General Woodworking

Things are on the upswing and I'm close to the apex. I'm pretty sure that I'll be painting tomorrow. I got the bottom fitted to my satisfaction and that was the last bit of woodworking to be checked off. I probably could have started today but I ran into a few hiccups this AM.

The first hiccup was or started at 0859. That is the time I got to the Post Office to mail a box out to my sister in Indiana. I was 4th in line. I left the Post Office at 0914 because the lobby still wasn't open. The lady first in line kept a running update on the clerks inside walking around ignoring her. I went home and asked my wife where another post office was. 

I went to the one in Garden City (I keep forgetting about this one) and I was in and out in seconds. What really rattled me was when I drove by the first Post Office going to Garden City the same people were still waiting to get in. When I drove home and went by it again the 3rd person in line was just leaving it. I guess customer service isn't a buzz word at this Post Office branch.

fitting the bottom door

I wasn't happy with the gap on the latch side. Tight at the top and tapering away at the bottom. From about the middle to the top it wasn't too bad. It was time to glue on another 'glued on thing'.

the snap catch

This is what (not this one) will keep the door closed and to open it. There is only about 3/8" of the snap latch to engage in the keeper on the cupboard edge.

last snap catches I installed

This is what I consider to be an acceptable gap between the snap catch and the keeper. On these two I have about 5/16" of the snap catch caught in the keeper. This is what I am shooting to have in the cupboard.

last eyeballing

The gap at the bottom is due to the cupboard there being out of square. The gap pops out in IMO. Although the rest of the gap is ok and the snap catch would work as is I put on another 'glued on thing'.

glued and cooking

After I got this done I journeyed out into La La Land with the USPS. 

worn out

I screwed into and out of these holes a bazillion times. The screws kept spinning when bottomed out. They needed to be filled so the final screws will have something solid to screw into and grab.

cocktail tooth picks

That is want they are called and they are a perfect fit for this size screw. It is a snug fit when they are bottomed out in the holes.

potential PITA

Painting over the shelf pin holes can be a huge problem to fix after the paint dries. It is not easy to clean out any drips that get in the holes and drilling them out again can cause tear out around the rim. The shelf pin cups may or may not (with may not in the majority) cover said tear out. If I only had a few of these I would use painters tape rolled up to fill the shelf pin holes. However, I have 60 of them to fill in and keep paint out of them. A 7/32 dowel fills the hole nicely with zero gaps around the circumference.

roughly an inch

I didn't need these to long - just enough to fill in the hole with enough to grab and pull them out. I put this pin in the chuck to sand it down as it was a 1/4" and I need a 7/32 dowel. This didn't work as well as I thought it would. I thought I had sanded too much off but I hadn't as it wouldn't fit in the hole. And the chuck had deformed it and the sanded part was tapered. Scraped this idea and shitcanned it.

1/4" dowel from ACE

2nd idea might work better. I got 2 dowels for $3 each. This surprised me because I was thinking I would pay $5-6 a dowel. Anyways, the idea was to saw off 3-4 inch lengths and drive them through my 7/32" dowel former.

worked well

It took me about 20 minutes to get the dowels hammered through the dowel former and sawing them into 1 inch lengths. 

one more step

Got 86 pins from the two 48" long dowels I got from ACE. I am hoping that I can reuse these after this project.

chamfering one end

I wanted to do this with a chisel but it was too awkward. The size of the pin and a sharp chisel so close to my fingertips gave me the heebie jeebies. This wasn't the horrible exercise I anticipated it being. It took about 30 minutes to do them and I my fingers didn't protest at all - not once.

I'm saying goodbye

That second row of buttons is want is called 'Smart Cast'. This is what this _)@&*$)^*%(^_%@)_( thing defaults to every two to three days. In order for me to watch TV I have to select 'watch free' as my source. This will be history if I can figure out how to wipe out my personal settings and passwords on it and I'll put it curbside. If not I'll smash it up and shitcan it. Personally I'm inclined to go with the later choice.

it is just a TV

It was supposed to come on friday but it got pushed off to today. It came via Fed Ex and not amazon delivery. Nothing was rattling and no other noises came from the box.

liking this remote

There is nothing crazy on this remote - ie netflix or You Tube buttons. Just the normal buttons on your average TV remote. Nice touch with the included phillips head screwdriver.

720P and HD

All the 1080P TVs I saw on amazon all had some smart TV features. They weren't as crazy and featured laden as my current 'smart TV' but 720P is good enough for watching TV. I would have shown a pic of it but the pics I took of it were washed out. It works as a TV should - turn it on and select a channel. If i don't like that I can channel surf to my heart's content.

done

All of them are chamfered and ready to go. Labeled the container so I can now put it somewhere safe and forget where I hid it.

one of two

I like this better then the one I used on the first two cupboards. A second tile is coming that is the same type of flower but a different looking one. I haven't figured out the project for these yet. I'm still running ideas and furniture styles through the brain bucket. I have time to figure it out because I need the cherry to acclimate for at least a couple of weeks.

the bottom door latch side

I have to go from nothing here going left to right. The glued on thing was a couple inches shy of going end to end. Because it dies out to the right of my finger I didn't need a full length glued on thing.

the opposite end

This is the part of the door where there is a tapered gap. I penciled this line so that the latch side will be tight with a minimal gap.

wee bit too much

I penciled the overhang of the door edge onto the cupboard to give me a visual of where and how much I need to plane off.

it closes

The end where it was tapered the gap is too tight. The gap to left of that ain't too bad but it needs to be shaved and opened up a wee bit more.

 

happy with the gap

It took 3 plane and checks before I got my smiley face on. I think this should be sufficient even taking into account the upcoming paint build up. This gap is consistent, even, and parallel from end to end. It isn't square but this hides that and fools the eye.

filling an errant hinge gain

I marked the hinge in error on the side. I have to fill this in with putty because the paint will make this pop like flashing neon sign on a foggy night. I was doing the final sanding of the cupboard and checking for any more dings, divots, or errant markings that needed some wood putty love.

hmm......

I drilled a shelf pin hole out in La La Land. I stuffed it with plane shavings and topped it with wood putty. I had some tear kitty corner to the shelf pin I had to address. This was the last of the touch up on the cupboard. Tomorrow I can sand the puttied areas and slap on my first coat of paint.

cupboard base

I got the base sanded (just the outside -sides and front) and filled in one spot of tear out. After that I checked the base for twist and there was none.

Looking forward to getting this painted and out of the shop. I hope my wife likes the changes between this and the first one. Clueless as to where she will put it. There isn't a lot of free real estate left in the house.

accidental woodworker

The fall 2024 Green Wood Wright’s fest is fast approaching! Tickets are still available here. This is quiet the event for you folks that like timber that ain’t quiet dry. I am even planning to exit my hermit cave and stop in! Lots of different classes to choose from (instructor list is here). Kara O’Connell has put all this together once again, definitely worth checking out.

-Will Myers

In between my day job as an M&A attorney and my social responsibilities (which are legion), I have been slowly organizing the new workshop. Recently, this has included updating the tool wall that goes with my hanging wall cabinet. The tool wall itself hangs from the same french cleats the main wall cabinet hangs off, […]

 Got one door fitted and most of the second one. I had a tapered boo boo on the 2nd door like I had on the first one. The good thing is I should be able to start painting this finally. Looking forward to that happening. Maybe on tuesday.....

nail removal first

This is the tapered thing I glued on the top door. I put 3 nails in it to keep it from sliding around when I clamped it.

it fits

I planed the tapered thing until all the bandsawn marks were gone and it was smooth end to end. The door fit in the opening after that but I didn't like the gap at the top. It was about a 32nd strong. I planed it couple of more times until the gap was a strong 16th.

gap isn't consistent

I didn't make the gap an 1/8" like Paul  Sellers made on his door. This gap was still tapered slightly and I made the top gap to match the bottom one.

sigh

I couldn't find the door stops I had made several days ago. I'm sure I used them for something else without giving it a second thought. Made two more.

shoulda, woulda, coulda......

After I got the fit I taped it inside the cupboard. Fingers crossed that this one will survive.

next door

The dutchman set up and I planed it flush. Ready to chop the gain for the 2nd hinge.

wow

When I screw up I do it royally. Not only did I knife the wrong spot on the door I also managed to knife it wrong on the cupboard. The knifed hinge location on the door didn't line up with the knifed hinge location on the cupboard.

see sawed

Made the gain on this hinge too deep. I forgot to mark the depth of it before I chopped it out.

a la Paul Sellers

I screwed the top hinge in and I marked for the bottom hinge. This is easier (and more accurate) then marking both of them at the same time.

I remembered this time

If I had forgotten to knife the depth on this one I would have used a router to get to depth.

it almost fits

It is catching and stalling on the top left corner and the bottom right one. There is plenty of clearance on the latch side.

bottom is clear

I approached this by first getting the bottom and then I did the top kitty corner fitting.

not as easy

The top took several plane and check dance steps before I was satisfied with the top gap. The latch side gap ain't looking too good to my eye. It is too wide even with a stop behind it. I am concerned that the snap latch might not work because the gap is too wide for it.

3/16"

I didn't check this gap with the snap catch. From using previous ones, the gap has to be tighter than this. The snap latch has to be fairly close for the keeper to hold the door closed. I may have to add a straight glued thing to this. Have I mentioned that I'm glad to be painting this?

done

I'm happy with this gap but I might have to shave it some more. That will depend on how much paint build up I have to deal with.

last tapered thing?

Decided that the latch side gap was too much and I glued in another tapered thing. I used the leftover from the one I used yesterday for the top door but it was short. The top door needed it for the rail and the bottom needs it for a stile (longer). Used the bandsaw to make this cut. I had thought of leaving an equal thickness but nixed that and sawed it out oversized.

parallelogram

The diagonals are within a 16th of each other but the opening isn't square. The top right and bottom left are out of square. The other two corners aren't square neither but not as bad as the first two. The bottom was square inside and outside. I didn't check the cupboard with a square when I glued it up. I did the diagonals and they indicated ok. Oh well stercus accidit.

accidental woodworker

I'm feeling better about the cupboard now. Hinging the doors is the last thing I have to do before I can paint it. I got the tiles and both of them are fitted and done. Attaching the snap catches should be a no brainer. I don't expect them to bite me on the arse in any way but those may be final last words. I'll have to wait and see what shakes out with that.

ready to start over again

I marked the hinges on the door edge from the gains on the cupboard. I had mixed feelings about how well that outcome would be.

right corner is high

Every hinge gain I have chopped has been high on the right side corner. This one was a PITA to get the hinge leaf flush - it took me 5 dance steps before I got it.

got lucky

The hinges lined up across the door onto the cupboard. Whew. However, the door won't close. The bottom wasn't hanging up yesterday and today it is. First I'm happy with how the hinges fit and swing in/out. Dealing with getting the door to fit was relatively easy IMO.

The gap on the top of the door is ugly looking. The wide end of the taper is over a 1/4" and the thin end is a strong 16th. The plan was to come back to this after I got the hinges installed on the bottom door.

the bottom gap

It is rubbing on the upper 1/3. I can close the door but it is snug. Planing this to fit shouldn't take too many calories. I will also have to make the gap large enough to account for the paint build up.

double triple checking

This is the second time I did this. This played havoc with the brain bucket. I could see that this was right and in the correct orientation.When I took it out I had to reverse and rotate the door so I could chop the gains. Doing that screwed things up for me and I had to check it again.

Yikes it happened again

I marked the hinges for the door off of the cupboard just like I did with the top door. Something went south on me because the right hinge is too far to the right. I missed something transferring one to the other. The hinges should be offset from the bottom of the bridal joint by 1/8" at the top and bottom. It was back to step one again from yesterday.

dutchman #5

I still had some dutchman stock left over from yesterday - enough to make this one. Hopefully it will be the last one too. Glued, clamped, and set aside to cook.

better

I fitted the door by starting at the bottom, moving on to the latch side, and I'll be finishing with the top. I made one planing run on the bottom and the fit improved but it has to have a bigger gap than a few frog hairs. It took 4 plane and fit before I liked what I saw.

the line in the sand

The door is hanging on the area to the left of my pencil line. The latch side took 3 tries to get it to close.

way too big

This gap is too large to leave as is. Thinking about it I think I know how the door is like this. The inside of the frame (where the tile goes) is square. The cupboard opening is square but the outside of the door isn't. When I cleaned up the proud bridle joints I only planed about an inch or so past the bridal joints at some of the corners. I should have cleaned the bridal joint and planed straight across to the other one. And should have done that planing in equal strokes R/L and L/R.

glad I'm painting this

The fix for this is to glue on a tapered shim. After it has set I'll plane a parallel 1/8 gap between the door and the cupboard. If this was being left natural I would have had to make a new door.

2 down, one to go

I'm happy with the gaps I have on the bottom and the latch side. The latch side will getting a stop that goes from top to bottom so you won't see into the cupboard on this side. After seeing this I will match the top gap with these. Having an 1/8" gap at the top seems a bit too wide IMO.

glued and cooking

I will let this cook over night due to the overall thinness of the shim. Is shim the right word for what this is? Glued on tapered thing was my first thought on what to call it.

put it back

I was thinking of planing the dutchman but thought better of that. I let this go until tomorrow too. 

Didn't get a PM session in. I went to a genealogical pot luck dinner with my wife. I don't do good in these social gatherings. I'm an introvert and I absolutely suck at making conversation/small talk (unless it is about woodworking). I am also not much of a talker. It wasn't that bad and I actually had a good time and those present could talk about topics other than genealogical search methodology.

accidental woodworker

Moving is never fun, even if the destination is worthy. Last spring, when I published the new, updated edition of Woodworker’s Guide to SketchUp I decided to add the videos that were embedded in the PDF file of earlier versions to the site and offer them by subscription. Those who buy the book going forward will get a 1, 2, or three month subscription to the videos, depending on which version of the book is purchased. If you already own any version of Woodworker’s Guide to SketchUp you have not been forgotten. When I decided to rebuild, I realized that the old platform wasn’t up to the task, much like an old Buick that won’t survive a drive across the country. And like anything else the site rebuild took longer than anticipated.

About a week ago I flipped the switch and the new ReadWatchDo is up and running. The previous site had been online for a dozen years so a general cleanup was in order. I posted a lot of content since 2012 and as I moved that over I tried to include all of the useful content. I also tried to remove the things that once were timely but no longer relevant. I simplified where things live and I believe you’ll find this site an improvement.

I’ll be the first to admit that I still need to track down and fix broken links and missing images. I could use your help in tracking these things down. To make it worth your while, I will send a coupon code (good for a discount on a future order) to anyone who emails me with something specific that needs attention. This offer is for my audience only! If you’re an SEO expert or a web design business, please don’t waste your time or mine. Here is how to help if you care to:

Since I launched my first website (CraftsmanPlans.com) (which was also rebuilt this summer) I have been amazed at the support from my audience, and it is truly appreciated. In closing I have one more favor to ask; this is a shoestring operation with a tiny budget for advertising so if you appreciate my work, please share what I do with your friends. Click my signature below to get in touch with me by email.

–Bob Lang

The post Site Move Complete (Almost) first appeared on ReadWatchDo.com.

This post is about making and fitting the comb.  I had been thinking about the comb during the entire project.  How would I get the right curvature?  How would I bore the holes at the proper angles?  The answers came eventually.

To get the curvature of the comb, I traced the tops of the long sticks onto a board.  Then used both geometry/trigonometry and a compass to figure out the comb's radius.

Tracing the stick tops onto a board

Drew the shape of the comb to get some dimensions. The stick tops had about a 15 inch radius.

I verified that the angles (resultant angles, that is) of the sticks above the arm bow were the same as below that I had measured earlier.  Then I laminated some poplar to make a 2 1/4" tall comb piece.  The shaping of the comb was quite laborious and challenging.

I drew the shape on the blank, and made a quick change to offset the hole centers slightly towards the inside curve

Shaped the inside curve with stopped saw cuts and chisel to remove the bulk of  the waste.  Then the compass plane, spokeshave and scrapers smoothed the surface.

For the outside curve, most of the waste was sawn away, then the rest was chiseled and planed smooth

Here's the curved part, with the front face marked out for a big chamfer

Boring the holes for the sticks took some thinking and creative work.  First, I leveled the chair on the floor and leveled the comb on the workbench.  With this, I could use a square behind the comb to find the angles at which the sticks enter the comb.  Then boring the holes was another matter.  In the pics below, you'll see the setup - it's pretty silly, but it worked.

A pair of levels made sure the chair was level side-side and front-back. Wedges under the feet are your friends.  I also leveled the board on which the comb is sitting

There's a square beyond the comb and I moved it until it lined up with the stick. Then I drew a line on the comb along the stick to give the angle it enters the comb.

There's a lot going on in this photo.  Read below.

In the photo above, the comb is held in the vise.  A straightedge is clamped to the comb, in line with the line drawn per the previous photo.  There's a bevel gauge set to the proper angle (about 16-17 deg.) clamped to the front vise chop.  A mirror is set up on a tripod for me to line up the brace and 1/2" bit with that bevel gauge.  It doesn't look like it in the photo due to the angles involved, but the brace is also in line with the straightedge.

Remarkably, after boring the six holes, a first fitting was successful.  After that, the final shaping of the comb was completed.  That included an angle on the front face, matching the angle of the sticks, and a 10 deg. angle top to bottom at the ends of the comb.

Comb fitted onto the back sticks

Shaping the angled front of the comb with saw, chisel and hammer, spokeshaves and scrapers

And finally it's glued onto the sticks

This shows some of the detail of the comb

The sticks were pegged into the comb from the rear with wooden chopsticks that I thinned down to 5/32"

For a finish, I used milk paint.  But first, I cleaned up any glue squeeze-out and gave the chair a good scraping and sanding.  Then I wetted it with a damp cloth to raise the grain and sanded again when dry.

Two coats of milk paint were applied on consecutive days, "sanding" with a green Scotch-brite pad after each had dried.  Finally, I added two coats of BLO on consecutive days and a week later a coat of paste wax.  I really don't like using BLO these days.  It stinks and I don't care to be exposed to the heavy metal driers that they use.  I had thought of using some water-based polyurethane, but last time I tried that it dried too fast for me to be able to wipe off the excess effectively.

The finished chair looks great.  It's not as comfy as I'd hoped, but I still like it.  Maybe there's another stick chair in my future.

The completed chair

Another angle

Now it's on to rehabbing some old tools I've acquired.  I'll write about them later.

Highland Woodworking and Gary Rogowski’s Northwest Woodworking Studio have partnered together to help make woodworking education more available for everyone.

Gary is offering a FREE 2-hour online seminar on Saturday, Sept. 28 at noon ET that will discuss his Online Mastery Program, give a quick tour of the curriculum, show images of design work from graduate students and he will answer any and all questions about the program.

Email Gary at studio@Northwestwoodworking.com to receive the Zoom link for the seminar.

You can read Gary’s latest newsletter at:
https://northwestwoodworking.com/newsletter/i-get-it/

 Today was one of the days that I wish I had a magic wand to wave and make it go away. I made two mistakes that let the wind out of my sails. I found one and the other one, which was the same, a little later. I thought I was being careful and I double triple checked a bazillion times. I missed one important fact and I was happy thinking all was well in Disneyland but I was heading out into La La Land without being aware of it. I quit the shop early and decided to call it a day.

not a good omen

This was the daily sudoku puzzle for today, the silver one. It had an extra 5 in two rows and one cell. This is the first time I've seen a screw up this bad. I tried to do the puzzle 6 times, each time picking one of the '5s' and at the end of each I had two fives either in a row or a cell. So along with the 5 being OTL, I'm thinking one or more of the other numbers was OTL too.

another Koszela lumber run

This was not what I went there for this AM. I don't often see sugar pine that is dead nuts clear like this. Besides I had $100 on me and this got me up to $90 for what I took home.

this is what I wanted

Yesterday when I gone there for the cherry I saw 5 1/2" thick pine boards. I should have bought them yesterday but I didn't. Today there were only these two boards left. Both were over 7 feet long and I had them cut in half.

The wider one had a cup in it that was healthy. I sawed the two wide boards in half and 99% of the cup disappeared. I got these two to use as drawer sides/backs.

checking it first

Time to chop the gains in cabinet. Paul Sellers is making a clothes cupboard and he was hinging the doors in the last episode. He only marked for one hinge on the cupboard, screwed it in place, and then marked for the other two hinges. If I had done that with my hinging it would have been so much easier. I got lucky that both of the knifed marked hinges lined up.

how well will the door close

I clipped the steel screws and I didn't get either one of them to break through the front.

doesn't close

The top has a tapered gap and the bottom is parallel looking to the eye. Paul Sellers left a 1/8" gap on the top of his door and I'll do the same with mine.

wasn't expecting this

I thought the door would close albeit a bit on the snug side. The door extends past the edge by a strong 16th. Took a time out to ponder whether to plane the latch side of the door or deepen the hinges on the door a wee bit.

found the first brain fart

The bottom of the door with this hinge arrangement is at the top. I hinged the wrong side of the door. I thought I had crossed all the i(s) and dotted the t(s) but it would appear to even a blind man I missed something.

two dutchmen

I fitted dutchmen for the gains and I glued and clamped them. Set them aside and started to work on the bottom door cupboard hinge gains.

that awful sicking feeling when you.........

I did the exact same screw up on the bottom door. At least I was consistent and repeated the same mistake. Made two more dutchmen and set this door aside to set up with its sibling.

two hours later

I planed the dutchmen flush and laid out the hinge on the correct side. I also put the door in its opening and labeled where the hinge gains should be. I then left the shop and came better after getting a cup of joe and repeated what I had just done.

stopped here

I just wasn't into chopping the hinges at this time. I was still a little miffed at myself for doing this. I thought it best to leave the shop for today and come back to this fresh in the AM.

I do like to read

These are some of the books that I just received. I found 6 more titles from Eric Sloane and I got one of them in today. I put aside the Stephen Fry books on the Greek gods and I'll read the get fat book first. It is hard to screw up reading and that is what I did for the rest of the day.

giving them a try

I saw infomercial on You Tube about these and I bought some from Amazon. I had 4 pictures to hang and the heaviest one was 16lbs. I used the 45 lb rated one for it.

wife didn't like it

She wanted this picture hung here and that is what I did. I failed to get instructions as to how high/low I was to hang it. She said it is too high and should be at eye level. If I move it I will ask if the eye level is hers or mine?

used the 15 lb hooks

My wife doesn't like either of these paintings. She is afraid of the turtles for whatever reason. I love both of them. Her aunt (her mother's twin sister) had a lot of talent.

wow

This is frame is huge. I had to rearrange and move a lot of crap to get it to fit here. This is the only spot in the house with sufficient wall space to hang this. Maria told me that Willa's memorial pic frame will be done this coming tuesday. I have a spot for the that along with a pic of the grandsons.

I like these pic hangers. I couldn't install them the way the instructions said - I had to use a hammer. I think that was because of the sheet rock I have in my house. This is the original 1929 sheet rock and it is hard and there was no way I was pushing any of the hangers into it with thumb pressure. After hammering them home they felt solid and I didn't get any sense that the hanger was stressed. Time will tell the future story.

accidental woodworker

Wasted part of the AM looking for the lumberyard. The directions were good (on the cell phone) until I got to a round about. You would think I would have figured it out after the first time but not me. It took me four tries and going down a dead end street twice. I was about to give up on finding it when on the fourth time for the round about I Koszela Lumber. In my defense the sign for the lumber yard was a tiny one.

I went home with $304 of rough sawn 4/4 cherry. They also had some 1/2" pine that I like to use for drawers. Debbie (the yard manager) said that they don't always have it - the batch they had was all there was. She said having it in stock is random. Nice people and a good selection of wood. It reminded me of a lumber hardware store throwback to the 1950's. I'll be going there again for sure.

stopped at 3

The more I thought about this the more I know my wife will not like this being natural. I'm not too sure she will like the shelves behind the doors being natural. I think it is best if I paint this one. That will eliminate any headaches with what shelf goes where.

rails glued in

The super glue (used accelerator too) appeared to grab and hold. A half hour after I glued the rails, I couldn't budge either rail. I'll have to do some clean up because I dripped super glue on the tile and got some of it on the door.

my haul of cherry

The two boards on the left are not quite 6" wide and 6 feet long. There are four of them. The wide middle boards are just under 10" wide - four of them too - all are 5 footers. The last board on the right is a little less than 6" wide and 6 feet long. The cost per BF was close to $10 but I saved over going to Highlands in New Hampshire. Gas alone would have been about $60 and round trip it would be over 3 hours. The BF price was a couple of dollars cheaper at Highlands but I'm happy with what I got here.

This stock is for the next project and it will a change for me. 99% of what I've done has been in pine. I really didn't want this project to be pine and painted. That is why I opted for cherry which is my favorite wood. I ordered the tiles and the hinges for this next project yesterday. I will let the cherry acclimate to the shop for a couple of weeks. Koszela stores their wood under cover but exposed to the elements.

frame part

I was getting ready to chop the gains for the hinges when I noticed this. If these pieces broke off the paint would show them off. I glued them back on with super glue and accelerator. A trick I learned from watching Jerry Rosa is to wait a few seconds after applying super glue before hitting it with accelerator. Have you noticed if you hit it with accelerator right away it will turn a whitish color? Wait a few secs and the glue stays clear.

top door framed tile

Definitely looks better with rails even though they are kind of hidden. Worth doing it this for both doors. I may have to paint the entire door but I won't know that for sure until after I paint the smudges on the door and tile frame.

first door hinged

I only put one screw in each leaf for now. I will wait to screw in the others until after I have it hung and fitted.

ditto

Took extra time doing these hinges. It is too easy for me to get confused. I checked myself after doing one hinge to make sure that one it was hinged on the right part of the door. And two that the barrel of the hinge faced out and not in. I did good and got all four hinge leaves flush and the barrels pointing in the right direction.

double triple checking myself

I caught two me-steaks on this door. The hinge on the left was off over a 1/2". I don't know how I screwed that up so bad. But I'm glad that I laid the hinges out and checked it before chopping it.

I would have cried

I laid out the first hinge wrong(2nd  me-steak). I only caught myself after I had knifed it. I will fill in the knife lines with putty after I chop and fit the door.

bottom door

Marking the hinges was a bit awkward for me. I did it in pencil first and then made a knife nick. I followed that up by laying the hinges on the inside to verify my knife nicks were correct. 

I didn't chop the gains on the inside as it was almost 1500. I didn't want to start this and stop to pick it up tomorrow. I want to do the chopping and fitting all in one sitting. I did go back to the shop after dinner and verified the knife lines on the inside again.

accidental woodworker

I have turned the corner on the 2nd cupboard. When I checked this AM on the hinges and tiles they were coming on thursday. Surprise, both came in today along with a few other things I ordered. It shouldn't be too much longer to say this is done. That got me thinking as to where my wife is going to put this?

I still can't get over how ga-ga she went over the frame for the tiles. That got me thinking about the next project and I decided on it. It will involve the two tiles I ordered from Etsy today. I've been searching RI for hardwood dealers and so far nada. I used to go to one in West Warwick (20 years ago) but he is gone. If I can't find a local dealer I'll have to go to Highlands in New Hampshire.

2nd cupboard base

I was thinking of painting this while awaiting parts. After eyeballing it I decided it was easier to remove it, paint it, and then reinstall it.

thinking out loud

The gap at the top and bottom isn't the same. The top is wider than the bottom. I screwed on the stiles and eyeballed it and then sat on the fence with it. Couldn't decide whether or not to fill them in. I'm not thrilled with the gaps and the top one I can see from a bazillion feet away.

doesn't too bad

Cut up some scrap to fill in the gaps. It doesn't look out of place - the frame rails blend into the rails of the door IMO.

sans the  gap fillers

If the top and bottom gaps were the same I would leave this as is. I can't get past that I can see the top gap from so far away.

made new rails

Did a better job fitting these set of rails. I am going to try and use super glue to secure them. I left the back and bottom unpainted so at least one surface should provide a good gluing surface.

3rd shelf

This is for the middle compartment of the cupboard. I don't think my wife will ask for a 2nd one but she still surprises me after 25 years.

just a teeny bit of twist

I have found that shelves that sit on shelf pins will rock. Whether it is due to a twist, cup, or bow in the shelf or if I screwed up drilling the holes for the pins. I can eliminate this one now and the pins will have to wait.

dead flat

I got full width shavings going across the board on both faces. There was zero light under the straight edge on 99% of the places I checked for it.

notches for the pins

Used one of my small routers to get a consistent depth for the pin notches.

the last of it

Tile on the right and 2 sets of hinges on the left. No more excuses for getting a check mark in the done column.

will my gamble pay off?

It looks like it will fit but then I thought the same with the first top door tile frame.

Houston we have gaps

Not quite a 1/4" R/L.

top to bottom gap

The top to bottom is a strong 16th and it isn't consistent or parallel from one end to the other.

checked for square

3 corners on the tile aren't square. There isn't a lot of daylight to be seen and it is mostly right at the corners. The frame in the door is dead nuts at all four corners and from each direction. I am going to glue the frame up and go with it as is. I don't mind a small gap on the sides and splitting the bottom isn't going to be problem. It will be minuscule and you won't notice/see it.

happy with the match

There is a negligible difference (color wise) between the bin pull, snap catches, and the Horton Brasses antique hinges.

marking the shelves

The bottom shelf will not fit in the middle or top. However, the same can't be said for the top and middle shelves. They are basically the same size but the shelf pin notches aren't. Stamped each respective shelf with its letter - T, M, and B.

started the hinges on the top door

Horton supplies two screws with the hinges. Steel ones for the initial screwing down on the hinges and ones to match the hinges. They also give the option for slotted or phillips head screws.

The screws for the hinges are too long - they are just shy of 3/4". They will fit in the edge of the cabinet but they won't fit in the door. They might but I would rather not try that out. I'll have to snip/file a wee bit off each one. As an aside if the door stock was 7/8" thick the screw wouldn't be a problem.

it was drying quick

I got 3 coats on the middle shelf before it was time to kill the lights. It was dry before I finished getting the first coat on it.  5 should do it. But thinking about it out loud my wife probably won't like it being natural. I like the look of natural against paint but maybe not for this. The other two shelves are behind doors. Hmm..... maybe I should paint this instead of putting on couple more coats of shellac.

before quitting time

The can said I could recoat in an hour. I waited about 90 minutes between each one. I'll let this set up overnight and glue them in tomorrow.

need more deep reach clamps

I got a clamp on each corner half laps but one stile didn't get clamp. It had some squeeze out so maybe I got lucky. I was just at Harbor Freight too and I looked at the clamps but I didn't buy any. I shoulda, woulda, coulda, but I'll have to go back.

 

almost done

The frame around the tile completes this. The bare tile kinda looked ok sans a frame but with one it nails it. My original thought was to use smaller tiles and fill in the entire panel. I didn't do that on this cupboard because I had already made the doors and then ordered the tiles.

accidental woodworker

Before shaping the seat, I made some plugs to fit into the leg holes so that I wouldn't blow out the hole rims when removing material for the saddling.

A redwood plug in a leg hole

Concentric semi-circles drawn and depths marked

Depth holes drilled (most of them) and spindle deck inner aspect defined

I kind of winged it when it came to mark the depth to which I wanted to excavate the seat.  It's based on things I've read and the few seats I've done before.  But it dives fairly quickly from the spindle deck - those first holes nearest the deck are 3/8" deep  - but then levels out at max depth of 1/2".  One thing I should note: I defined the inner aspect of the spindle deck with a knife, being careful not to stray from the line.  Then I used a router plane to create a little flat about 1/16 to 1/8" deep on the saddling side of that line.  I started the excavation about 3/8" from that line.

I still don't have a scorp, so I did the waste removal with a homemade compass plane (bottom curved in two directions) and a makeshift travisher.  I took a LOT of time to get to where it felt like there were no bumps.  Then I scraped and sanded until smooth.

Tools of excavation

This knot was a bear - right next to the spindle deck and leg hole

Getting close to the drilled depth holes

I had penciled in the bottoms of the depth holes for better visibility

And now scraped and sanded.  Also, removed the perimeter waste at back with saws and chisels and then smoothed that rear edge with a #4.

Another view showing detail

Marked the edges all around for a chamfer on the underside. Waste was removed using scrub plane and spokeshaves.

When the seat was finally done, I glued up the undercarriage.  I used white glue for the convenience, so I hope I never need to repair this chair.

Rails and stretcher glued, legs glued into seat and wedges tapped home

I let that dry before getting the upper part of the chair glued up.  After the glue had set, I removed the protruding leg nubs.  And man, it was a bear getting the leg tops flush with the seat.  I tried many different things - flush saw, gouges, chisels, scrapers.  I don't even remember what worked best - I just remember it was flippin' hard.  But we persevere and we get it done.

Next was gluing the upper part, sans comb - I left the comb for last.  But the spindles and arm bow went pretty well.  I had done several dry runs.  In the end, I couldn't get one of the long sticks all the way down into its seat mortise.  It was about 3/8" shy.  No problem though, I just trimmed 3/8" off the top and I'll never notice.

Arm bow set at proper height and wedges applied to the short sticks

You can tell the third long stick from the left is a little taller than the rest

 I didn't get much time in the shop today. I spent the afternoon with my wife helping her out at the storage unit. I did a few things in the AM and I went to the shop after dinner and basically looked around. I swept the deck and emptied the shitcan, killed the lights, and went topside for the rest of the night.

top door frame

I'm not entirely happy with this but I do like it. What I don't like is not having any rails. There isn't enough room between the tile and the door rails to fit in frame rails the same size as the stiles. The gap is too small which works in my favor. The shadow will be on the larger side though.

bottom door

Made the tile frame different for cupboard #1. The panel depth on these two doors is 9/16" and on #2 is about 1/4". I looked at the frame with the rails off but it didn't look right.

last of the planing

The rails and stiles were slightly proud of the door frame and I planed them flush on both doors.

using screws

The panel is painted so I can't glue the tile frame to it. I really don't want to scrap any paint for gluing and possibly make more work for myself to do. I am going to secure the stiles and rails with two screws in each one.

screw markers

I marked the screws with small brads. I then screwed the frame parts to the door to check the fit.

oval head screws

Used a #4 screw to secure the frame. I got lucky that I was able to avoid screwing through the back frame.

bottom door

This door is a close match and I like the look. Framing in the tile was worth going back and doing. Etsy has a lot of these tiles to choose from and I might make more projects using tiles.

finally done

Maria has had this for quite a while (7-8 weeks?). She did an awesome job with the patches. They don't look like a jumbled mess - I had given her a pic of what patch went where. I like how the patches have a symmetry and alignment to them now. The frame weighs 16.6lbs. I thought it was much heavier. I needed the weight so I get the right weight rated picture hanger.

first of ???

Used a foam brush to paint these and the first one doesn't look too bad. No way I'll get away with just one but I was optimistic about getting away with 2.

hmm.....

This is a problem with getting a 2nd quart of paint - you won't get an exact match with the first one. The color looks to be a match but I can see a difference between them. I don't think it will be a problem because the frame parts can be a slightly off in color. If I were painting more of the door it would show.

sawing to length

This is the back for cupboard #2. I ripped it to width on the tablesaw and used a hand saw to get the length.

a little tight

The length was tight too and after a few strokes with a blockplane it fit. The width has two spots where I need to shave it a wee bit. Here at the bottom for about 18" and at the top.

top spot

I had to plane about 3" at the top corner before it fit there.

couple of frog hairs

Took less than a minute to shave the back to get it to fit T/B and R/L.

good fit

I should have made the rabbet a little wider. I plan on painting both the back and the rabbet so I can't use glue. With the rabbet a bit wider I could have used screws T/B. I have a cleat at the top and bottom that I can use screws to attach the T/B of the back to. I'll have to use nails T/B.

another change

Having to wait for hardware allows me to eyeball this every day I wait and come up with changes. Decided to add adjustable shelving for the middle compartment. It is tall which would be wasteful of the space. With at least one shelf it will increase what it can hold. I'll make one now and ask Diane if she wants a second one.

two coats

It ain't looking good boys and girls. The coverage doesn't look solid after two coats has dried for about an hour. I came back after dinner and put on #3. I waited over 6 hours before doing that to give it more time to set up. The can says you can recoat in an hour.

still no chair

Making a chair is on the bucket A list. I have the patterns for a stick chair and I have a couple videos of Chris making said stick chair. Still haven't made one. I have made a couple of stools and that is the closest I've come so far. However, as long as Chris writes books about making chairs I'll keep buying them.

hmm.....

I was expecting something closer in size to Stick Chair Book #1. Good info in #2 and it does complement it. I just have to get off my arse and jump into it.

accidental woodworker

If you read my substack blog, this is just a re-hash from there yesterday, about some woodwork for sale- one carved box and a ladderback chair at a slight discount. If you’d like to claim either of these, send an email to me PeterFollansbee7@gmail.com check or paypal – but I’ll tack paypal’s fee on. I’m making more chairs and boxes this fall, so if you’d like to order something, send a note. Thanks for looking…PF

Carved box, alternating lunettes

This is one I’ve made several times. The carving design is included in my Lost Art Press book Joiner’s Work – there, for lack of any better term, I called it “alternating lunettes.” It’s based on a box I saw over 20 years ago in a private collection. It was made by the Savell family of joiners in Braintree, Massachusetts, c. 1640-1680. Mine is oak with a pine top and bottom. I used wooden hinges instead of iron.

The ends are carved, as on the original. Not as common in the period as in my shop…I tend to almost always carve the ends.

And a till inside.

H: 8” W: 22” D: 13 3/4”
$1,500 plus shipping in US.

Ladderback chair
Red oak, hickory bark seat.

One of my standard Jennie Alexander-style ladderbacks. With a slight flaw, so a bit of a discount. The chair is perfectly sound, sits as it should, etc – but one of the front posts cracked at assembly. I still will guarantee this chair – I doubt there’ll be any problem. But I can’t very well charge full price for it – the crack is at the top of the post:

I didn’t want to scrap the whole chair because of a small split that is just cosmetic – so I figured I’d reduce the price by $200. Usually I sell these for $1,500 plus shipping in US – which is around $250 or so. This one then will be $1, 300 plus shipping in US.

 Checked on the MIA tile and after jumping through a sunday of hoops I found out it is supposedly coming on the 26th. What is so damn annoying is that it is spending days moving through the same USPS facility in New Mexico. At least that is what I saw on the tracking site. The bird tile came from California and the flower tile is coming from New Mexico. The joys of S/H are boundless eh?

Houston, we have problem

Can you see the ugly looking me-steak. I don't know how I missed this when I put this together.

not square

The left side of the frame is out of square. It runs down and I had zero problems eyeballing it. Nix the next project and redo this frame went to the head of the line.

compared side by side

The right looks ok to my eye. The left one is OTL (out to lunch) and there is no mistaking that.

the back side

The plan was to remove the frame from the front side. If I had any issues with the front, i.e. tear out from removing the frame, I would switch and put the 2nd frame on the back. 

gone

This looks much better than I thought it would be. The glue adhesion wasn't 100% and I will lay down the 2nd frame over this and evaluate it then. 

what I should have done

I didn't layout the frame for this tile accurately. I cut corners and assumed too much and paid the price. Started off the replacement one by checking the inside of the door square - it was square.

hmm.....

The 8x6 tile ain't 8x6. It is 7 7/8 x 5 7/8. I checked the first cupboard tile and it was 6 x 7 15/16". 

2nd hiccup

I laid out the frame for an interior opening of 8x6. I double triple checked that it was square and parallel to the door rails and stiles. However, the tile is not square. I didn't check the first one for square but the bottom right corner and the top right corners are slightly out of square. Even with the larger 8x6 layout the tile wouldn't fit inside the pencil lines.

that is a 16th

I laid the tile on pencil lines on the top left going downward to the bottom left. The tile was on the line at the right top and off it a 16th on the bottom right. I ran a new square line from this 16th up to the top. Checked that the tile laid in between the new pencil lines.

fitting the frame

Using the left side of the door as my reference. I marked the door and the frame parts with an X so I didn't lose that.

fits

The frame parts on dead on the line and there is some wiggle room up/down with the tile.

ditto

Got the same results with these two parts - on the line and some wiggle room.

chopping half laps

On the first frame I didn't make the half laps half laps. I just chopped them out saying that there wasn't any need to chop exactly 1/2 on both pieces. I did do that with these. I fussed a wee bit getting the marking gauge to be dead nuts on center from both faces. Checked each one I chopped with a scrap piece of the frame.

dry fitted

The frame is square to the door and more importantly it looks square. There is also some wiggle room with the tile. There is some movement to be had R/L and T/B. The two bottom half laps are a few frog hairs proud. At first I thought it was because I didn't chop them to depth but I had. The up face of the rail was off square. 

my fault - brain dead me-steak

I shoulda, woulda, coulda, but didn't sharpen the marking knives (plural) before knifing the half laps. The stiles were squirrely and the knife looked like I had done it with a plastic knife. And did I sharpen it after seeing the first one? Nay, nay moose breath, I grabbed the 2nd knife and tore out the knife line just as bad. I also continued to use it to tear out the bottom stile knife lines. As a result of that both the bottom and top stile half laps were slightly (and ugly looking) too wide.

FYI - I managed to unscrew my head from my arse and I sharpened and honed both marking knives.

corrected

My wife looked at my blog and she commented on how much she liked the frame around the bird tile. She didn't notice that the top left was not square. I am going to also frame the first cupboard tiles. Just vertical ones for the top door (no room for rails) and stiles and rails for the bottom one ( have room for them). 

hard to see

This isn't a pic of the ugly half lap gap but the gap between the frame and the tile. It isn't large, maybe a 32nd strong if that. I can see that due to the black border on the tile and the color of the cupboard to come, it will be in shadow and impossible to see.

better clamp job

On the first go around I used a caul and only clamped the stiles. On #2 I clamped the four half laps and the middle of each rail and stile. I got a pretty good squeeze out all around the frame. I feel more confident that this frame will survive the glue up.

no painting yet

Decided to hold off on the painting until I get the bottom door tile and the frame for it installed. I also want to chop the gains for the hinges before painting. After I get these last things done I'll be free to paint and not worry about messing it up doing said items.

got ahead myself

Forgot to plane a chamfer on the ends of the stiles and rails before I glued them to the door panel. I did the chamfer with a 1" chisel. Had to use super glue and accelerator on two that I blew out.

sharp chisel

This was not that difficult to knock out. I had to chisel from both sides into the middle to get clean chamfers.

big helper

I cut a scrap frame part and used it to back up the chamfering to help with the blow out. This worked great and I had enough scraps to do three of them. I did two corner blow out clean ups before thinking of this.

done

Filled in the wide gaps with wood and used wood putty to fill in the knife line tear out. I'll sand this smooth tomorrow.

double triple check again

The frame ain't moving but the tile is. There are a few frog hairs of movement R/L and not so much T/B. This is the way I should have done this the first time. I made too many assumptions with the first one and paid the price. Paul Sellers wrote it again in his blog -'...it isn't what you make, but how you make it....' I must have had my hearing aids charging when he said that.

it was empty

Almost went into panic mode. I was going to call this box done but when I checked the fit of the lid I saw the box was empty. I put the three boxes with the letters and numbers away with rest of the empty box herd. 

almost done

The box has 3 coats of shellac on it and I rubbed it down with steel wool after the first and second coats. The box still felt rough to the touch like the grain was raised.

Howard's feed 'n wax

The roughness is gone and the box is smooth to the touch all over. Now I can call this done and put a check mark in the done column.

more the trivia

I have always liked this type of 'knowledge'. Some of it is rooted in superstition but a lot of it is just what was observed, seen, and noted as the seasons changed. If it quacks, waddles, and likes water it is probably a duck. A lot of this country trivia is wisdom and common sense passed down from generation to generation. There aren't many left who are doing the passing down. Besides I like this stuff and geek out on it. I have one more of his books coming in this week sometime.

accidental woodworker

 Today I had planned to get the hinges installed on the two doors. News flash - it didn't happen boys and girls. Instead I ordered two new hinges. I got them from Horton Brasses and they ain't cheap. Two ball tip hinges with a dark antique finish, with S/H, was $74. So far on this cupboard I have almost $150 in hardware. On the flip side the hinges are worth the $34 each but at this rate I'll run through my retirement accounts in short order. I might have to learn how to make my own hardware.

As an aside I checked the price of Mackintosh hardware on the Horton site and I almost had a coronary. They only have two pieces - a pull for $67 and H hinges for $110. But the hinges appear to be sold as a pair for that price.

came last night

I got these from Rejuvenation Hardware. Both of them are oil rubbed bronze. Both are substantial and have some weight and heft to them. I was not disappointed in the quality of either of them but I did have doubts on the snap catch.

not what I expected

This snap catch isn't a stamped out piece of imported garbage. It appears to be cast without any thin pot metal parts. And it comes with slot head screws! I'm happy with these and I will buy them again but I still may choke a wee bit on the $23 cost.

setting the bin pull

I had to play with this and I first got the screw holes measured the same out to the ends of the drawer. Squared those lines across the width.

I like the pull

For this style of drawer pull I center it between the ends but I don't like it centered top/bottom. I don't like it below center and this one is about 3/8" above it. This pull is going to look good against the color of the cupboard.

nice touch

Not only did the bin pull come with wood screws, it comes with 3 different length screws and two tee nuts. I have never seen anything like this before with any hardware I have bought over the years.

couldn't use these hinges

Not only don't the hinges match the bin pull or the snap catches, it is short a screw. Decided here that the best thing to do was to get oil rubbed bronze hinges. These hinges were used because the leaves are oil canned. I had bought them because I needed two sets and this all ACE had. 

home

I nixed the idea of putting these clamps in a 5 gallon bucket. It would annoy me to reach in for a 6" clamp and pull out a 4" one. I had to reroute a couple of wires (for the shop lights) on the back side of this joist to make room the clamps. They are on the other side of the bench but they are close by and visible.

The hinges won't be in until later on in the week so I am once again dead in the water with this. I think I might as well paint it. If I don't paint it I'll probably start a new project to keep busy.

accidental woodworker

 Weather has gotten crappy for the past couple of days. It has been gray and dreary and today it rained off and on all day. The rain is welcomed because the tree service tore up the yard up and wrecked the grass. I'm hoping that it recovers a little before it goes dormant for the winter. Between myself and my wife we got the everything cleaned up before the rain. I put out 11 yard bags for thursday garbage pickup. I have a pile of branches yet that I have to cut up and get bagged. This will be the last time I'll have to do branch pickup now that the trees are gone.

cutout time

My first thoughts on doing this was to chisel it out. I was going to saw the angled ends but I couldn't find a way to get the base flat on something so I could chisel it. Ended up using my jigsaw to cut out the waste.

this is history

I don't like the slope of this. It is too steep and I'm concerned that the toe will snap off. I sawed them off straight down.

awkward and a ROYAL PITA

I didn't do the cutout before glue up because I thought the cutout would bend, bow, or move around clamp pressure. The jigsaw was ok but the clean up sucked pond scum. No matter which way I came at the stock, bevel up or bevel down, light touch, or hogging - I got a ton of tear out. 

I even tried a spokeshave and my small violin plane and got the same results. I would have bet I was working with the grain but still tore out. It took a lot of calories to smooth out the torn out areas.

another on the fly change

I wanted to round the top of the vertical cut but I only thought of that after I sawed the ends. Decided to do a chamfer on the cutout. I had to deal with the same tear out crappola as I did on the edge clean up.

me-steak

I knifed the outline on the face and that was a brain fart. It might have gone better if I had done that at an angle vice straight down. I didn't do it for the other two and relied on working to the pencil lines.

)&%@#_)*@)%(_+__)_)%# tear out

This drove me bonkers. One instance the chisel is leaving behind a pristine surface and then it rips out a chunk of wood. No warning or anything else. I thought the short vertical ends with end grain would have been the problem area but they weren't.

better

Used the sides for practice. The 2nd one was better than the first one but I still had to deal with the chamfer tearing out. I used a 120 grit sanding stick to smooth out the chamfer. I still think that I may have to use some wood putty on a couple of spots though.

front cutout

I took my time with this trying to take the lightest of shavings that I could. For the most part it worked and I got minimal tear out. However, it took me twice as long to do the front as it did the other two sides. 

done

My back was killing me here. It has been kicking my arse since I did the yard work. My hamstrings finally are feeling better. They don't hurt anymore when I go up/down the stairs. I didn't do anymore bending at the workbench today.

easy work

Planed a chamfer on the top of the base. I was able to do this one entirely with a plane.

attached

Screwed the base on. The first time I did it backwards. Super glad that I didn't use any glue on it. I can't see the chamfer detail on the top of the cutout standing 5 feet away from it. It is also hard to pick out the chamfer on the top of the base too. One last quibble is I think I should have made the base cutout taller. I made this small to keep the height of the cupboard down. I do like this one better than the cutout on the first cupboard.

right side gap

Minimal amount at the front and it goes to zero at the back.

left side gap

The gap on the left is at the back. I should be able to close up both the R & L gaps with paint. If the paint doesn't do it I'll leave it as is as it should be in shadow.

forgot I had these

I have 18 of this style of clamps - ten 6" and eight 4" ones. These I kept in a box out of sight and I forgot all about them. I keep the 4" above my workbench on the floor joists. I don't have any more free space up there for these 6" clamps. Thinking of buying a 5 gallon pail from the box store to keep all 18 of them in. Anyone with a pro and con input?

accidental woodworker

When we first discovered our house here in Tomobe, one of the big attractions for me was an existing building on the property that looked perfect for a woodshop. I’ve been dreaming of having my own shop space for way too long, and the fact that that dream has now become a reality still hasn’t… Read More »Tomobe – Setting Up Shop 1

The post Tomobe – Setting Up Shop 1 appeared first on Big Sand Woodworking.

 I spent almost 4 hours today in a fruitless search. I was looking for a non smart TV either an LED or an older tube one (nonexistent). I went to a couple of Walmart stores, a Best Buy (the clerk was clueless about non smart TVs), and a bunch of department stores. I just want a TV that I can turn on select a channel and watch it. I don't want to surf the internet through it, stream Netflix, check on my emails, or watch YouTube. The only surfing I want to do with said TV is channel surfing. I found non smart TVs on amazon but all their non smart TVs still require an internet connection. Why I ask is that needed? The only connection to it should be cable TV or an antenna.

The TV I have now is a 'smart' TV and it has 6 direct inputs (3 of them I have no idea what they are) other than TV channels. I am constantly fighting with it to stay on a TV input. It is also incredibly slow to to turn on - it takes over 3 minutes from on to watching a TV channel. It is constantly defaulting to Netflix for some reason. I am hesitant with buying a non smart TV unseen but so far I haven't found one in public. My patience is wearing thin with the one I have now so I may bite it hard and buy it from amazon. Although Walmart says they have non smart TVs in store I couldn't find one to eyeball.

waited

I was a good boy and waited until the next day to take this out of the clamp. I was curious as to how this did - I don't have good luck with gluing miters.

couldn't handle the stress

It popped off while I was sawing it. I need this to fill in what would be a noticeable gap. I used super glue and accelerator on the second go around. It seemed to be a good connection and where it will live it won't be stressed.

drawer stops

Got one on both sides and I had to fiddle and faddle with this one. I had to plane the edge against the drawer 3 times before the it worked - the front of the drawer being flush with the front edge.

yikes almost

I dry fitted the frame and the tile wouldn't fit. I don't think I put the frame together the way it was when I fitted the tile yesterday (didn't label it). I planed the inside edges of the top/bottom rails until it fit again.

initials

Hopefully this will key the memory as to what I have in this box. 4 coats of shellac and this will get a check mark in the done column.

bottom door frame

This might bite me on the arse hard but I'm going to do it anyways. I measured the bottom tile on cupboard #1 and it is dead nuts square at 8" long on each side. I wanted to do something towards finishing this cupboard. If it goes south on me I can easily make another frame - I have a lot of scraps.

used a square this time

On the upper door I didn't use a square to set the stiles and rails. I used one on the bottom door and it came out square this time. The top rail was a few frog hairs longer than the bottom one. I referenced both the stiles and rails off the left side of the door (the top rail was a wee bit longer than the bottom one). I also penciled in the tile and frame parts on the plywood panel.

hmm.....

I thought I had made the inner dimensions of the frame an 1/8" longer T/B and R/L. I got the 1/8" on the R/L but the T/B is barely a frog hair over an 1/8". I made a blood offering but it didn't change anything. I'll have to wait and check it when the tile comes in.

I glued up the first frame and put the tile in it when I clamped to ensure that it didn't drift out into La La Land. I checked it again 6 hours later and the tile fit but the top left corner was a wee bit tight. I may have to do some judicious shaving with a chisel.

Blue Spruce mallets

The far left one I bought 15 years ago(?) and I have used it only for dovetails. I have had it repaired once by Blue Spruce and I epoxied a big chip back on it. Recently the handle loosened and the head moves when striking with it. Annoying having it bounce when striking. I bought the middle one as a replacement for it.

There is a slight difference in the size of the heads and the handles. Other than that they are the same. I noticed a teeny difference using it chop dovetails. They feel the same weight wise but the new felt lighter using it?

The far right one I ordered by mistake. I chopped some dovetails with it and it worked but it felt funny. I missed the extra weight of the bigger one. I intend to use this one for hinges and any other finesse chopping needed other than dovetails.

accidental woodworker

I’m going to use this week to give you all a heads up on the London International Woodworking Festival. This is a show with a heavy focus on Hand Tools and Hand tool woodworking. It kicks off on Monday the 28th of October with a week of short courses. There are still places available to make your own saw, and learn to sharpen with Mark Harrell of Bad Axe fame, and Illustration for Furniture makers with Ian Parker. I will be doing a Comb-back stick chair course with Chris Schwarz for the week (currently sold out, but there is a waiting list). And some other lucky soles will Building a Dutch Tool Chest with Megan Fitzpatrick (also currently sold out, but the waiting list is worth a try).