General Woodworking

dipped below 60F

It has been cold for the past couple of weeks, especially the past week and the start of the current one. Through it all the shop temp has hovered between 61F and 63F. I haven't seen 62F at all. The shop is still ok - ish to work in, I'll start wearing sweatshirts if the temp dips any lower. 

setting pin sleeves

This gizmo sets the shelf sleeves with a tap from a mallet. I got it from Lee Valley and it sets 4 different size sleeves. I have 3 of the four. I secure my sleeves with super glue.

done

Before I make the shelves I will get the back installed and the doors hinged. Those being in place will determine the width of the shelves.

brain fart time

The shellac I had ordered a few weeks ago finally came in. I made a stop at the paint store to get 4 empty quart cans but they only one. That was all I needed to mix enough shellac for the bookcase.

the huge brain fart

I can't mix a quart of shellac - the can is too small. So what I usually do is mix three batches. The mistake I made was using way too many shellac flakes - I used 9 ounces instead of 4.5 ounces. 

Ran out of alcohol but I did have enough to get the mountain of shellac dissolved. I have no idea what pound cut of shellac I have. The plan is to get two more cans and distribute the shellac I mixed into the four of them. I'll add more alcohol, guessing what looks good, and go from there.

road trip

The only 6mm birch plywood was a 5 foot square panel that had smashed corners and was warped. So I got these two plywood panels - 2' x 4' with one face prefinished for $19 each. That is cheaper than the Lowes.

hit or miss

I picked up a bag of these 1/4" dowels for my Dowel Max doweling jig. I have bought 1/4" dowels before and they were too loose. It is a crap shoot IMO because the pins will swell and shrink and you have to deal with it.

hmm......

Both of the openings are not square. The left side top right is out. The right side is out of square on the top and bottom corners on the right. I'll make the panels to the size of the larger measurement, and plane them to fit.

story stick

There is over a 1/8" difference at the top and bottom.

yikes

Didn't expect this to splinter out like it did. The face veneer is thinner than a piece of paper.

panels rough sized

Did better with the splinter BS on the right panel. On the right one I knifed the cross cut line. Even the waste side of the cut, which I hadn't knife, came out splinter free.

hmm....

Labeled the joints because I sized the panels to each opening. Both of them are slightly different. What I don't understand is the out of square but all the shoulders lay up gap free.

sigh

This is supposedly a 1/4" panel and the groove is 6mm wide a 1/4" deep. 6mm (0.236) is less then a 1/4" (0.250). The plywood is loose in the groove. There is a healthy gap that I wasn't expecting. I plan to glue the plywood in the grooves so it won't be a problem.

future fix

This was the result of sawing the stile to length. This will be facing into the interior of the bookcase so I'll have to dutch it. I'll do that before I glue the frame and panel up tomorrow.

 

not that bad

The left side frame joints are all tight. The right side and the top of the center stile aren't seated. This is looking like it is going to be a fun plane and fit exercise.

accidental woodworker

Who doesn’t love a nice ribbon bookmark? Older bibliophiles will remember when many fine hardcover editions of literary classics came with a ribbon bookmark. I always loved them, though I’m afraid they aren’t as common as they used to be.

Fortunately, even if your favorite hardcover or leather-bound book doesn’t come with a ribbon bookmark–or if it doesn’t come with enough ribbons–it’s very easy to make your own ribbon bookmarks.

I learned how from a guy named Justin, who was a student of mine. A few years ago, we were both part of a theological discussion group at our university, and one day somebody noticed that Justin’s Bible had probably half a dozen ribbon bookmarks, all different colors. We were a little envious and wondered where he had gotten a Bible with so many ribbon bookmarks. He smiled and showed us how he had made them himself out of some very simple materials.

First I’ll show you how you can add the ribbon bookmark(s) to your book, and then I’ll show you how to make them.

Pretty much every book that’s not a paperback has this handy little gap at the spine. You’re going to attach your ribbons to something long and thin that you can slip into this gap.

Here’s how you do it.

First, make the slip.Use stiff poster board or a sheet of vinyl, just something thin you can punch a few holes in. You can even use a cereal box or something like that. Cut it into a long slip that will fit nicely into the book’s spine. The exact dimensions aren’t important, but if you make it about half as long as the book is tall, you can adjust the length of your bookmarks by moving it up and down inside the spine.

Now get some ribbon. I recommend the 1/4″ wide ribbon that you can get at any fabric store. You can get the wider 3/8″ size if you prefer. Be sure to choose a color and texture that you really like. I prefer plain, smooth polyester ribbon, which is soft and flexible and feels nice in the hand. Other kinds of ribbon are quite stiff or have a lot of texture, which is not ideal for a bookmark. Ribbon is not expensive, so you can get several different colors if you like.

You can attach the ribbon to your slip in many different ways. I decided to punch holes, fold the ribbon through the hole, and superglue it to itself. (I pressed it between a couple pieces of waxed paper while it dried.) You could also put the ribbon through the hole and staple the ribbon to itself. Or you could just tie it off in a little knot, which is how my student had attached his. Just make sure the ribbon can’t pull free if you tug on it a little bit.

With the ribbons attached, cut them to the proper length.

Just make sure you leave enough on either end to drop down into the spine and stick out from the pages.

I was making several of these for Christmas presents, so I put down some tape on my table to help me cut every ribbon to the same length. You may want to customize the ribbon’s length to your book’s size. And you can always leave it a bit long at first and trim it to final length once you’ve installed it in the book.

Don’t forget the singe the ends of the ribbons with a flame so they don’t ravel.

Now slip your new bookmark into the book’s spine, and you’re done!

After just a few minutes’ work, you have made a fine ribbon bookmark to mark your place in your favorite book.

But since these are so quick to make, it would be a shame to make just one. Why not make a few for your other favorite hardcover books. You could even make some as gifts for your bookish friends!

Or maybe it’s time to sit down in front of the fireplace and enjoy your favorite book, enhanced with a ribbon bookmark you made yourself.

Lectio felix! (Happy reading!)

first snow this year

This is what fell over night, maybe a little more than an inch. I didn't go to Woodcraft today because of it. Wimped out but maybe I'll bite the bullet and go monday or tuesday.

hmm......

I have enough of this plywood for the panels but I'm not crazy about the grain pattern on it. The opposite face is white. IMO, neither one compliments the pine. So I'll wait to get the birch plywood from Woodcraft.

doing piddly things

Filling time in the shop doing little things. Made a new drilling block for the shelf sleeve for the pins. I don't save these because they get trashed - the hole gets enlarged and eventually won't drill plumb holes.

done

Got the remaining 6 screws installed. I couldn't think of any reason that I would have to detach the base from the carcass.

last set of holes

Got smart this time and added a 3/4" scrap on the edge - the thickness of the back frame ass'y and the doors. Missed doing this on past drilling ops and it interfered with the notches for the shelf pins on the underside. 

ugly gaps

Filled in the few gaps I had with pine sawdust and yellow glue. I got a pretty good color match which surprised me. When I mix pine sawdust with hide glue, it always comes out dark. 

sigh......

The gap is/was filled with hide glue. I tried to dig some of it out with a pick but it wasn't working in my favor. I filled what I was able to pick out with pine sawdust and yellow glue. Of course this is the top and regardless of the homemade putty, they will still probably pop like neon lights.

yikes

I thought I had a huge hiccup on my hands. Initially I thought this gap was due to the 6 screws I installed to attach the base to the carcass. Made me regret that I had planed the doors to quasi fit yesterday. Turned out to be favorable to me.

happy face on

I had the doors switched, L for R, and the door was also upside down. Didn't notice that in the above pic. Got the fit I had yesterday so the screws hadn't pulled or twisted anything.

hmm......

Not entirely thrilled with this back stop thing. The curves at the ends match the cutout in base. I used the cutout from the longest one to make this. I wonder if anyone would even pick up on the match between the two.

prepping the knobs

The tenons on shaker knobs varies a lot. One of these is a 64th plus over 3/8" and the other is a 64th under 3/8". The first step is drilling a hole in the tenons so the wedges don't split the tenon.

holes drilled

2nd step it sawing the slot for the wedge. I have tried to do this with a handsaw but the results have always sucked pond scum for me. 

bandsawing the slots

Doing the slots on the bandsaw works the best. The only headache I have with it is making the slots in the right orientation. This time I got it right.

done

I started wedging shaker knobs years ago. I have had too many of them fail and fall out. I haven't had any problems since I've been doing it this way. The only problem I have with knobs is chips breaking off around the rim of the knobs.

3 times is the charm

Made one extra wedge - used cherry because it was the only hardwood I had scraps to get wedges from. The first two sets I made were too small or not wide enough.

accidental woodworker

When I first built my wall-hanging tool chest, I had only a handful of moulding planes. Basically a quarter set of hollows and rounds, plus a wooden fillister (rabbeting) plane. So the little cubbies at the bottom were more than sufficient for both those and my couple of joinery planes. But since then, I’ve accumulated […]

fitting the doors

With the back I moved on to fitting the doors. Not 100% - just fitted them loose and get an even margin on the top, bottom, and hinge sides. Started with the left door by fitting the bottom first, then the hinge side, and finally the top. Took a while because I was fighting the urge to take just one more swipe the entire time.

done

Fitted the right door next and then planed the shim on latch side of the right door. There is roughly a 16th gap on the top and bottom on both doors.

This is all I got done today. I didn't feel like driving to Woodcraft today and I'll do it tomorrow.

came today

I ordered these off Etsy and they came from England. I assumed they were coming from the USA but I was wrong. They came surprisingly quick considering they came across the big pond. These would have been a better fit for the chest I made for my sister.

Spent most of the day reading. I made a small dent in the pile of books awaiting me, finished one and continued another I've slogging my way through for a couple of months now.

accidental woodworker

I am making this project with my daughter. I have a book from Popular Woodworking's I Can Do That series that is good for beginner projects. We looked through it and decided on the Contemporary Shelves. I think there's more than one project with that name. The one we picked looks like this:

photo from book and adapted drawing

It is made from 2x12 construction lumber. In my plans I made it less wide and removed one of the shelves to decrease the total height. I also carried the sides down to the floor rather than using scrap for feet.

2x12s, marked which side to face up when going through planer

Luckily I had three 2x12s and some offcuts. At the store I try to select ones with minimal defects, but they're never perfect. I try to avoid getting the pith (center), but I missed it on one or two of these as it was only visible on one end.

I wanted them noticeably thinner than basic 2x lumber, but I don't think I achieved that. I ran them through the planer several times until I was tired of it and they were 1 1/8" thick. Planing made them thinner but didn't remove all of the cupping and twisting.

the planer found a staple I put this stuff around the bushes

For crosscutting I used a sled on the bandsaw. This only works if the cut on the left is less than 13-14 inches. So I handcut some pieces until they fit. There's lots of imperfections here that add up. The faces and edges may not be flat or square, the sled has some wobble, some long boards are too heavy hanging over the right side, etc. It's quick and rough.

push the sled through rough cut edges

For joinery I considered long nails or screws. Those would work going through the sides into the shelves. But I couldn't figure out how to fasten the uprights going down the center. Pocket screws would work but leave ugly slots. I decided to domino those pieces, which progressed to using dominos for almost everything.

lining up where the shelves will fasten to the sides domino the center uprights to the shelves dry fit, upside-down

The bottom will have pocket screws going into the sides. I think that will be more secure, as all of the other joints are 'trapped' but the bottom-to-side joint could actually spread apart. Also they won't be visible. Also I wouldn't have to worry about carefully measuring and aligning the domino locations.

pencil line shows where I expected the bottom to line up vs where it actually ended up the top will overhang the sides about 1 1/8"

So I've been paused at that stage for over two weeks. So far my daughter's had more of an executive supervisory role than a participatory role. I've been using noisy, dusty tools. Now I think she can help more with hand sanding, gluing, clamping, and finishing. But it's below freezing in the garage so I will have to find a suitable area indoors.

sigh....

The thing I was worried about happening, happened. While tapping the tails home with a mallet it split from the base of the tail outward to the cutout. Forced glue into the split and clamped it. I'll be putting this facing the back. 

I've noticed in the past with case hardened stock that it splits along the grain easily. I got lucky with only one hiccup to deal with.

hmm.....

The ends are short and I was thinking of skipping bearers there. The bearers are set down from the top of the base a 1/8".

sneak peek

I like the height of the base. It will make it easier to access the bottom shelf contents. Potential problem is the carcass and the base aren't laying flat against each other.

option one

Cove molding - don't know the size but it looks appropriate.

option two

I am pretty sure that this is a 1/4", quarter round. Don't like this as much as the first one.

option two on the front

There is a margin between the quarter round and the top of the bottom of the shelf. 

option one on the front

There isn't much of a margin with the cove molding. This one is the loser. Option two is the winner with the wider margin.

changed a wee bit again

I screwed the carcass to the base. No more misalignment, or any twist between the two is gone too. The door fit changed a wee bit but overall they were still square in the opening. The left one got snugger at the top left corner and the right one a wee bit looser. I will make any final adjustments/fitting once I get the hinges installed.

Speaking of hinges I ordered them today from Horton Brasses. I ordered two sets of 2" hinges for $75. I wanted the 2 1/2" hinges but the 2" were $5 cheaper each.

thinking ahead

I only have 4 screws holding the carcass to the base for now. I'm not sure if I'll have to take the carcass off again. I am also rethinking the back for the bookcase. I am mulling over 3 options. Option one is to rout a rabbet and put in a 1/4" plywood panel. Option 2 is rout a rabbet and use 1/2" or 3/8" thick solid wood boards. Option 3 is a frame and panel, with the panels being 6mm birch plywood.

door astragal layout

Three sizes of shaker knobs for the doors. All three will fit without looking crowded with an astragal that is 1 1/2" wide. Top and bottom knobs are maple and the middle ones are cherry. The bottom ones are the winners so far

and the winner is....

Option 3 won the brass ring. I like the options 1 & 2 because they protruded less into the bookcase then option 3. However, I like the look of the option 3 more than the other 2. Plowed a 6mm groove in the rails and stiles.

fitting the rails and stiles

Sawed the shoulders with a dozuki, split the tenons with a chisel, and fitted them with the rabbet block plane.  

dry fitted

I had to use a center stile because I can't get 6mm plywood large enough to fit the opening. I like the center stile and the two smaller panel openings. All the joints line up pretty good but I will have to plane them flush after it is glued up.

Road trip to the Walpole Woodcraft tomorrow or sunday. Most likely sunday because the traffic will be less.

better choice

While working on the bookcase I saw a boatload of 1/2 round maple stuck in the joist bays.It is 7/8" wide and I will using it as the astragal. This will also blend in with the 1/4 round on the top of the base.

door catch

This will go on the bottom inside of the left door. The right door will have the astragal attached to it and it is the door that you open first.

accidental woodworker 

 Today I had my post hospitalization check up. I still have the cough and the snot locker filling constantly but I do feel a lot better. The bitter, biting cough I had before is gone. The one now I feel in my chest with hacking up phlegm by the bucket. The cough is gentler and I don't feel like putting a gun to my head when I do cough.

The doc gave me a Rx for a cough suppressant and something to help with the phlegm. On the 29th I have a pulmonary function test and on Jan 9th I have another MRI. That is the one I'm anxious about because it will reveal whether I had pneumonia or lung cancer. The important thing in my mind is that I had an improvement in my condition be taking the pneumonia antibiotics. Fingers crossed till the tell tale MRI.

happy face on

The base stock behaved over night. I was expecting to see the long ones to be curled up like pretzels. The right long has a bit of bow to it but I can easily work around that.

new template

Not much difference in them. The bottom one is only an inch taller than the top one. 

one down and one to go

I put the tails on the short ends so the from the front the view will be square - ish tails vice triangular pins. This is where I killed the lights to go to the VA. New traffic patterns/construction on RTE10 made that a fun ride. Glad that I left early.

filler on the latch side

This had been cooking in the clamps for two days. Unclamped it and sawed the ends flush. I will leave the shim full width until I get the hinges installed.

hmmm.......

Both doors would not lay in the opening square. Penciled the shim overlay and it was tapered. Realized that I had fitted the doors to fit with the carcass in a specific orientation this way wasn't it. Flipped it 180 and both doors laid up square in the opening. The gap on the latch side was now parallel top to bottom. Labeled the top/bottom along with the L and R.

last three

No surprises chopping the pin waste. Another thing I was bit apprehensive about due to the case hardening I saw when ripping the stock.

fits

This baser is snugger than the first one I did. It was a frog hair or two too snug but I managed to get it on. The length has about a 1/8" of wiggle room while the width has none.

base cutout done

I double, triple checked this before I bandsawed out the waste. I have done this in the past with one leg cut out in the wrong direction. Tends to suck the wind out of the sails in a heart beat.

tricky cut out

I couldn't bandsaw the waste in one continuous cut. However, I could gang them together and rasp the cutouts even and smooth.

different op for the long ones

I ganged the two long ones together and rasped the ends together. The long straight run between the ends I did individually.

one more dry fit

I sanded the insides of the base with 80 grit and that helped a wee bit. It was still snug but was easier to get it started. Glued it and put it back on to cook in place. The clamps are there to keep it from sliding down.

Tomorrow I'll get the bearers installed and eyeball how the bookcase looks with the base attached. I should be able to finish this before the new year shakes hands with me.

accidental woodworker 

came too late

Whenever I see these I usually buy them, especially the war time publications. This one is packed with wood characteristics, plans, and repair procedures. I wish I had gotten it before I started the last project for this year.

look familiar

What struck me was the door stop detail at the top and the bottom. The top stop is something I haven't seen before and it would have worked perfectly for my two door bookcase.

after dinner

I went back to the shop, chopped the pins, dry fitted the base, and checked the fit on the carcass. It was a little snug on one corner but I moved the opposite corner until it slipped over the carcass. I didn't bother squaring the base - I used the carcass to set the fit.

template

None of the templates I already had looked good to my eye. Once I'm done using it I'll put with the other templates.

done

Got all four cutouts done with one continuous saw cut on the bandsaw. After cleaning the saw cuts with planes, spokeshaves, and 100 grit sandpaper, I was ready to glue it up.

big sigh

Got the base glued up and all the tails fully seated. The plan was to use the carcass to hold the base as it cooked. However, it dawned me here that I had done a huge brain fart that still the smell still lingers in the shop. I made this base way too big. If fits in this orientation but it is the wrong one.

This is without a doubt one of, if not the #1 bone head me-steaks I have made in the shop ever. I don't know how I hadn't seen this the previous night. I only saw it after the base was glued and on the carcass and I was thinking of the doors. That is when the bells started to ring and echo in the brain bucket.

I don't think this me-steak is something I will be able to recycle into using on something else. But just in case I will stow it in the boneyard after it has cooked.

new base

After the base screw up I left the shop. I got all my xmas shopping done and everything wrapped and ready to go. Stickered the new base stock but I don't have a good feeling about it. The pine seemed to be case hardened a wee bit. I had a devil of time ripping the long pieces. The blade pinched on the kerf for the first 1/3 of the rip cut. Got it done and I'll find out in the AM if this had stupid wood tricks up its sleeves.

one of the first base cut offs

Cleaned up and ready to layout for the shelf pins.

layout done

Didn't plan it this way but it worked out in my favor. The last position on the drill guide is 7" from the bottom and the top one is 7 1/8" from the top.

almost 6"

One good thing about the screw up is the base is now almost at the 6" I originally wanted. I will have to make a new template as the original is 4 1/2". 

Found some brass hinges from Horton Brasses that I like -$83 shipped. I'll dig into my wood stash $$$ and buy them probably next week. But now I have the problem of knobs for the doors. The added headache is I will have to work around the door astragal. There isn't a lot of real estate to play with between the astragal and the knob size. 

accidental woodworker 

 At 0730 I tried to start my truck to go to the grocery store. The temp was 15 F - 9C then and the truck would not start. It coughed briefly and then the starter continually clicked. The truck had been hard starting for a few days but I assumed it was because of the cold temps lately. The voltage meter on the truck was barely above 10 volts, hadn't noticed before. Not enough to turn the engine over. 

A new battery was $161 to replace the one I had bought barely two years ago. The fun part commenced when I removed the old one and put in the new one. There was a shitload of battery acid residue all over the battery terminals and the clamp. Cleaning that up ate up a ton of time and calories.

The fun part was dropping the nuts for the battery clamp. Dropped them twice and both times I had to remove the new battery to find them. Took me over 30 minutes to find the 2nd dropped one. Did I mention that I was doing this in my driveway with the temp at 18F  -7.7C. It was #()%&@#)%*#@_)% cold and I was not a happy camper. I had to make a bazillion trips to my shop to get tools - tons of headaches trying to find metric wrenches. Ended up using combination wrenches and slip joint pliers. Eventually I got it done and voltage meter was reading in the normal range. 

The truck started up without a whimper several times as I checked it and the voltage meter each time throughout the day. Tomorrow I'm bringing the truck into the shop to have the alternator checked. I want to eliminate that not working at 100%. That was almost 2 hours I'll never get back.

last night after dinner

Before dinner I had the long and one short glazing bar glued. After dinner I glued on the last one.

2nd door

I glued on all three glazing bars on the 2nd door. The doors will be done come the AM.

flushed

After eyeballing the glazing bars I decided to flush them. The end of one of them got squished a wee bit and that drove flushing them.

hmm......

The right hand door tapered gap is the same. I thought that maybe the glazing bars might have been a magic fix. 

good sign

The vertical muntins in spite of the gap, are still aligned L to R and R to L. The left door is snug and the right one also is loose fitting along with having a gap. I need two sets of hinges but that may take a while. A decent hinge set runs about $30 or  more. Might have to wait until after xmas before I buy them. 

penciling the gap

The gap at the top is just shy of 3/16". I lined the rule on inboard edge at the top and at a tic mark at 1/8" inboard at the bottom. I want to sneak up on the fit by taking as little as possible off the hinge side of the door.

happy with this

It took three plane and checks before I was happy with the fit. It isn't perfect but I still have to fit the hinges. They tend to move the door a wee bit and I'll make any final adjustments then.

even gap

I was glad to see the even gap (top to bottom) on the latch side of both doors. I wasn't sure if correcting for the tapered gap would show up here afterwards.

flushing the tails/pins

This setup worked well for this planing operation. I had to move it 8 times to plane the corners but no hiccups doing it.

shim glued and cooking

The first shim I couldn't use because it wasn't wide enough. Didn't notice it when I sawed it out. This one is twice the thickness needed but it gives me a lot of wiggle room for adjusting. It will also be hidden under the door astragal yet to come. Can't think of one that fits in with the overall Shaker look of this bookcase.

base stock

My original plan was to make this 6 1/2" high but nixed it. That would have used up two 6 foot 1x12's. Instead I made it 4 1/2" high and got it all out of one 6 foot 1x12.

ready for dovetailing

The four small pieces are the bearers that the carcass will rest on. They are 3/4" x 3/4".

sawing the tails

Joining the base together with through dovetails. I thought of doing half blinds but went with through. I don't mind the look of seeing the tails and pins.

stayed late

Tails are done and I got the pins sawn. Stayed in the shop until 1530 to get them to that point. In the AM I'll chop the waste and dry fit the base. I made it a 16th wider and longer for wiggle room. I will cover any gaps with a cove molding.

accidental woodworker

Every winter there’s a few days it’s too cold to bother trying to heat the shop with my small woodstove. It works out, there’s always some other stuff to do. Today, which started at about 10 degrees F/-12C provides an excellent chance to take a moment to post to this blog. Since the middle of 2023 I’ve mostly concentrated my writing on my substack blog – https://peterfollansbeejoinerswork.substack.com/ which I still think of it as the “new” blog. Here’s some of what’s been going on in my shop lately.

First – a detour related to the cold and the time of year. My wife Maureen and daughter Rose have been knitting & crocheting away and have updated their Etsy site –https://www.etsy.com/shop/MaureensFiberArts

All right, on to the woodworking. A customer ordered a copy-as-close-as-I-can-get of a box at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York – and that included a lock with hasp. My friend Mark Atchison finished the lock recently and two days ago I spent time cautiously chopping into the carved box front to house the lock. Whenever I do this, I first cut a practice housing in some scrap.

that gave me enough to go on – and I set out with the carved box front, starting with some depth holes bored with a spoon bit. Most of the modern bits I have include a lead screw that would poke through the board.

From there – chisel work.

I did all the practice, then the real thing, then tested the fit of the lock, turned the key this way & that many times to make sure all was right. Then bored some small pilot holes and clinch-nailed the lock in place.

Boy did that feel good. Every stroke perfect. Centered, tight. Too bad it didn’t work! The test-fits had just enough slop in the fit that the key threw the bolt easily enough. Once it was so tight onto the box front, it was pinched against the housing and there wasn’t enough space to throw the bolt. The key wouldn’t turn. I had to pry those nails out – and today was going to be the necessary trouble-shooting and re-fitting. Now I know what I’m doing tomorrow.

The box itself is a bit different for me – no till for one thing. That makes things easier. No rabbets at the corners – just four boards butted up to each other & nailed. I know many boxes were done that way in 17th century England.

LB carved box begun

Most New England examples are rabbeted. I think rabbets help line things up.

This was the first time I’ve done one without rabbets. It was like first riding a bike without training wheels – a bit nerve-wracking.

There’s some ladderback chairs underway, also to fill orders. I finished one of the hickory bark seats last week and have one more to finish off later.

And I took a couple of days out to make some birch-bark containers, something I’ve dabbled in now & then. Anissa Kapsales was here to shoot the process for an article coming up in Fine Woodworking – or is it Fine Bark-working? I don’t know how “fine” my work was, but it was fun…amazing material.

disappointed

I paid $60 for this book and it isn't what I thought it was. I expected it to be history of plow plane makers in the United States. Other than a couple of paragraphs on the first page there was no other verbiage on companies making plow planes. However, the book was still an interesting read.

Instead of a history in words, the author did it with pics of plow planes and captions. He did it by state and makers. There were more Rhode Island plow plane makers then I knew. There were 6 of them and I didn't recognize any of the names. 

All in all it was a good read - I learned more about plow plane characteristics then I imagined existed. I learned the history of them and the makers in a different way. If I had known this before hand I wouldn't have bought the book.

hmm.......

I was not expecting the pinch rod to be on the workbench. The opposite diagonal was snug but the pinch rod fit. 

square

The four corners read square with Mr 18" Starrett. The diagonals were off a frog hair over a 16th.

left side door

This side continues to cooperate - the door fits snug and square.

sigh

The right side still is acting like the red headed, stuttering step child. As a twist the tapered gap is reversed now. The large end is at the top tapering to nothing at the bottom. I am leaving this as is and I will plane this right door to fit the existing conditions. I'll make up for the gap by gluing a shim on the latch side of the right door.

muntin work

Started with the left door doing the half lap on the muntin bars.

happy with this

The half lap is snug and I had to tap it together with a mallet.

glazing bar notch

I made the notch 1" long. That should be sufficient for anchoring the ends of the glazing bar. It will also be glued to the muntin.

dry fit

This looks good to my eye. The glazing bar is centered top to bottom and the ends fit snug in their respective notches.

short glazing bars

I went back and forth on the short glazing bar(s) on whether or not to half lap the long and short bars. I went with two separate short glazing bars. The muntins are 1" wide and are half lapped so that point is secure and strong. The short glazing bars will be secured by the notches and being glued to the muntin bar.

dry fit

All looks well on the back side of the door. After is glued up I might flush the glazing bars. I kind of like them being proud of the door frame. Right now I'm thinking of chamfering the outside ends and leaving them as is.

hmm......

Some router mishap crappola. I plan on leaving the bookcase natural with a shellac finish. Not sure if I'll leave this boo boo or fill them in with a dutchman. It is the back side of the door and won't be seen when the doors are shut.

one down, one to go

Left door is dry fitted and awaiting glue up. Before I do that I will get the right door dry fitted too.

sigh

Took one more swipe twice and twice I ended up with the muntin loose fitting. I want and need this muntin to fit snug. I had to make a new muntin to play with. This time I didn't give into making just one more swipe.

ta da

Three times was the charm. Long muntin fits snug and is self supporting. It even survived me shaking the door like a wild eyed idiot.

right door muntins

Had to measure for the short muntin. I also placed the doors in the carcass opening to check the alignment of them Left and Right.

if it looks straight......

The right door is a few frogs off center on the long muntin. I couldn't see it looking at the doors in place. I was more concerned that the short muntins lined up visually straight across each other.

right one dry fitted

Doing this went much better than I anticipated it. Other then the long muntin bar boo boo on the right door, everything else went smoothly and fell into place.

partial glue up on the left door

I glued the left door muntin half lap while I did the right door. I glued the long glazing bar in the notches and glued that to the muntin. I'll do the short glazing bars after dinner. I should be able to get at least one door glued and cooked today.

accidental woodworker

hmm.....

This is where I left off with this yesterday. The left door fits snug and square. The right door at the lower right corner isn't square. New battle plan was formed in the brain bucket.

before that battle starts

Before I forgot to do it again, I did it. I really like these chest handles a lot but they are getting crazy expensive.

toast

This is the board that I used to drill the shelf pins in the single glass door cabinet. I wanted to use it for this for the two door glass bookcase but not anymore. I'll have to make a new one.

new idea for square

It dawned on me while eating breakfast that maybe the inside isn't square. I spent all my time and calories trying to get the outside of the carcass square. What is more important to be square is the inside where the doors will be hanging. BTW, I still haven't glued this up - trying to get it square dry first.

found it

The outside diagonals are less than a 16th off. However, the inside diagonals were a 1/4" off. Problem solved.

big sigh of relief

Both doors are laying up square on the hinge side. No gaps anymore there but there is one on the joint line where the doors meet. Easier to deal with that gap then the tapered gaps I had yesterday.

glued and cooking

I used hide glue on this so I would have extra time getting the dovetails seated. The diagonals were both 42 11/16". 

scrap board

Found this in the scrap pile and it is long and wide enough to get the muntins and glazing bars from. I didn't have to use a 6 footer from my Gurney Sawmill stash.

done

I have to thin the glazing bars, they are too high as is at 3/4". They need to be 5/16". I made one extra long and short muntin board along with 2 extra glazing bars for just in case.

still agree

I was leaving for my post lunch stroll but before I left I checked the diagonals. I wanted to make sure it hadn't shifted on me.

yikes

When I got back from the stroll I checked the diagonals again. They had moved 3/16". I used my pinch rods to set the diagonals because I couldn't get a tape reading on the diagonal with the clamp.

double, triple checked it

I checked it three times to make sure it hadn't moved. I checked it again before I killed the lights. Not sure if this is going to work but I intend to let it cook as is until tomorrow. If it is off I'll try to reverse the hide glue and re do it.

hmm.....

I was playing around with the muntins and I decided on this placement. I centered the long muntin and placed the short one 8" down from the top.

long one fitted

The muntin is fitted snug, no glue or any other fasteners. The glazing bar will be glued to the muntin bar which will hold it in place.

half lap

I am going to do the half lap first and then I'll fit the short muntin to fit snug. I'll start that adventure in the AM.

accidental woodworker

Here’s the latest video, with the e mando coming together nicely!

Cheers Gary

pin layout

I knife the tails onto the pin board. I haven't used a pencil for a couple of years now. It seems like every few years I pick up a new method doing dovetails. 

the exciting part

Pins meshing with the tails off the saw. I had to trim one pin on the top board. It was snug but going together. However, it was also splitting the board.

hmm.....

Not quite what I was expecting on the door fit. The height is about an 1/8" shy but the length is over about the same. I was expecting both measurements to be on the short side.

this is ugly looking

The carcass is dry fitted and the diagonals were less than a 16th off. This gap is tapered too with it wide at the bottom tapering away to nothing at the top.

fussy time

Spent some quality time see sawing back and forth trying to get the diagonals to agree dead nuts. I got the back that way but the front I could only manage to get them to less than a 16th

aren't square

One of the doors is less than a 16th and the other is off by an 8th. But from my way of thinking on it, this isn't enough to cause the gap I have between the carcass and the doors.

Big Red to the rescue

According to Big Red this door is square all the way around. This is the one that diagonals were off less than a 16th.

hmm......

Big Red said the top two corners are square but the bottom two aren't.

head and butt scratching

I don't understand this headache. I thought that maybe the sides were bowed but they aren't. A straight edge laid on the outside and inside says they are flat and straight. Still have a tapered gap on both doors - the right one a wee bit more than the left one.

planing the doors

I laid the doors in the opening and penciled a line that I planed down to. I bought this Lee Valley jack plane about 12 years ago to be my main #5 bench plane. But after a couple months I changed my mind. I use it now 99% of time to plane end grain. This plane is phenomenal at planing end grain and the iron edge retention is the best of any plane I own. 

hmm......

The left door fits in the opening snugly. The tapered gap has shrunk a lot but it is still there.

right side door

The door is a looser fit then its left side sibling but the ugly, tapered gap is still there. I am at a loss to explain it. The door is square and the carcass inside corners are square - WTF?

door astragal

I plan on using an astragal to cover the the joint line where the doors meet. It will also serve another purpose. If I have to shim the doors, I can hide the shim under the astragal. This way I won't have to glue one on the hinge side of either door. I think the left door will be ok but I will probably have to add a shim to the right hand drawer.

needs a switch

Still haven't been able to locate a switch for this router. All I know about it that is it was made in England and no tool repair sites have a switch. All of them list it as without replacement. It wouldn't turn on when plugged in - I thought I had left it hardwired on but I hadn't. I need to rout a rabbet in the doors for the glass.

I've been thinking of buying another router and I'm leaning towards getting a plunge router. But I can't make up mind on cordless or corded. Maybe Santa is listening to me moan about it.

done

Rabbets routed and the corners squared up. I plan on using flush (to the front) muntins on these doors.

double checking, again

Big Red says this corner is kind of square. The bottom is square but it runs out with a gap of about a 16th at the top of the blade.

confusing

This is the back of the carcass and the left side has a gap. 3 corners are square and this one is toast. On the front 3 corners are square with the 4th close but no cigar.

Big Red Says

Not one photon is leaking by at this corner.

more confusion

The diagonals at the front are dead nuts the same. Both say 45" outside corner to outside corner. Big Red says the inside corners are square. The left door lays up square and tight on its side but the right still has a tapered gap. I spent my post stroll trying to come up with a reason why it is OTL (out to lunch). Clueless as to why. This will probably change too once I glue the carcass up.

Spent a lot of dead time in the shop cycling through checking the same things over and over and no light bulb came on. It was starting to be frustrating so I killed the lights and left the shop early.

accidental woodworker

I decided to move up a size on the side axe, for these wider panels today. I handled it ages ago, but forgot that I had smoothed the new handle, so I was able to go straight at it.

I was a bit concerned that I had put too much offset into the handle, but it worked beautifully and made short work of rough flattening the board.

Then onto the bench for scrub plane and then jointer.

A stubborn low point persisted; but that's what smoothing planes are for. Lovely big panel.

yikes

First day that the temp got below 32F - 0C. I thought it was a wee bit chilly when I went to grocery store this AM. The first day of winter is the 21st, 16 days from now. By 1600 the temp had only zoomed up to 28F - -2.2C. Hope it warms up again to above freezing soon.

hmm......

Figuring out the width of the bookcase. As is the board is 11 1/4" wide. There will be a 3/4" back and 3/4" for the doors that will eat up some of the width. That makes the width available at around 9+ inches. 

A standard hardcover book is 6" x 9" and it is called an 'octavo'. Most books (hard/soft cover) fall mostly between 5" x 8" to 8.5" x 11". Most of the books I have fall well within these dimensions. This will work for most books and I don't want to glue up stock to make it wider. 

reference edge

Worked on sizing the sides and top and bottom. First batter was getting one edge, flat, square, and straight. This is one of the few time I use my #8.

done

The width ended up at 11 3/16" which is wider than I expected it to be. Ends are squared off and the length is a 16th under what the width and height of the doors are.

dovetails are in the batter's box

I always lay out for dovetails the same way. The reference edge becomes the back with the reference face, facing out. I mark the inside with an X and label the corners.

half pins sawn

Chopping the tail waste. I thought of sawing the waste with a coping saw but nixed it. I like chopping the waste and it is easy and quick in soft pine.

tails done

I still have to clean the baselines and tomorrow I'll do that before I layout for the pins.

expensive

Spent about two hours searching the web for these handles. What I find incredibly stupid is that these are sold by the each. I looked at a bazillion sites selling them and not one offered them as a pair. What good is one chest handle? It is like selling a car with only two tires. A point that will drive me to buy these again is that they come with oval head brass screws! I got these from Hardwick & Sons.

what I bought them for

Haven't given this to my sister yet. Realized moving it around a few times that it is awkward to pick up. Right now it is empty but with stuff in it, it will be even more awkward to pick up and move.

Funny thing happened the other day. My ability to answer comments as R Boumenot is working again. For a couple of years I could only respond to comments anonymously. Another quirk with blogger that has come 360 again.  

accidental woodworker

 Yesterday I walked my full route and although I finished it, I felt it. My legs hurt  a little bit this AM. It took me about 10 minutes longer than it had before I got sick. I had woke up at 0545 this AM but I rolled over and fell back to sleep until after 0700. Today I walked 3/4 of my normal route and I'll keep at that one for a week or so. I didn't think I would need to work back up to what I had been walking.

done

I got 3 coats of shellac on both of these. The left one I will mail to my sister. The one on the right will live in the boneyard. 

last one for 2025

I'm not sure what to call this project. It is a bookcase that will have two glass doors. I have enough pine to make this but not for the back. I'll have to make a road trip to Woodcraft in Woburn to buy a couple sheets of 6mm plywood.

stickered

I picked the flattest boards I had in the stash for the carcass. Top, bottom, and sides being allowed to get any stupid wood tricks out of their system for 24 hours.

I sized the boards so that they were a 16th under the size of the two doors. I would rather deal with the opening being under vice over sized. I haven't decided on a front/back measurement yet. The boards as is are 11 1/4" and my initial choice for the depth is 11". Most books aren't that wide. hmm........

accidental woodworker

 The oohs and aahs commenced at 0753. It seemed like it had taken me a bazillion years to finish this. Glad to finally put a check mark in the done column and see what is next in the queue.

glamour pic #1

I used a dab of red Lock tite on all 3 drawer knobs. In hindsight this would have presented a little better if the two bottom drawers were half their current heights.

glamour pic #2

The dovetails are symmetrical but not evenly spaced. I have wanted to try something like this for a while and I like it.

glamour pic #3

All the exterior surfaces are cherry with the exception of the quarter round moldings on the single drawer enclosure.

last glamour pic

I had to plane the single drawer because it was sticking. I planed the right side top edge and hollowed the back. The drawers aren't a piston fit but when closing the bottom two drawers, air pushes open the non closing drawer.

new one

My sister got back to me and she said the compartment was too wide - she only had about 1/2" thickness worth of cards. She didn't like the height of it neither. I shortened it on the height and the length.

hmm.......

Miters first and then do the grooves. I don't have to worry about blowouts planing across the grooves.

shoulda, woulda, coulda, but didn't

Penciled in the miters and then measured from toe to toe. Got way past the needed 3". I marked and sawed it off at 3 1/4".

dry fit

Decided to round the front edge. I think based on the scale of this that a rounded front edge will look better than it being squared off.

layout

This is easy to layout. Extend the center line of the bottom onto the cherry. Put the pencil on one side end point and place the compass point on the cherry board center line. Lay out the arc easy peasy.

not quite half

 I hope this will do what my sister wants it to do. It is hard to tell with her sometimes because she doesn't explain things well. If it isn't I'll make another one and another ....... until I make what she wants.

yikes

It is 3 frog hairs over 3" wide. On the dry fit it was 3 1/8". I noticed that the miters were not even. That is because the thickness of the back piece isn't the same as the sides. Fingers crossed that the cards my sister has are a few frog hairs shy of 3".

accidental woodworker 

Almost but it doesn't count for projects, only hand grenades and horseshoes. I might be able to get the final coats of shellac on after dinner. But if I don't the oohs and aahs will definitely commence tomorrow.

I had too

Picked it up several times and it held together. No evidence whatsoever of it groaning or disliking being picked up. I didn't shake it - just lifted it this way and by the sides. Satisfied my curiosity about the dowels being strong enough to support the whole carcass.

my favorite router

I have 12(?) routers and this is the one I would save and take in case of a fire. Routing the depth on the cross dadoes for the front partition.

the last to be done

This is it for the shellac. I got 6 coats on the drawer fronts and fingers were crossed, that I would get 6 on this before I killed the lights.

miters shot

The 1/8" plywood I am using for the bottom swelled a wee bit. I had to sand the edges with 80 grit before it fit in the groove for the bottom. The scrap pieces in the groove were to prevent blowout while shooting the miters.

sizing the bottom

I entertained the thought of making the front edge rounded instead of leaving it squared off. Since this is the prototype I went for square. Clamped this dry and got the length of the front partition.

left wiggle room

I extended the bottom past the front edge by a 1/4". Room for a small rounded front or I can plane it flush and square. Depends upon the mood I'm in when and if that happens.

dry fit

This was a tricky glue up. The PITA was keeping the back miters aligned as I attempted to clamp it. It took a lot of cajoling, threats, and well thought out expletives before it looked good. Stopped fussing with it and walked away to let it sit.

stop

I'll saw off a piece of this cherry to act as a stop for the cards. Donna wants to display one while the others are stowed.

doable

Got four coats on before I killed the lights. It is looking like I'll have six on before I hit the rack tonight.

hmmm.....

Eyeballing this one last time to make sure it hadn't shifted on me. I didn't touch it, just eyeballed it from all the angles especially the miters. I cut out three 2" x 3" pieces of cardboard to check out the fit. The 2" is fine but the 3" is toast.

wee bit shy

I made the back 3 5/8" thinking that was enough for the miters to leave the width a bit more than 3". I was wrong and I'm under 3" and the cards don't fit. At least I'll able to proof the concept and check if this is something my sister was looking for.

came today

This book is the zenith of wooden plow plane porn. I read 25 pages right after lunch. I might be finished with this before lights out.

accidental woodworker