't looked into getting anything to watch football games but I have time to look around. 

it fits

What was going to be my pencil box could now be my jigsaw holder saw thing.

she didn't like it

I borrowed my wife's iron for the last time. She said no more taking it to the shop. On the flip side I was able to raise out 99.99% of the dent. I had to do 4 of them and I wasn't able to fully raise any of the dents. I will buy the same iron for my shop - this one spits out a ton of steam continuously.

branding iron spot

I am going to leave this spot paint free of the primer and the top coats. This is the underside and I want to brand the tables and not have it hidden under paint.

 

tables primed

I put the first coat on the other side in the AM and it was dry to the touch after I got back from my post lunch stroll. I was expecting to wait until tomorrow to prime the top of it but I was able to do it now.

came this close

 Got both of the tables sanded up to 180 but I had a hiccup. The table with the blue tape I had to fill in some missing chips with wood putty. I will prime the underside of the tables in the AM and do the tops in the PM.

had to fill it

I was going to leave this alone but I decided to fill it in. I am going to put a clear finish on this and this would stick out too much IMO. This is a wedge of maple and face grain will be facing up.

super glue

Trying to clean up the squeeze out from yellow glue lost the coin toss.

the after pic

This turned out so much better than I thought it would. It wasn't that obvious from a couple of feet away. Got a smiley face on.

a clear finish

I've been procrastinating on applying a finish on this kitchen ladder. The only thing I am sure about is the finish will be clear. However, there are currently 3 clear finish choices - shellac, oil based varnish/poly, or a water based poly. That is the excuse I'm using for why it is taking so long to get a finish on it.

came today

I bought all 12 books in the FoxFire series. I first came across these in the library on the submarine base at Groton, Conn when I was going to sub school. I couldn't settle on which books to buy as I was mostly interested in those that dealt with woodworking/crafts. It didn't cost that much more to buy the whole set vice the 7 books I picked out. If I ever get marooned in the woods I hope that I have these 12 books with me.

accidental woodworker

Well it’s been a while since I’ve my last post. A lot has been going on both with work and with life in general and it’s been hard to find the time to write much lately. But at long last I’m back to share some of the final details from the Modular tansu project. One… Read More »Modular Tansu Custom Hardware

The post Modular Tansu Custom Hardware appeared first on Big Sand Woodworking.

Frame #266 measures 24″ square and was designed for Diane Eugster’s painting titled Trail Dust. The closed corner frame was made using my 15° process and I’ll admit I probably went into way too much detail on how it’s made — sorry! A feature of this frame was using clavos to add that western vibe to it so feel free to scroll down through the tutorial on milling the Basswood to create that 15° profile. The finish is Real Milk Paint using a 9:1 ratio of Black Iron and Soft White.

I prefer to cut each leg of the frame to length (plus miter allowance) separately which makes it easier to control on the saw. I strongly suggest to also cut at least one additional piece 10″ to 12″ long to use as your trial piece to set up your saw. Set your blade at 15° and lock it, it’ll stay the same for the entire job. Lay out both ends of your trial piece with the sliding bevel set to the angle of the tablesaw blade. To ensure that all cuts are made in the right place, I lay the frame legs out on the tablesaw in the exact orientation for each cut — believe me, it’s really easy to make a cut on the wrong face or edge.

Cut 1: I forgot to take a photo of this one but the face of the frame will go against the fence and the board is set on edge. Setting the fence for about 3/4″ works for me but experiment. This cut is what the frame sits on to raise the sight edge. I did a blog on this some time ago but have changed the order of cutting a bit for safety, you may want to check that blog out.

Cuts 2 & 3: These are 15° angle cuts on the sight and back edges. Note that the angle on the back edge will become shorter when you make cut #4. For this frame I measured about 5/8″ in and the cuts are made with the piece on edge. After these cuts I use a smooth plane to remove any mill marks on the face of the frame.

1. Cutting 15° angles on face, keep pressure on flat, not angled cut! Smooth Planed Optional beading

For this frame I wanted to add some bead details and used a Veritas small plow plane with a 3/16″ bead cutter. This is an option, if you decide not to simply go on to the next steps. You need to do this before cut #4 so you have a 90° corner to guide the plow plane.

The final step is to cut the miters and assemble the frame. When you cut them be sure to apply pressure on the angled cut at the outside of the frame, not the sight edge. I use biscuits to join my frames and the same thing applies here, the biscuit joiner needs to be held securely to the angled cut on the bottom of the profile.

Pressure point for cutting miters Bicuited, glued, and clamped

Final Steps:

Once the frame is removed from the clamps it’s time to do any clean up of glue, especially in the grooves between the beads. Any slight variation at the miters can be fixed with a paring chisel. This slideshow demonstrates the process for creating the areas for the clavos. Chisels were used as shown and you’ll notice I drew arrows to remind me of the grain direction, the miters required caution.

After locating the clavos location with dividers I used a scratch awl to deepen the holes so they were visible after painting. To install them they were first pressed in by hand and aligned to the center of the space. To protect the finish from the hammer I placed a piece of hard plastic and tapped them in. They did tend to twist so before they were completely seated I used those pliers with the plastic jaws to align them and tapped them into place. They have an uneven bottom edge which digs into the wood preventing them from twisting.

All things considered this was a good challenge and fit for this painting. Like I mentioned at the beginning of this somewhat lengthy blog I’d appreciate any comments about it — let me know if you make a 15° profile frame and how you liked it; Thanks — John

 Didn't get a lot of time in the shop today. It was another beautiful day here in my part of the universe. 76F at 1500 (24C) with blue skies and just just a few white clouds. Went for a walk and I stopped and got lunch at Johnny's Chalet. By the time I got back to the barn I had been strolling and eating for over 3 hours. The time just flew by and I went through 3 oldies and goldies play lists on You Tube. I use my cell to access You Tube and it gets blue toothed to my hearing aids. Absolutely awesome. I made some progress on the tile tables and put some time in on my growing collection of japanese tool boxes.

damage from yesterday

As an aside, this plywood comes from Ecuador, South America. It got dinged a bit when I removed the banding I had just glued and nailed to it. I've been filling it in with wood putty a little bit at a time. A couple of more and I should be flush then.

This miter is also the one that had about a 32nd of a gap in it. I filled that in with putty.

the other side of the miter

I couldn't see this side of the miter yesterday. Based on what I saw on the bottom I assumed that the toes were open the same top to bottom. The top (and the other 3) is tight and gapless. Got my happy face on.

check out the miters

The top of all the miters look good - tight and almost seamless. The toes are about the same. There were only two of them than I had to fill in with wood putty.

japanese toolbox herd

Whacked out 7 so far. The learning curve wasn't hiccup free but it was easier to do these 7 than the first 7 sliding lid boxes I made.

my first one

I have only one coat of Clancy's finish on this one. I am going to add a couple of coats of the tung oil wax I just got. This box looks like it has some kind of a finish but it is rough to the touch. The other 3 will get wax too but first I'll slap on two coats of the tung oil finish.

tile in place

Having to make new table tops worked out in my favor. There is roughly an 1/8" from the tile to the top edge of the banding. I am attaching all the tiles with clear silicone so that will add something to the overall height. On the original ones the tiles were almost dead on flush. Now I have some wiggle room to work with.

almost flush

I have stuffed putty in this void twice already and #3 is happening now. Almost there.

clamp pad depression

I have to do something about this. If I don't it will pop out like a flashing neon sign when I paint it. I will try to steam it out first and see how that goes. If it doesn't raise it flush, I'll fill it in with wood putty.

screw holes

I'm not sure how these will fare under paint. In my experience that show up on the first seasonal change. Here and now they look almost invisible.

chamfering the bottom of the legs

I used to do it with a chisel or a blockplane but no more. I switched to using my Shinto rasp. It doesn't cause blowouts or splintering off big chunks of wood. Quick, easy, and simple to knock out with no headaches.

dowel max goodies

The tracker said that these were coming on the 30th but I'm not complaining. Got 100, 3/8" x 2" dowels, the T doweling plate, and a gadget to set the correct depth on the drill bit. The gadget was not needed but I like having all the accessories on tools. It will be better for the grandsons once they inherit it.

empty holder

I made this for the 1/2" drill bushing holder. I am still on the fence about buying it because I don't really see myself using 1/2" dowels? If anyone has one, chime in good or bad on having one in the comments please.

setting the table and legs

The legs aren't square - the diagonals are off a strong 16th. I fudged and fussed for a while until I was satisfied with how they sat. Once I was happy with it I penciled the outside faces of the legs onto the table bottom.

transferring

I wasn't sure how well this would work because the legs on the two tables don't align dead on. I did get close and I repeated what I had done on table #1 for #2. Once I was happy with how it was sitting, I penciled the two outside faces on each leg.

close

The inside lines are the faces of the leg. The kitty corner one to this I had the same lines to deal with. I made sure I erased the lines I didn't need. After that I penciled the outline of the leg on all four sides. I did that so I know where not to paint. I am going to epoxy the legs to the underside and I want that area and the top of the legs to be bare wood.

keepers?

Not sure what to call these. The plan is to put two of these on the pencil lines on the two outside faces for each leg. The outside corner where the two legs meet is mitered.

what they look like

The legs dropped into the keepers in both ways it could. I super glued and nailed them on.

hmmm.....

I can't see the keepers kneeling and looking at the table edge. Amanda told me that she intends to use the table for drinks in between a chair and the couch. She doesn't know that I'm making a 2nd one for her. 

2nd one

Both legs will fit in either table but it takes a wee bit of fussing to do it. I labeled each table and base so I can match them up without any hassles.

pin nail holes filled

I filled some sins on the bottom of both tables and I almost forgot to fill in the pin nails on the edges. I thought in the AM I would get the prime coat on the tables but it didn't happen boys and girls. The wonderful spring day got in the way of the best laid plans of mice and men. Fingers crossed that I'll get that done tomorrow.

6 1/2 hours later

One more coat of wax to go which will happen tomorrow. It already feels better to the touch. The roughness is gone but it doesn't feel baby butt soft yet. It is looking a little bit wet/shiny too. The wax and the tung oil finish fill in and smooth the end grain nicely. Shellac doesn't as it needs to go over a sanded smooth end grain surface.

will it work?

This is one of the latest offerings from Blue Spruce Tools. It is an american version of an english pad saw of which I have two. I have had them for years and they are collecting dust. I never mastered how to saw with them. The blades would either bend or snap in two every time I used them.

Another problem with them is the saw blades for them are non existent. The Best of Things was the only site I could find that sold them but they don't anymore. He stopped selling tools and accessories a few years back.

Blue Spruce says that this will take all styles of jig saw blades and it came with the ones in the pics. I can't wait to try this out on the first opportunity that comes up. I could have used it when I made my wedge cutting jig a few days ago. 

accidental woodworker

 No TURP today. The doc called me yesterday around 1730 and apologized. He confused me with another patient and had scheduled us both for a TURP on the same day/appt. He said he will slice and dice me on May 8th. So I get a reprieve for a brief amount of time.

glued and cooked

Both of them are laying relatively flat on my not so flat cellar deck. They both laid flat on the tablesaw too. I am not going nutso on them and checking the bottom for twist with the sticks. These will be living on a carpet so no need to go down that road and chase my tail. 

not flush

Taking into consideration how I had to do this, the end result isn't that horrible. The stretcher is cocked - one end is proud and the other top end is below the top of the rail. I flushed and feathered both ends on the top only. I left the underside as is.

Houston, we have a problem....

Before I could even check the 2nd stretcher I could see that it was off. Both ends of it were off on opposite sides of the rail centerline.

off the centerline

It looks like I screwed up drilling the holes in the rail on both ends of the centerline. That aside, both ends of this stretcher were equally proud on both ends.

the fix

At that the start of this I thought I would only have to saw one end free but that didn't happen. This is where I saw that both ends were on opposite sides of the centerline. Sawed off the stretcher and shitcanned it.

snug fit

Got a spacer on the left to align it with the rail centerline. The two other clamps are to hold the stretcher in place while I drilled a couple of countersunk holes in it.

2nd table

I made a road trip to Lowes to get some poplar to make the banding for the 2nd table. The first one is clamped and cooking. Got the two short legs glued and cooking here.

I used pin nails to secure the bandings to the plywood. They weren't up to pulling the banding tight to it so I had to help it with clamps.

came today

New one on the left, old and bent shaft one on the right. I have seven bent spin wheels in my junk drawer. I don't know what alloy of brass this is but I wonder why LN uses it for the spin wheels? It takes nothing to bend the threaded shaft on it. I dropped one on the workbench and it bent it. There must be reason for using the brass alloy in the blockplanes. The same headache happens with the smaller LN 102 and 103 handplanes. The only LN blockplane I have that survived a bounce test with Mr Concrete Floor and not bend the spin wheel is my small violin plane.

quit after this

Ran into a couple of hiccups on banding this table. The first one was putting one short leg on the wrong way. I noticed it while clamping and I was able to knock it back off. I got lucky and I was able to reuse it.

The 2nd hiccup was I noticed that I had a gap on one of the miters. Saw that about 5 minutes after I had clamped it. I'll have to deal with that headache in the AM. Killed the lights after seeing this and headed topside.

accidental woodworker

 I called the urology clinic at 1330 today because I still hadn't had from the surgery scheduler. I have an appointment on the 25th for what I thought was the removal of the catheter. Instead I was told by the person at the clinic that the 25th was the surgery day. However, comma, my pre op instructions clearly say that the surgery is to be performed on the 22nd, which is tomorrow. I was still ringing chimes at 1530 causing a lot of confusion with the clinic. By 1630 I still hadn't heard anything back on it.

one coming out and another going in

The left one feels solid and sturdy. I'm impressed with how tight the ends of the rails are against the legs. One more table to glue and clamp up.

WL Fuller

It was a 7 minute ride to there from my house and that was also going through a construction zone to get there. I got the three number drills that I broke replaced and got a #1, #2, and #3 phillips driver. Been looking for this length for a while. Picked up a free catalog and I was amazed at how much stuff they sell. I assumed that they only sold countersink and tapered screw driver bits. I already picked out a few toys that I can't live without that I'll get next week.

teeny bits

I got two each of the bits I was replacing. It doesn't take much for bits this small to snap in two. My OCD calmed down once I filled in the missing spots.

done

Got the 3 of them nailed off and now its off to finishing. I will be using the new tung oil stuff I got in the can followed with a couple of coats of the tung oil wax.

two coats of wax

I can't really smell the citrus aroma but maybe I am used it to. The color didn't change much - deepen - but it does feel soft to the touch. I am kind of liking this finish for these boxes. I can feel in my bones though that one upcoming japanese box will be getting some shellac.

double triple checking

At first I didn't understand this because the two square lines on either side of the rail centerline are a 1/2" off. That puts the center of the drill bushing directly on the rail centerline but only on the left one. Then I saw the me-steak I had made. Rather then aligning the drill block with the offset 1/2" line, I aligned it on the rail center line. At least now I know how I screwed it up but that probably won't stick in the brain bucket and I could do it again.

getting easier

This clamping arrangement worked the best. I was able to drill both of the holes without having to fumble around with the clamps. I have noticed that with tricky and awkward clamping situations that they seem to get better and easier each time I do them.

dry fit

Got it right this time and the two tables are almost identical. There is no way that I can see a difference in them standing 4 feet away.

wee bit off

The back legs aren't exactly flush with each other but certainly close enough. I am more than satisfied with how the two of these tables turned out.

first time use

I have had this buffing thing for a couple of years now and never used before today. That was mostly because I don't use a finish that requires buffing much. I wanted to see if it would make any difference with the finish on this box which has two coats of the tung oil and wax concoction. News flash - if it did I didn't see it. I could see some finish on the bonnet after I got done but that was it. Maybe it would buff up a shine if it was just wax and not anything else.

epoxy

I would have liked to have removed the broken screw but that wasn't possible without destroying the lid. So I will have to rely on glue and one screw holding the fixed wedge on. The epoxy is doing nothing more than holding the broken screw head in the countersink.

banding

Two short and two long. I will glue on two short ones and one long side first. Then I will plane the miters on the last long one until it fits.

156

Because I had to add a couple of inches to the short side, the required tile count is now 156 vice the original 140. The rows are now 12 X 13 and I have enough to make up for the shortfall.

working on the first one

These bandings are the same thickness as the original ones but these are 3/4" high. That gives me about a 1/8" above the tiles. After I get the tiles installed I can then plane the height down closer to the tiles. 

hmm......

I have settled on how I want to attach the table top to the legs. I am going to use epoxy along with either cut nails or screws. I can't think of any other way of attaching the top so it can be removed if needed for repairs, etc. So I'll go with the flow and secure it the best way I can.

accidental woodworker

 Yesterday I glued up two frames for one table. Today I got the bottom stretcher glued on it and cooking - first table is together and it will be out of the clamps in the AM. I got two frames on the 2nd one clamped and glued. I am letting them all cook 24hrs. This is my first time using dowels to assemble a four sided project. I want to err on the side of caution.

ready to road test

The glue has set up and I was itching to see how well this will perform. It will handle a width of zero up to 1 5/8" and a length of over 7 inches. Based on the scale of japanese boxes I'm doing now this will cover the range of wedges needed. I'm not sure how long it will last - it will be sawn into making wedges. No problem as this is made from scraps and only took about 15 minutes to make.

needed help

I went into this thinking that I could hold the bottom from moving while sawing the wedge. I was wrong and after just the scoring cut, I couldn't hold it in place and saw. I used a screw to do the 'clamping' duties.

done

No problems sawing it. It took some concentration to get the angle started and follow it through from one end to the other. Off the saw it looks consistent and not rough sawn looking. That surprised me I was expecting the faces of the angles to be ragged out more than they were. BTW used a rip gents saw to do this.

smoothing the faces

4-5 strokes on 120 grit got both faces baby butt smooth.

they are laying flat

The fact that both parts are laying flat tells me that I didn't saw a twisted/corkscrew angle. The angle on the ends is gap free too. I'll save this wedge for a future box.

underside

I used plywood to hold the flange bolts. I didn't want to mortise them in plywood. This way when this jig gets trashed I easily remove and reuse them.

center stretcher

Dry fitted and clamped the long top rails. Got the length for the stretcher directly between the end rails. Before I did that I had checked all four legs were square to the rails.

I didn't forget

Three times was the charm again. I drilled the hole a 1/2" deep. I didn't want to drill any deeper and risk blowing out the bottom of the hole when I seated the dowels.

not much real estate

The space was tight and it was difficult to tighten the clamps. I had to reposition the clamp on the drill block twice, once for each hole drilled. 

glued and cooking

I did a dry fit first to make sure that I had got the stretcher done correctly. I got my lay out lines done and everything else after that fell into place. It is easy for me to confuse myself on this. The layout lines had to agree so the center of the stretcher was on the center of the rail.

????

This ain't looking good boys and girls. I would have bet a lung that I had checked this and got a green light on it. This top is burnt toast because it isn't wide enough.

?????

The length is good but why? Did I just check the length and not the width? I don't think even I would have done something that bone headed. I'm sure that I'll find another use for these two.

2nd stretcher

I was going to try and glue the stretcher and long rails but nixed it (the short rails were still cooking). Instead I got the length and drilled the holes for the dowel pins.

sigh

The one thing I avoided on the first table, I didn't on the second one. I drilled the holes in one rail on the wrong side. Two things I should have done that I didn't. Wait until the AM to do this and since I didn't do that, erase a layout line that bit me on the arse.

won't cover them

I didn't drill the new holes and I'll wait and do that tomorrow. However, with the new holes the stretcher will only cover half of the the errant ones. One me-steak so far ain't too bad on the score card. This is my first time building with dowels and I only have two holes to (re)drill. 

Tuesday is my scheduled TURP and I was supposed to be notified two days ahead of that as to the time to be at the hospital. Got nothing on friday which I was expecting and if I don't hear anything by lunchtime on monday I'll call the clinic and ring some chimes. Tuesday I don't think I'll get any shop time but I should be ok for the rest of the week. The doc said I could do my normal routine.

accidental woodworker

Several weeks ago, I bought a yardlong picture at an antique shop. Finding a frame to fit the picture is next to impossible, so I knew I had to make one.

I looked around for some wood and found a piece of ash from a project I made a few years ago. Ash is not the ideal wood to use with molding planes as it has a lot of moving grain. Preferably poplar or mahagony would be the ideal wood, but ash is what I have.

I ran my complex molding plane over the board and slowly cut the profile in the wood. It took about 20-30 minutes for me to cut the profile.

I then took the board over to the table saw and ripped the molding 1″ wide.

I didn’t want the sides of the frame to be flat, so I carefully gouged out the middle, starting with carving gouge, then switched over to my No 6 hollow plane. Then I finished up with a piece of sand paper wrapped around a 1/2″ dowel.

I cut the rabbets for the frames on the table saw. I made three moldings that were longer than what I needed. I wasn’t concerned about the ends of the molding because I was going to cut them away anyway.

Using my Stanley No 150 Miter Box and my miter trimmer, I cut the piece out.

The molding pieces are now looking like a frame.

After I cut all the pieces, I dried fitted them together to see how the corners met. If they needed attention, I would carve and sand the ends to meet each other.

The final frame looks pretty good. Now it’s up to my wife, Anita, if she wants to stain or paint it.

This is the first time this year where I have had time to work in the shop, and it felt great. My job keeps me busy during the week, and the weekends are often antique hunting with Anita. I’m glad I had the time yesterday.

Happy Easter!

 Today was beautiful summer day even though it is spring. Tons of sunshine, blue skies filled with fluffy clouds, with a gentle breeze blowing. The odd thing is the mercury got pushed up all the way to 82F (28C). The forecast was cloudy skies and temps considerably lower than 82. It was hard to work in the shop and I spent an extra 1/2 hour on my post lunch stroll. It was 71F (22C) when I left and 77F (25C) when I got back to the barn. If this weather continues I might be spending more time outside doing battle with the ivy invasion.

YIKES

This was going to be my shop pencil box but not anymore. I saw an open box with these pencils in them and decided to how they looked in this one.

bit me on the arse

The pencil can fit in the box because I used one of these to make sure it was long enough. What I didn't figure into the equation were the fixed cleats on each end. I even tried to get the pencil in by trying it diagonally but the pencil was still too long. Looking like this will be used for something else.

yuk

I am glad that notching the lid didn't work out for me. This looks like crap out of the box. With it installed the notches are hidden. But take it out and they say hello and want to shake your hand.

tile table rails

I shaved a wee bit off the wider poplar rails and then sawed the pine ones to the same length.

layout

I eyeballed the height for the lower rails. The lower rails will be like the pic Amanda gave me. Two short rails with a center stretcher - no long rails.

checking the fit

The more I use the dowel max, the more I am impressed with it. It is dead simple to use which works wonders with a brain dead idiot like me. I double, triple, checked the position a bazillion times before I drilled the holes. The back up plan was if I screwed it up, I would put long side rails in too.

stretcher dowel holes

According to the instruction book these dowel holes are called 'T' holes. Dowel Max sells a 'T' holder plate and I ordered one but it won't be here until the 30th. I ain't waiting for it so I'm going to try and find a work around. 

This bar of guide bushings is for 3/8 diameter dowel pins. I unscrewed 2 of them and replaced them with the 1/4" drill guide bushings. The next step was determining the offset between the center of the bushings and the outside edge of the holder bar.

hmm......

I didn't think I would have any hiccups with clamping the holder bar and drilling two holes. The Dowel Max jig does well with just one of the clamps holding it - doesn't move or wiggle during drilling at all. I squared a line across, aligned the holder bar, and drilled two holes.

looks awkward

Nothing bad happened. I drilled the two holes and the holder didn't budge a frog hair. I don't anticipate any headaches when it comes time to drill the holes in the rails - I just need to do 8 of them. Note to self - pay special attention not to drill the holes in the rails too deep. You only have 3/4" of meat.

3 times was the charm

The two on the right I did first. The outside edge of the 1/4" hole is 3/8" in from the outside edge of the holder bar. I did the top one first just to get that measurement and I confused the offset when drilling the two holes beneath the top ones.

The two holes on the top right are right on the money. The center of the 1/4" hole is 1/2" from the outside edge of the holder bar. I should have measured that from the git go but wandered into La La land convinced drilling the holes and then measuring them was the way to go.

lines up dead nuts

The center of the holes on the stretcher aligned perfectly with the 'T' holes in the rails. Ready to whack this out once I size the center stretcher(s).

saving it

I put this with the tile table stock so I don't lose it or use it for something else. BTW the 1/2" offset is the same whether it is on the left or the right of the layout line.

too close

I measured the dowel holes and the pins and they are too close. There isn't any wiggle room if one is a few frog hairs longer. I sawed all the 2" pins by taking off a 16th off them.

dry fit

Making sure that the reveals on the rails are the same. The inside is a 16th wider than the outside face. This was also to check the length of the pins was good - all four rails closed up tight on the legs.

The glue up will done in two stages. The first one is gluing the short rails and letting them cook until the AM. Then I'll dry fit the long rails and get the length of the center stretcher. The center stretcher and the long rails will have to be glued in one operation together.

before the glue up

I got one coat of wax on one of the boxes. It has a nice, pleasant orange aroma to it. Went on easy - used a piece of an old Tee shirt. After I got the tile tables glued up I buffed out the wax.

wedge sawing jig

This is the adjustable fence for the jig. The sliding fence will be held in place with a pair of toilet flange bolts.

cooking

I think this will work. The jig will hold the 'wedge' at the front and a sides. I'll have to hold the bottom end of it with my off hand. That should work due to the top and sides being held captive. I did a dry run before I glued it and I'm optimistic that it will be good to go. I'll find out in the AM.

they're getting nails

I would have done them today but I didn't have any small drill bits. I broke four numbered drill bits drilling holes. I'm lucky in that WL Fuller is right around the corner from me and they sell all manner of drill bits, including letter and number drill bits. I will go there on monday to replace my broken bits.

hmm.....

There is a little color difference - the big one has one coat of wax and the one on top of it has no wax. The waxed one is smoother to the touch and still had a faint citrus smell to it. I plan on putting one more coat of wax on it in the AM and calling it done. I'll wash, rinse, and repeat for the other two.

accidental woodworker

A few minutes past 1500 I finished up my last batch of 3 japanese tool boxes. It didn't go smoothly and I hit a few rough places. Overall it was another learning experience on how much I still don't know or understand about the offset wedges. I got bit on the arse again several times over doing the 3 sets of wedges but in the end I won. Three more are coming but I am going to take a break from that and work on the tile tables first.

I had to

I didn't like having to notch the lids to fit and especially didn't like how they looked. Decided to bandsaw off as much of the cleats as I could. Planed the remaining away with the #3.

two ready to go

I am leaving the bottom box as is. It is done and it just needs the cleats/wedges trimmed to final length. I have too many calories invested in it to start again from square #1.

the bigger one is twisted

I didn't need the sticks to tell me this one was twisted - I could see it without them. The smaller one didn't have any twist at all.

how much to allow?

I measured the other boxes and how much they had here. I made the cleat wide enough to extend a 1/2" beyond the inboard face of the post.

Lowes road trip

The only 1/4" thick solid wood that Lowes sells now is in poplar. They used to sell it in pine, maple, and red oak but not anymore. Bought a 6" wide pine board for the lids and four 1 1/2" wide boards for wedges and cleats.

need two lids

 What to do, what to do? I have sufficient stock to get both lids out of either the poplar or pine boards. Flipped a coin and it was poplar for the small box and pine for the large one.

fitted

Got both lids fitted to width and left long in the length. I got the fixed cleats on the ends of both boxes glued and clamped. I'll drive home brass nails as the last step in the build.

let the fun commence

I tried to do the first set of wedges with the LN 102 and the angles were wildly different from each other. I screwed on a bent spin wheel and did the second one with the LN 60 1/2. This came out acceptable. What I was looking for was the angle was reasonably close (complimentary) and they laid flat against each other. The big headache with doing these wedges is their size. They are roughly a 1/3 smaller than the previous boxes were. Difficult and awkward to hold and plane an angle on them.

need a jig

Thought of making a angled sled to cut these on the bandsaw but opted for this style. With this one I used the gents saw and it will give a smoother sawn face than the bandsaw. I want to be able to use the wedges off the saw.

This is the first step in designing it. Next was figuring out how to secure the stock so I could saw it in half.

hmmm......

I wanted to make this so it is reusable but after flailing about like a maroon I stopped and I'm went for just making the two I need right now.

done

Survived sawing out the first one. I wonder if this would have better holding power if I used this directly off the saw. I sanded each face smooth on my 120 grit sanding block.

can't complain

The angles lay on each other without any gaps. I like doing the wedges this way but I have to figure out a much better way to secure this while sawing it. I also have some thoughts on making it adjustable for different width wedges.

this end first

One thing at least has become muscle memory now. The wedge end of the lid is what gets inserted first. I tried yesterday several times to do it by inserting the fixed cleat end. 

3/8"

 I measured the lids I've done so far and they have a 3/8" inset on the fixed cleat end of the lid. On the wedge end it is about the same 3/8". As a starting spot I've been making the lids about 7/8" longer than the distance between the fixed cleats on the top of the box.

sigh

The wedge goes in too far. The big problem I've had with the wedges has been this - they fit, there aren't any gaps, but the wedge goes in too far before it closes up and locks against the fixed wedge. This is frustrating because all the reasonable thoughts I have had on 'fixing' it ain't working so far.

this one fits

I used one of the wedges I made yesterday for the boxes. It took a few minutes planing and checking before it fit.

how?

I'm screwing through poplar into pine. How does a brass screw shear off in this? I set the head aside and I'll epoxy it on later. I glued and screwed this so I can't remove the other screw and the cleat.

don't like it

I thought the contrast between the lid and the box would be complimentary but IMO it isn't. I should have put a pine lid on it keeping it homogeneous. 

will it work?

Getting ready to glue the fixed wedge on the lid. Thinking that if I position it so that the wide end is closer to the outside edge the tighter the fit will be on the removable wedge there. If I thought this out correctly it should leave most of the fatter end of the moveable wedge hanging out in the air.

sigh

Don't understand this at all. This fit with some overhang and now it is in too far.

the result

This sucked all the wind out of sales. I really thought I would be smiling but I wasn't. At this point I was looking at making two new wedges.

got lucky again

I was able to use another wedge I had made yesterday to fit this.

leaving it long

I sawed the fixed wedge flush to the outside and I sawed just a wee bit off the wide end of the moveable wedge.

had a gap

This is the fixed, straight cleat on the lid and there was a tapered gap here. It was open a few frog hairs at the top and tight on the opposite end. I planed the tight end until the gap evened out top to bottom.

drat, and double triple drat

Planing the fixed cleat caused the moveable wedge to be short. I only took a few wispy shavings off the fix cleat and the wedge moved in about a 1/4".

quitting time

Papa, Mama, and Baby boxes are done tormenting me. Mama's box needs a new moveable wedge but I didn't feel like playing with it anymore.

done

I killed the lights but before I got to the stairs I turned back and made a new wedge. For this one I made it a 1/8" wider than its opening. I planed and checked it until it fit. Once I got that I worked on closing up the angle. Left this long too and I think I'll do that on any future box. Having it long makes it easier to remove it breaking the wedging action.

ready for finish

I'm debating now whether or not to nail off the top. I kind of like the bare look but I do like shiny brass. I'll decide on that in the AM. 

accidental woodworker

Last year I took my 7 year old son with me when I went lumber shopping. The Carpentry Store in Kildare is open Saturday mornings. They have a far better wood selection than anywhere local to me. Saturday mornings usually have something else going on, so making the trip is a bit of a treat for me. I picked up some maple, some walnut, a nice large board of yew. My 5 year old spotted the Purpleheart and was fascinated with it. He insisted it come home with us. I had no particular need of it. The board was about 3 feet long, 8 inches wide and 2 inches thick. It had a large crack running down the centre and was pretty cheap as a result. I bought it just to make him happy, and its been sitting in a corner of my workshop ever since.

My wife is the editor for the dead people society that she belongs to. She went to lunch today with the former editor whose husband was a woodworker who sadly had died 17 years ago. She still has his stash of wood and has offered it to me free of charge. I just have to drive up, load it, and take it home with me. Hopeful that I'll get enough for one the grandson's desks. If not that maybe I can get all the secondary wood for a desk(s) from it.

go/no go gauge

After my post lunch stroll I took this to ACE hardware and I bought some 1/4" dowel rods. (I also put two 1/4" holes on the opposite end.) I checked the fit of two dowel rods in all four holes for a snug fit and brought them home.

2nd coat

I'm calling the finish done with these 3. If the subsequent wax coat didn't have tung oil I think I might have done a 3rd one. Two final coats of the wax should put the check mark in the done column.

last one

Got the lid fitted on the last box and I left it long. I have the wedges roughed out and I need one more cleat for this box. After that one is glued on I'll be able to get the final length of the lid.

dead straight

I was super surprised by how straight not only these two were, but the rest of the 1/4" dowels in the rack. Usually these are an inch shy of being a pretzel shape.

54 two inch long dowel pins

I was going to make only the 24 I need but sawed both of the rods entirely. I am thinking now that I will repeat this rather than playing craps with buying dowel pins on line.

hmm......

Ran into a hiccup. This end of the lid couldn't go in far enough so I had to notch the ends to bypass the 'posts'. I could have avoided this if I had made the two fixed top end cleats a 1/4" wider. When I had sized them I didn't see this as a hiccup. Instead I made them a width that looked good to my eye.

humbled again

Made a major miscalculation on the length of the lids. All 3 of them came out too short. I confused myself on which end goes in first - its the end with the wedges - that goes in first and then you tuck in the opposite end (with the fixed straight cleat) under the opposite end top fixed cleat. Along with the post miscalculation, I now had 3 useless lids for the burn pile.

saving one

This lid is too short for the original box it was made for but it is too long for this one. Both of these are the same height and width but are different lengths.

not quite

Initially I thought I had salvaged one box but it wasn't so boys and girls. I had the wedges laying dry where they will be and the fit is good. That changed after I glued the fixed half of the wedge to the lid. Because of the posts I had to saw the length a few frogs hairs too many to allow for clearance. The lid ended up a tapered 32nd too short. So one teeny piece of the lid was catching under the cleat but not enough.

1/4" poplar

I can get the other two lids from this. I prefer to use 3/8 but these two are small scale boxes and this thickness will work. Based on previous experience with green poplar this fade and change to a brownish color with exposure to sunlight. Not sure if tung oil will have any effect on keeping it this color. That would be a nice contrast between it and the white pine.

thinking out loud

To my minds thinking, fixing this would involve removing the two fixed cleats. Currently they are just glued on, no nails yet so it wouldn't be too hard to make them go away. However, I am going to try and make new lids and attempt to get them done without having to notch the corners.

humph......

The lid is barely catching the front edge of the top cleat. The wedge does work but I was able to push upward on the wedges and pop the lid off. 

maybe?

I want to get at least one box done. This is a thin off cut that has enough thickness to put the other end under the cleat.

glued and cooking

I didn't check this dry and I should have. Instead I glued and clamped it for 10 minutes and then tried the fit of the lid.

it worked

I had screwed the fixed wedge and the fixed cleat with a couple of 1/2" screws. I don't like the thought of relying just on the glue bond. Especially the moveable wedge which will exert some force on the fixed wedge.

Humbled again with a simple build. But I learned something new with these. Maybe someone else isn't confused with the sliding lid and how it is secured, but for the second time it bit me on the arse. Hopefully there aren't any more variations on this that I have discover and commit to memory. I really thought muscle memory would have cut in and saved my bacon. It would appear it is on an extended coffee break. Maybe I should bring some donuts to the next build. 

Had to order two new spin wheels for my LN 60 1/2 blockplane. I use this plane almost as much as I use my LN 102. Both planes are low angle and 60 1/2 excels at planing end grain. One tidbit with them is if they are dropped the threaded shaft on the spin wheel will bend. I have dropped both the 102, 60 1/2, and #9 around 5-6 times and the spin wheel bent every time. Regardless of how the plane hits and lands.

The planes have survived the multiple bounce tests with Mr Concrete floor over the years without barely a whimper. At one time Lie Nielsen replaced the spin wheels free of charge but now they cost $20. Today I had to order two of them. I rarely use the #9 (use it for spares - iron and spin wheel) and I had taken the spin wheel from it and put it in the 60 1/2. While putting the 60 1/2 away last night I dropped it again and bent that spin wheel. Almost $60 to get them and fingers crossed that I'll have it by saturday.

accidental woodworker

 As I was thinking about my opening paragraph I realized that I hadn't checked the 2nd dowel test joint yet. In fact I can't remember where I put it. I'll have to head down to the shop after dinner and find it. My curiosity is in overdrive wanting to know how it came out. News update and pics upcoming.

figured it out

The plastic ring on the can is what I thought it was - a shipping thing to ensure the lid didn't come off while in transit. It took some calories to pry it off with the slip joint pliers.

they screw together

Here it the pic of them together Frank. From the Container store in the desk stuff aisles. I didn't know that the Container store had just gotten out of bankruptcy. That would explain why the store didn't look as fully stocked as it did the last time I was there.

neat product

I like that these can be stacked together securely. Being able to see what is in each container is a bonus too.

one coat

This stuff is about the same as Clancy's oil IMO with the exception that this has a citrus smell to it. I think I'm going to put on one more coat along with a coat of wax from the same maker. That contains tung oil too. I have plenty of time to apply it and let it cure. The instructions state to wait 2-3 days after applying the last coat before using.

3 new ones

Two of these 3 are going to be pencil boxes. I think these are a better size vice the larger ones I made for the grandsons. The third one is an extra so I decided to make it to the size of the stock - it is too short to be used as a pencil box.

new method

I am going to make these 3 the same way as I did the grandsons boxes but with a new twist. On the previous I measured and used a pencil line to set the 'posts'. On these I used the actual end piece to set the 'post'. Did it this way because neither of the grandson's boxes had the ends flush.

2nd step

I glued and clamped the ends and set them aside to set up. Previously I applied glued and nailed them after setting the posts in place. The idea here was to get the ends set and somewhat secure and then drill and drive the nails home. That took out the potential 'shift' of the ends as I nailed them.

ready to glue the ends

The two smaller boxes are getting a solid pine bottom. The larger one (on the right) is getting a 1/8" plywood bottom. I didn't have any thin pine wide enough for a bottom.

one down, two to go

I could see the benefit of doing this right away. It didn't add that much more to the time line neither.

now I wait

I waited 20 minutes after the 3rd one was glued and clamped before I worked on the first one again. That was a sufficient amount of wait time and I had no problems driving the nails on any of them.

oops

Another thing I wanted to do first was to sand the long sides because they have the nails. I forgot to do that so I sanded it now before drilling and driving the nails. I was a little leery about this but the box survived the ordeal.

 

almost dead nuts

All three of the box diagonals were bit more than a 32nd and less than 16th from agreeing.

largest one

I glued the bottoms on and let them cook for 30 minutes. After that I nailed off the bottom. I flushed the bottoms on two of the boxes with one more to go. I am going to use this one as a pencil box for my shop pencils.

lights out

It was 1505 and decided to wait and do the last box in the AM.

couldn't wait

I went back to the shop just before dinner to find this. I went searching for it and I couldn't find it. I was looking for something in clamps and I didn't use any on this go around. Walked by it twice without noticing it.

Mr Lumpy

That is my name for this and I was anxious to see how this would fare an assault with it.

two whacks

It broke apart and initially I was a bit bummed out by that. But after I looked at the two pieces I was smiling.

the pins held

The dowels pins didn't give up the ship. I am thinking now that maybe I should have put some glue on the faces too. It might have taken a few extra love taps from Mr Lumpy if I had. I'll buy some 1/4" dowel rods and make a boatload of 2" dowel pins so I can glue up the tile tables.

accidental woodworker

 I finally finished the woodworking on the 3 japanese style boxes. No tricky joinery, just butt joints that were nailed and screwed. Surprisingly it still takes a bit of skill and patience to execute these. I went into it with an inflated head and got bit on the arse. I made a parade of me-steaks but fortunately none rendered what I was working on to firewood bin.

I'm still not done with making these. I have made 3 so far and how many more will come is anyone's guess. I'm thinking at least 15-20 to start. I am still somewhat surprised with all the ones I'm seeing on You Tube - they all use simple construction methods. I still haven't seen one that is dovetailed together. Doing one that way is in the top 3 of the next batch to come from my shop.

not the elves

I came back to the shop after dinner and glued on the back cleat on both boxes. I also roughed out the two wedge cleats. Getting all that put together is what was in the batters box this AM.

one needs some help

The top one needs to be trimmed/fitted/shortened and the bottom one has a gap that I had to close up.

I like

Happy with the fit but not the length. In trimming it to fit, that caused the wedge to seat further and further inward. I got lucky with it in that the bottom (by my thumb) ended up almost flush with the face of the side. When I pushed it fully it went in about a 16th too far.

me-steak

I put the screws on the wrong side of the lid. It isn't a deal killer but I wanted them to be on the underside. I used screws because I didn't want to rely solely on the glue keeping the cleats attached.

You can see the wedge cleat is too far inward now so I had to make another one. I took one too many swipes cleaning it up.

ran them proud

I tried to get the cleats glued to lid to length but I gave up on it. Decided instead to run it long and trim it after the glue had set. I trimmed them flush with a low angle blockplane.

sigh...

While fitting the wedge I found out that I had put the fixed one in the wrong orientation. I was able to pop it off and the screws for this one were on the underside. Now they were swapped to the top and match the other box. And I had to make the wedge over again because when I trimmed it to fit, it ended up being too short. 

container store goodies

The store doesn't sell the small plastic boxes anymore. I had to settle for these which came in 3 sizes. I bought two each of the smallest ones. They have twist on/off lids and they twist and lock together. 

new lid

I decided to make a new lid after removing the glued on cleat didn't want to cooperate.

on to the fourth one

Fitting the wedges wasn't the problem. I was having no problems fitting them snug and with no gaps. The headache was once I achieved the fit the wedge would be too short. I was making them initially an inch longer but I was ending up on the short end with them. I made the 4th one 2" longer than necessary.

hmmm.....

That idea worked and the wedge is a wee bit long now. However, I think that is a good idea for the grandsons. I am going to make the wedges for their boxes to extend beyond the sides. That should give them a helping hand with removing them.

this is aggravating

The fit of the last wedge I had to do was the shortest one so far. Good fit between the wedge angles and no gaps but no cigar yet.

not the next one

I think this was the 3rd one I did before it fit and extended past the sides.

save them or toss them?

These are some of the wedges that didn't make it. I tried to come up with a formula or some way to determine the required length but came up dry. What seemed to work was making it 2" longer and then trimming it to the final length.

done (almost)

The big one is done with the sanding and is ready for the finish. The two smaller ones I have to sand the ends. I didn't sand it before I nailed it together so sanding in and around all the nails is going to be a Royal PITA.

duh

This is the finish I want to use and I was stumped. I don't know how to open the can? I tried (what I think are the obvious ways) and nada. I am assuming that under the plastic thing that there is a run of the mill metal can with a lid. The trick is how to remove said plastic lid thing?

my back door

The back door and the door directly behind it were the old porch. The board about 3/4 of the way up from the floor goes from behind the door jamb and continues to the left.

nothing surprises me about this house anymore

The board runs behind the closet door and dead ends on the back wall. I ran into the same headache when I removed the base board too. 

another )(#&%)(*)#@ headache

It looks to me like the ceiling is about 1/2 way down on the top molding on the door. Getting this door replaced has the potential to turn into a class A (*@^%$)P(_+@(%_*@#%_@%(@ cluster ________ - fill in an expletive of your choice. I'll find out tomorrow how this goes and how much more money it will cost me.

accidental woodworker

 This AM was the first day of the current month where the sun was shining at sunrise and it wasn't hidden by gray clouds. It turned out to be a nice spring day where the temp almost got up to 70F (21C). I got in my post lunch stroll and I didn't feel like going to the shop after it. There will be more nice days and I wanted to finish the 3 japanese toolboxes I was making. A new to me woodworker showed up on You Tube and I copied how he made his box. Turned out to be the perfect model to follow for pencil box. 

unintelligible pic

Nothing about this pic was ringing a bell with me. Based on the size of the quick grip clamp it isn't something related to the japanese toolboxes. Maybe it was about the tile tables? Nope, it is the dowel test joint I glued up yesterday.

nope again

The test joint I glued up yesterday didn't last long. It took almost nothing to break the two pieces apart. At this point here I was able to pull it apart with hands. 

nada

I tried to pull out the pins on the left out with pliers and they held fast. The pins let go coming out of the holes on the right like they weren't glued at all. I am not going to chance these dowel pins working on the tile tables.

did better

I didn't go Cro Magnon with the pliers this time. The grooves aren't as deep and pronounced as the ones I did yesterday. I made up 3 pins from the ones I sawed up yesterday on the bandsaw.

new test joint

I used 3 dowel pins (from a 1/4" dowel rod) to mimic the 3 pins on the tile table rails. I also minimized the face grain to face grain contact on two test pieces. I put glue in the holes and brushed on a light coat on the pins. I'll check this one in the AM.

finishing up the first one

This side has the largest gaps on this box. I sanded and planed all the fingers flush at the corners. I filled all the gaps in with wood putty. I am going to use the new tung oil finish I bought on this box and the grandsons' pencil boxes.

99% done

I have to wait for the wood putty to set up before I can sand it. I should be able to get the finish on it in the AM.

once it is dry......

This is done. One coat of oil based primer done by me. Color coat to be picked and done by Amanda or Seth. It is looking like I'll have a pile of goodies going south to NC in august.

good tip

I was going to use a shallow (1/8" deep) dado to seat the ends in but I used this instead. This is the method used in the You tube vid I watched this morning twice. I glued these 'posts' in place with super glue and yellow glue.

zooming along

I seldom make things in pairs but I'm doing it for these pencil boxes. This way both Miles and Leo will be getting almost identical boxes. Amanda told me that they like getting matching things be it clothes or toys or......

I got the two fixed cleats glued and nailed in place on both boxes. Both have their respective bottoms glued and clamped too.

I only have two of these boxes under my belt but I can already see an area to improve on. The lid for these two I left snug. I will wait until I have the fixed wedge and lid closure cleats glued and cooked before I plane the lid to fit a bit looser.

On the first two lids, they are both too loose. I was in a rush to get them done and I didn't plane and check - I eyeballed and ripped them on the tablesaw instead.

ready to go

Got the last 3 cleats rough sawn to length. I'm thinking now that maybe I should make this lid loose for the grandsons. Them having to deal with a piston fit might be aggravating and they won't use them? I'll have to think about that overnight.

Container store road trip?

The packages the brass pins came in are garbage. I thought I had a boatload of these plastic boxes but I only found these 3. My wife told me that I had given them to her and she wasn't parting with them. I'll have to make trip to the store tomorrow.

accidental woodworker

The Guildhall Walk in Totnes now has a new red front door.

We re-used the original heavy knocker and brass handle. Also re-used the existing stained glass of St. Mary's church. The door looks out on to the Guildhall Walk and St Mary's beyond (and the window perfectly matches the view).

There has been a lot of footfall this week, as the re-modelling of St. Mary's is happening and pedestrian's shortcut through the church grounds has been blocked. There has been much admiration of the new door.

The Guildhall Walk has some crazy rooflines and is usually a peaceful respite from Totnes High St on market day. 

The door has a new Greenheart step/cill. This ancient piece of very hardy timber was most likely a part of Plymouth Docks a long time ago. It then sat in a local barn for many years, before I came by it recently. It's not going to rot in a hurry. Greenheart cill, bronze red water-based paint from Little Greene.

Then over to tidy up, at Jasmin Cottage, where the lime rendering is now finished. Cracked cement render removal, repair of timber frame, insulation with ionic sheepwool and re-rendering in lime to match existing.

Then over to Torquay to survey another prospective job on this converted windmill.

 Haven't strolled for 3 days in a row. So far this april has been one of the crappiest I can recall. It is either raining, or it is cloudy, and to mix things up it alternates between them. The extended forecast doesn't show any improvement up till the end of the month. Should have a ton of may flowers to look at, maybe. The temps have been lower than normal for this time of the year though. I'm still having the heat come on - I usually shut it off in the first week of april but not this year.

nope

The pkgs of dowel pins (2" and 1 1/2") came in last night and I have sad, sad news. The 2" pins are loose in the holes and when checked, more fall out than those that stay put. I'm a little leery about using these for the table. The 1 1/2" pins were a slightly better fitting.

1/4" dowel rod

Decided to try and make my own dowel pins. I had a 2' long piece of dowel rod and I was able to saw off 16 pins. It wasn't enough but I can get a feel for it it will work or not.

grooved

Used the slip joint pliers to make grooves in a pin. It will take some practice before I get it right - I was a bit too aggressive with the first two.

a touch too snug

I didn't try to seat this dowel. I didn't have a warm and fuzzy that it wouldn't split the rail.

drat, and double triple drat

I checked all 100 of the pins and all 100 were loose. I didn't have one come close to being a friction fit.

measured 15 of them

All of them measured a frog hair over a 1/4" thick. These cost me $5 so I didn't lose too much on them. I recall Dowel Max saying something about looseness of the dowel pins causing problems.

need an angle

I watched Norm do the angle on the butler's tray but he didn't show how he did it. He just says that he determined it to be 27°. After clamping the base I am going on the assumption that the angle goes kitty corner from one outside 90° to the other. The ruler is lined up on that and it doesn't pass through the opposite corner of each leg.

second choice

The first choice was a protractor and I eyeballed the angle. Didn't like that so I set a bevel gauge to it checked it against my bevel angle monkey gauge. I couldn't get the bevel gauge to line up with any angle on it.

this one worked

This gauge confuses me royally. Is it 53° or 127°? Or could it be 37°?. I wrote down all three of them and made a drawing of the legs/base. I'll plug in the angles and use trigonometry to find out which angle is the one I need.

Lowes road trip

Last night I got an email from the 'Canadian Woodworker' on japanese tool boxes. He sent along 3 PDFs of drawings on them. I couldn't satisfy the itch and since I couldn't work on the tile tables I decided to make a couple of said boxes.

I think what I find so attractive about them is firstly their simplicity. There isn't any complicated joinery involved with them. Secondly I like the total lack of hardware. No hinges or clasps needed, everything you need to secure a box is done with wood. Lastly, and what I like a lot, is the lid detail. Making one of these is simpler and quicker to knock out then my beloved sliding lid box.

3rd pile

The Lowes stock will be used to make two pencil boxes for the grandsons. This pile are scraps that have been in the shop for a few years now. I'll make one out of this first to warm up for the pencil boxes.

before I left for Lowes

I couldn't get the dowel pins from bouncing around in the brain bucket. So I glued two of them in some scrap to see how they would glue and cook. I checked it after I got home and they felt solid. I pulled on them with pliers and nada. I can see a teeny gap on the left dowel pin but nothing on the right one. Maybe the glue swelled the pin a 64th to glue it almost 360 in the hole?

completing the test

Decided to glue the two pins together to see how that will shake out. I only put glue in the holes and brushed a thin coat on the pins. I tried to minimize how much glue would get on the faces of the two legs. The two mate only on about a 1/4" shared piece of the faces. I clamped this and set it aside until the AM. I fully intend to beat the snot of out it trying to break it apart then.

ready for primer paint

I checked it over and all the gaps, splintered edges, and other sins were all filled in and sanded smooth and flush. I primed the bottom and set it aside to dry. Tomorrow I'll prime the top and it will call it done. 

not anymore

I am not putting a center stretcher on the tile tables. With the outside long side rails the stretcher is not needed. Besides it doesn't look anything like the pic anymore.

yikes

This is what happens when you get distracted. Forgot about this and after sanding it, I couldn't tell what it was. I branded it again and initialed it. I did not prime this part of the table.

3 PDFs

The middle one is from Toshio Odate and it is the one I wanted. The first one is a small box that is about the size I wanted to make for the Grandsons. The weird looking color is due to my printer being low on one ink and almost zero on the other two.

new detail

I am going to put this 'T' stretcher detail on the bottom of the tile tables. I can't get past the possibility of legs doing stupid wood tricks. It is pine and I did think of getting poplar at Lowes but it is ridiculously overpriced IMO.

using dowel pins

I had an extra T stretcher part left over and I drilled it for pins. I wanted to make sure that the width of the rails (1 1/2") could be drilled with the Dowel Max. 1 1/2" is the minimum width for drilling two equidistant holes with the jig.

first box

This box size was dictated by the stock. I plan on making Toshio's full size box but not now. I don't have any 1x12 pine for that yet.

3 upcoming boxes

The middle and right piles are the grandsons boxes.

Tremont headless brads

The first japanese box I made I used one finger joint that I glued and nailed. Wasn't happy with this it this time because they turned out sloppy and with gaps. I was rushing and I paid the price for it. I wasn't expecting any hiccups with my sawing the vertical walls on the notches.

finger joinery

Glued and nailed the fingers with cut brads from Tremont nails.

sigh

The bottom is 1/4" thick poplar. I would have bet a lung that I had made the width of it a 1/4" wider than the box bottom width. The box is square - the diagonals were dead nuts on. One end of the bottom wasn't square and that is end I anchored and nailed first. I'll plane and sand this flush after it has cooked.

nope

I had eyeballed it this and I thought I was ok. It is too short on the width to use as the lid. I used a piece of 1/2" maple to get a new one.

got confused

I drew a complete blank on how assemble the cleats on the lid. Got the first box I made to bring me back up to speed.

hmmm......

Got the angle on the two correct along with a good fit right off the plane. However, they don't lie square on the lid. Couldn't figure out why initially. I had sawed the angle on two separate pieces of stock. You have to saw out the two on a single piece. Did that and got the fixed wedge to be square to the lid.

nailed it

The two wedges lie up against each other gap free and the outside wedge is square to the lid.

almost done

The lid works and locks down securely. I have to flush the ends of the wedge cleats to call this 100%.

not planned

I was going to veg out and watch the Firestick offerings this PM but I had an itch to scratch. Killed the lights here and headed topside.

accidental woodworker

The case has been together and it's time to work on the drawers. As a reminder here is a pic from the previous post:

Carcase waiting for drawers

First I resawed a wide piece of basswood to provide material for the drawer sides. After planing and jointing the bottom edge I plowed a groove for the drawer bottom. This time I remembered to plow the groove before crosscutting it into smaller pieces. That's less hassle than crosscutting first and then plowing five grooves in five pieces.

making groove in long piece of basswood

Then these pieces are individually planed to fit their spaces, and marked. They are all overly long and will be cut to length later.

planed to fit

Next I fit the drawer fronts. First they have to fit between the legs side-side before adjusting the up-down dimension. I crosscut them on the bandsaw and fine tune the ends with a shooting board. Then the top edge is planed to fit.

too tall fits but tight fits with penny gap

When planing the top of the drawers to fit I tried to keep a penny gap from the top edge of the drawer to the top edge of the rail.

pennies for spacing five drawer fronts fitted

Before joining the sides to the fronts I made drawer pulls. I have two previous projects in my house with similar pulls:

homemade drawer pull, about three inches long

I made them one at a time with a saw, chisel, and plane. Now that I need five I tried to shape a longer stick all at once and then cut them free. I used an old offcut as reference.

old offcut with walnut stock

I figured the underside was the most complicated part so started with that. I plowed a narrow groove and then used a shoulder plane to make a ramp. The outside curves were made with the shoulder plane, although any plane would work. The inside curve on the bottom was made with whatever worked - shoulder plane, chisels, gouges.

1/8" wide groove shoulder plane for angled cut roundover

The drawer pulls needed a tenon to match the mortises in the drawer fronts. I made those mortises with the domino and an 8mm bit.

overlapping domino mortises in drawer front

I made a shallow rabbet (a penny's thickness) on the top edge and then rabbeted the bottom edge until the tenon was 8mm thick.

my wood battens were too flexible drawer pull stock with 8mm tenon

Finally this long strip was marked to cut into five pieces. The ends of the pulls are angled with a 1:6 dovetail marker. After cutting free and cleaning up, the rectangular tenons had their ends filed to fit into the rounded mortises. Four out of five were a tight fit. I think glue alone will hold them as it's a long-grain to long-grain joint. The loose one I will probably wedge.

drawer pulls cut free and in progress rounding ends of tenon fit into mortise front view

For joining the sides to the fronts I anticipated using rabbets and nails. Then I realized that since the drawer sides were 3/4" shorter than the fronts, there would be an exposed rabbet at the top.

drawer front is taller than drawer side

So I am going with dovetails. It's a lot more work. I cut the dovetails with a dozuki and fretsaw out the waste. The laying out and transferring can use some work. Maybe by the time I'm making the last few I'll be more comfortable.

dovetails before cleaning up. basswood is fuzzy.

I have basswood set aside for the drawer backs. They will not be dovetailed as I like the idea of leaving the sides extending past the back. There is about 19" of depth in the case. If I set the back at 16" deep then the sides can extend 2-3" further. And 16" is a good number for cutting plywood. But I'm not making any commitments yet.

potential dimensions with back at 16"

For now I have to dovetail four more drawers.