Accidental Woodworker

 Another crappy, sleepless night again. I woke up coughing at 0500 and stayed in bed until almost 0730. I didn't fall back to sleep but I took that time to just lay there rest and cough.

I left early for my VA appointment and I'm glad I did. What normally takes about 15 minutes took almost 30. I was still early and I was seen on time. The walk through the hospital was a chore. I went to the wrong floor and had to go back down to the 1st deck. I couldn't manage more then 20-30 feet before I had to stop and catch my breath. Sure glad they had handrails to grab all the way. One of the reasons why I left early. 

I had an urology appointment and the doc said all was well with that and I would see her again next year. She explained why I was making so many toilet trot races. Because I wasn't sleeping well, along with the steroids, my frequent trips went up. Another reason to get the cough manageable again.

need a good home

I have five reproduction Stanley advertising posters that need to go to a good workshop home. I made the frames and had the posters professionally matted and mounted. The glass is conservation grade that keeps the posters from fading. Each one cost me $49. I am offering them to anyone who wants to adopt one for the cost of shipping. 

As a gauge stick, I just shipped out UPS to Virginia for $38. It will be a first email that gets the prize. I have a couple of other framed posters but I'm not sure what I want to do with them yet.

I didn't get any shop time and I didn't even make it down to the shop. I spent the afternoon trying to get some appointments. I got one to get my COVID shots up to date. I'll get that next thursday. The other one was trying to get in touch with pulmonary and that was frustrating. After a couple of hours the only thing I had to show for my efforts was a phone message.

I think I'm going back to the VA in the AM and going to the pulmonary dept in person. The coughing is really kicking my ass. Each cough leaves short of breath too. It sucks pond scum through a kinked straw.

accidental woodworker 

 Had another fitful night sleep but it wasn't as bad as the previous night. Still felt like I had wrestled with a herd of alligators when I went vertical at 0615. Wednesday I go for breakfast and I almost canceled it. I didn't feel much better after breakfast but it just something I have to deal with now. 

After finishing my daily puzzles I shipped a couple of framed posters out. I had UPS package them and it was a lot cheaper then I expected it to be. After that I went next door to Dave's and got some vittles. Lately I've been pushing a cart when I go to the grocery store. It gives me something to hang on to when I have to catch my breath. I like Dave's because it is a smaller store than Shaws and easier for me walk around. 

Either way, I didn't make it to the shop again until just before 1400. I felt exhausted and was fighting trying to stay awake. I am resisting taking naps because I know it will screw me up me sleeping at night. 

it set up

Yesterday I filled in around the pins/tails with wood putty. This putty blends in nicely with the poplar and it is almost invisible. 

ouch

This has been soaking in the Simple Green for more then three days. It has flash rust on the main casing. This is a first for me - I didn't think it would rust because it was totally submerged. I'll have to get off my arse and spend some quality time finishing this.

)(&@#%)(*)&%@*_  gap

I missed this when I checked and shimmed one pin/tail gap. It shook hands with me when I glued on the 1/8" plywood bottom. This is the top too so I will have to fix it.

Soss Hinges

8mm on the left requires a minimum thickness of 7/16". On the right is 10mm and its minimum thickness is a 1/2". I'm going with a 1/2" thick lid and the 10mm hinges are to long length wise for a 1/2" lid. The 8mm hinges will work. The lid will come tomorrow hopefully.

wire wheel in a hand drill

I got most of the main casing done on one side. The underside of the main casing ain't coming off. I'm ok with that because that coating is solid and consistent everywhere.

Tomorrow I have an appointment at the VA so the morning shop time is gone. I'll try to get to it before 1300 and stay until 1500.

accidental woodworker

 Had an absolute terrible night. I slept for 60-90 minutes before waking up coughing up my lungs. After coughing for 15-20 minutes, I would drift off to sleep. Wash, rinse, and repeat until I finally went vertical after 0700. I slept but I felt like I hadn't.

I spent the entire morning sitting at my desk feeling tired and sleepy. It dawned me how exhausting it was to cough like I had.  Along with the coughing, when it stops, I am short of breath that takes me time to catch. That explains why I was feeling like I had to go back to bed and sleep for a week. On the flip side the morning was quiet and I didn't cough that much. Nor did I try to hack up my lungs. 

.It put a huge crimp in my shop time today. I didn't go to the shop until almost 1400 and even then it wasn't a certainty I would waddle my fat arse down there.

ready to unclamp

There was no risk to this being unclamped after dinner last night. I think my days of wandering back to the shop after dinner are history.

flushed the corners

The sticks say there is zero twist. Sometimes when I clamp boxes they twist the sides. It didn't happen this time.

hmm.......

On the clamp up I saw two gaps that would need shimming. I eyeballed the four corners and this is the only gap I needed to slam shut.

not even

The left and right middle tails aren't the same size nor are they centered. It is definitely a hand made dovetail box.

opposite end

This end is closer to the same. I had sized the middle tail so it would be large. I like centering the middle tail although I like this layout. If I use it again I will center the middle one and make the outside ones the same size. 

Fingers crossed that I sleep a wee bit better tonight.

accidental woodworker

hmm........

2nd round of sawing square and it didn't go so well. All four of them were slightly off square. Not terribly OTL (out to lunch) but enough that there would be gaps between the tails and pins.

tails

The angle of tails appear to be consistent. I was expecting this to be different but it looks like muscle memory has the angle down.

made a command decision

Decided to cheat a bit by using a square to layout the tails. I did the spacing by eye which after seeing what I had done needs some work.

like the old days

Several years ago I started to knife the tail and pin layout lines. Before that I used pencil and then sawed on that layout line. Used the dozuki saw for the tails and pins. I find that with the finer TPI it saws easier in thin stock then my Blue Spruce dovetail saw.

I'm square

Paul Sellers used a coping saw to remove the waste and fitted his tails/pins without any chiseling. I used a marking gauge for the baselines and the half pins. Off the saw the half pins were almost dead on according to my dovetail square.

I checked the middle tails after I chopped them and they were about the same. I had to tweak a couple to get them dead square to the outside face.

slow going

I was getting short of breath chopping the tails but I wasn't coughing and I didn't have to stop to recuperate neither. It did take a lot longer to get the tails and pins fitted up. A couple months before this I would have completed it in about an hour. Today It took me over 3 hours.

drats, and double drats

Got an ugly gap on this half pin. The other tails/pins are snug fitting.

gap on lower right

I wasn't expecting to have a gap. For the most part this dovetailing experiment wasn't that different from what I normally do.

the opposite end

This end is kinda better. There are two 'gaps' but I think once I glue it they will close up. 

clean up

I plan on using this after it has cooked. I planed the inside faces of the four sides with the #3. I'll do the outside faces in the AM.

helping hands

Used the clamps to pull the half pins tight. The inside diagonals didn't change and both said 8 1/2". After eyeballing it, I think I will only have to shim two tail/pin connections. I'm also thinking of using Soss Hinges for the lid on this box but that could change come tomorrow.

I won't be trying this experiment again. I don't ever see myself having to dovetail something without doing it the way I do now. I don't see any advantage to this method nor do I think it is a good shop practice.  Could I do it? Yes given more time and maybe a bit more practice.

The shortness of breath is getting worse. I can barely take 4-5 steps before my breathing gets short. That is also now accompanied by me coughing, sometimes quick and sometimes fitfully. Either way, it sucks pond scum through a collapsed straw.

I felt ok working on the box this AM. So far I can work in the shop without any issues which is in my favor. However, the up/down to the shop is also getting worse. I have to sit on the bench in the back hallway for 5 minutes or so to catch my breath. I plan my trips to the shop to minimize any return trips topside. I want the one and only time I leave the shop to be the last trip. 

accidental woodworker 

pays to be a pack rack

Noticed this pile of 1/2" poplar while during the laundry. It will do for the upcoming experiment.

the box

I couldn't get a complete color/grain match for the sides.  I eyeballed the long and short sides and squared and sawed them to length.

labeled

I labeled this the way I would any dovetail project. I'm just not laying out the tails with my dovetail jig.

practice first

Used one of the extras to saw the tails first. The big concern was sawing square without a square line to guide me. All four of the saw lines came out square. I was happy to see that. The only one I had trouble with is the right half pin. I always have trouble sawing that way.

This is all I had the energy for today. Last night I had coughing fit when I went to bed at 2200. I coughed continually off and on until 1130. First fit since I got the last Rx round that coughed this long. I finally slept but I woke up 4 times for the toilet trot races. I think the meds are the cause for the trips. Regardless I slept ok - ish and went vertical a little after 0700.

I spent the morning during absolutely nothing. I didn't feel sick but I had zero ambition to do anything. I wanted to go to the shop but I couldn't get myself to leave my desk chair. I didn't even feel like watching YouTube and just sat there and zoned out.

I finally made it to the shop after lunch and it was struggle to get down there. I wanted to do something but I also wanted to go back topside and just veg out. I thought about how I felt today and over the past 2-3 days and wondered if my lung issues are the cause.   

Fingers crossed that tomorrow is at a minimum, a wee bit better.

accidental woodworker 

hmm.......

First off, the stand offs on the back of the frog had rust on them. Removing the japanning on the frog is being a bit more stubborn than the plane body. I tired to remove the japanning with 4-0 steel wool and nada. The steel wool didn't remove one bit. I next tried a steel wire brush and got the same result on both the main casting and the frog. 

The japanning is scraping off easily but not as easily as I expected it to be. After two full days in the Simple Green bath I thought it would be far easier to remove the japanning. 

This was it for today. I spent the AM running around with my wife keeping her company. It turned out to be a me-steak and a rather large me-steak. I barely survived walking around with her at the first stop. At the 2nd one I had a coughing fit. Luckily it happened while I was alone in the car. 

I did attempt a little bit of walk about at a Star Bucks and kinda survived that. Coughed a little due to me walking but I didn't have a fit and embarrass myself ordering. I was thinking of driving down to NC to see the grandkids but I don't see that happening now. I think my trips are going to be limited to me sitting in the passenger seat with no walk about.

accidental woodworker  

I was not alone in having an absolute miserable night trying to sleep. My wife said that she hadn't slept well either. It has been unusually warm for November and that keeps me from sleeping well. The bedroom was 77F and once the temp gets above 70-72F I sweat and have trouble falling asleep.

Last night I didn't drift off until almost 0230, having hit the rack at 2200. I woke up 4 times after that before rolling out of the rack after 0700. A real crappy night and I didn't feel better once I got vertical. I felt spent and hung out to dry sopping wet. Made for a 2nd blah day in my part of the universe.

hmm.......

Simple Green is working rather well on the japanning. It scraped off effortlessly on the flat areas. The round parts not so easy. At this rate it shouldn't take 3 days for the japanning to slough off. I will have to make a road trip to Wally World to get some JB Weld to fill in the swirl marks on the flat sides.

done

The sides of this 'frog cradle' got scraped clean. The sides will be visible and they are the only part of this I'm painting.

I spent the next hour cleaning the metal sole where the attachment points are. There was a ton of stubborn crud that giggled at me while trying to remove it. This is about all I got done today. Maybe tomorrow I'll have a wee bit more to show for my time in the shop.

I thought of something to do and I'll try doing it tomorrow. I have tried to do it before without any success. It is how Frank Klausz saws out his dovetails. He does it by eye without doing any layout. It makes sense the way he describes it but I haven't been able to duplicate it. I think it is because I'm thinking tails first and his layout is pins first.

Anyway that is what I'm going to try and do. Make a box without doing any pencil layout. Paul Sellers did a box this way so maybe I should follow him as he is tails first.

accidental woodworker 

got lucky

I went searching for something to soak the compass plane in and found this. I know I have some clear plastic bins somewhere but they are AWOL. I filled it with water and dumped in some Simple Green Concentrate. I'll check it in a couple of days.

no Simple Green

I don't want to soak this at all. I am leery about the attachment points of the steel sole. I am not willing to chance the Simple Green loosening something up there. I will scrape the two outside faces and repaint them. I will soak the main casing, the frog, and the lever yoke.

ta da

I went to a True Value hardware store and I got the last can they had on the shelf. Amazon has pint cans too and they were the next option.

Ran out of gas during the AM right before lunch. I felt blah and after lunch it got worse. I spent the afternoon sitting at my desk with head on it drifting in/out of sleep. Didn't cough much so at least that wasn't adding to my misery. Spent some of that time thinking about what to make next and came up dry. 

At 1430 I made the me-steak of bringing the wife's console/entry table upstairs from the workshop. I did it in one trip with no stopping until I got to the living room. I got so short of  breath that it was 10 minutes before I was breathing normal again. Or as normal is for me now. The upside was the blah feeling went away. Go figure on that BS.

accidental woodworker

 

hmm.......

I let this cook overnight and I was ready to take the clamps off. I was a little concerned with the shelf twisting the bottom stretcher. It didn't happen as all the legs were laying flat. No rocking and no high or low legs. The bottom shelf was tight to stretcher end to end.

walnut Miller dowels

Used 3, one into each end apron and the 3rd one centered between them. This will allow the shelf to expand or contract as it needs to.

2 on, a few more to go

It has been usually warm lately for November and the shellac is drying fairly quick. I will get the next 4-5 coats on today.

changed my mind

I lightly sanded this with 120 grit to gauge the japanning and I decided to strip it. I don't like the circular swirl marks. Ace didn't have any pint cans of black enamel so I'll try Lowes in the AM. 

opposite side

I will let this soak in Simple Green for a few days to strip the japanning. I'll have to find something else to amuse myself with while the Simple Green does its job.

kinda working

This scraper worked well on the flat sides and not so good on the rounded portions. That is why I decided to go with the Simple Green bath.

checked it

The three stand offs appeared to be all in the same plane. The seat for the frog to the left is flat and the frog didn't rock at all. I had lightly filed the 3 of them yesterday.

happy with that

Looking at the chamfer right on and it looks almost rounded. It softens the legs and I think it looks good against the other sharp 90° R/L corners. I like this detail a lot that I'll use again for sure.

FYI to me

I should have sawn an angle of these. They don't look horrible IMO but knocking the squareness back with an angle would have looked better then this.

glamour pic #1

My wife intends to put this by the front door for a catch all - keys etc etc.

glamour pic #2

This is a wee bit thinner than I like but it will fit within the confines where my wife wants it. She measured for it and I did make it an inch wider then she asked.

sigh

I had thought of covering these with a dutchman but didn't. I wasn't expecting the dowels to pop this much and go dark. I'll make sure that these are on the outside with the opposite legs up against the wall. Every project has a wart and this is the one for this.

It has now been one year since my cancer diagnosis. So far nothing else has popped up wanting to shake hands with me. On the ILD health side things are so so. The latest drug regime is over tomorrow with the last steroid pill but I do have 3 1/2 bottles of cough suppressant pills. So far things are wonderful. I still cough but not as frequently and not trying to hack up my lungs. 

When I do cough it is when I get up and move around. But oddly, in the shop I move around too, but I hardly cough at all there which is nice. I still have shortness of breath issues like I can't walk in the grocery without having to rest several times. The shortness of breath is a limitation that I'm learning to work around and with. So far it is mostly me having to go slowly no matter what I'm doing.

 I had given up on making my LAP Welsh stick chair but I am reconsidering it. I managed to whack on the table and I really don't think the chair is going to be any more difficult to do. Besides I can still use electric tools over hand tools whenever breathing issues hit me.

 accidental woodworker

 I have been playing woodworker for almost 60 years now. I like the build process and hate the final step which is applying a finish. I understand the importance of it with the prep and careful application of whatever the finish is. To me it still sucks pond scum and I don't like doing it. And I've tried a bazillion different types. Initially my go to was Minwax Poly before I discovered shellac. It is now my default, go to finish. It is easy to apply and even easier to reapply to fix a boo boo. That is where I am in the shop and it will probably take me a couple of days to apply the shellac to the console/entry table.

hmm........

It has been a while since I have go to shop after dinner but I made the round trip last night after dinner. Came back to get the 2nd coat on the bottom of the top shelf and the bottom facing edges of the table. I like flipping the project and soaking the ends of the legs with shellac. On a brighter note, I didn't hack up a lung and I didn't get short of breath neither. I'll try a return trip again today after dinner (maybe).

AM

I think I forgot to mention this subtle detail. The chamfered outside edge of the leg when viewed at a slight angle(right front leg) it appears that the right angle edge is rounded. The hardness of the 90° is gone and the edge is softer looking. IMO it turned out much better then I expected it to.

what to do, what to do

Do I glue the bottom shelf first and then slap on the shellac or put the shelf aside and then shellac. If I do the latter I would have to deal with drips and drabs of shellac getting on the bare wood that will be getting glue. 

gluing the shelf won

Decided it best to glue the shelf first. It will be a bit of a PITA to shellac it but it is doable. I will let the glue cook until the AM. I will be adding some Miller Dowels then too because the shelf rocked a teeny bit although I didn't have twist in it when I checked it with the sticks. They will be added insurance.

thinning the herd

I have a couple of duplicate tool from my ' tool rehabbing' period. I don't need two and I'll be passing them along. I'm not going to bother trying to sell them but I'll donate them to woodworking schools?

butt mortise plane (Lee Valley)

This is the only tool that I can think of that I bought, tried once, and never used it again. I tend to go over aboard convincing myself I need a tool but fortunately it only bit me on the arse once. 

Lee Valley calls this a hinge mortise plane and currently costs  $189.00. I might offer this up for a drastically reduced price first ($50?). If I get no takers it get donated.

Stanley #12 scraper planes

The right one is mine and ain't going nowhere. The left one is history. I can't remember which one is older and there are differences between the two. Both are complete with the exception of the irons/blades. I have one Stanley blade and I have Hock and Kunz ones also. I used the both of them scraping table tops where they excelled at working squirrely grain and reverse grain tear out spots. 

left turn

I got this toy to plane circular table tops. Several years back I had made some tables with round tops and thought I needed this to plane them. I only used this on one table and I had intended to at that time to rehab it but never got around to it. Today I am getting around to it.

parade rest

I was surprised by easy it was to take this apart right down to parade rest. Based on my past experiences rehabbing planes, keeping all the parts together is paramount. Especially the teeny pins holding things together.

first use

The offset screwdriver has its own story. When I first got this plane I couldn't adjust the frog and as it was, the throat was too wide. It took me a few months before I found this offset screwdriver. I had bought others but none of them fit or would loosen the frog adjust screw.

I don't have any black enamel paint but I'm not sure that the plane needs to be stripped and repainted. The body is in decent shape with only the screw knob looking a little shabby. I think I can get away with main casting just getting a wax job.

hmm.........

I was surprised by how flat this frog is. Usually I would have to deal with this seat being a wee bit wonky. After an initial stroking with the files, it looked ok with no humps or shallows shaking hands with me.

say hello to Mr Hump

I used my 6" rule as a straight edge and a hump showed up. From past experiences I usually found a hump where the lever cap screw was threaded into the frog. As it is here the top is flat and straight until that hole and then drops off at the bottom of the frog. There is wee bit of daylight at the toe. Right where the toe of the blade meets the wood.

hmm.......

You can remove the lever adjustment. The pin that holds in place is a short, tapered pin. I have removed a couple of them in the past with a couple of boo boos. I cracked/broke one frog installing the pin back in. Another one I lost the pin and bought a parts replacement frog to get a pin. I'm not sure if I want to go through the removal dance steps for this frog. I'll try to work around it for now.

The back of the frog has 3 pads on it that I hadn't noticed the first time I had taken this apart. I'll have to check to see how those pads sit and align in the body's frame.

accidental woodworker 

 I wasn't sure if I would have gotten to this point today. I had an estate planning appointment in the PM and that was constantly in my thoughts while working in the AM. I'll be doing the shellac finish starting in the AM tomorrow.

hmm..........

There is zero room to swing a hammer to get the clip mortises in the long aprons. I will be able to get a clip on the short ends. I only have to do the top short aprons. 

wooden table clips

I am only using two on the long clips. Once the top is secured with these four and if it looks like it needs help, I can add a couple more as needed.

hmm......

Another oops I missed on the first go around. I didn't clean up any of the apron layout markings. 

before I forgot

Marked  3/16" on each side of the leg for the chamfer. I couldn't use the cradle I made but I managed to secure one leg at a time in the vise. No issues planing the chamfers after that.

one down, three to go

I will have to sharpen this iron because there is a nick in it.

the  battle plan

The big boy hogged most of the waste and down close to the lines. The smaller one planed down to removing the layout lines.

2 hours later

After the glue had set for a while I added to two screws to each one. 

centering

Used the bit to get the center for the screw. I had set the top of them an 1/8" down from the top of the apron so it wouldn't interfere with pulling the top down tight to the apron.

chamfers

Top done and the bottom one complete too. I was going to make the bottom chamfer smaller then the top one but changed my mind. I used the same bit but set it a bit shallower then the top shelf.

clean up

80 grit up to 220, smoothing the end grain ends.

ouch

Got a divot that sucks pond scum. As it is here the chamfer is about 1/2 the thickness of the board. One option is to make the chamfer deeper and remove the divot but......

pleasant surprise

Three strokes and the divot was gone. I was not expecting to be able to plane it away. The chamfer width is a wee bit wider where I removed the divot but with a casual glance it is unnoticeable.

last step

Used 120 grit to knock down the arrises and that was the next to last step before slapping on shellac. I will vacuum and tack the table down first which will be the last step.

sneak peek

Eyeballed it for a few to make sure I hadn't missed something. I will shellac the top and bottom shelves first and then install them. The bottom shelf will be the tricky one because I am gluing it to the stretcher to attach it. So I can't shellac it because you can't glue over shellac.

accidental woodworker 

it has cooked

Ready to unclamp and see how things look. Spoiler alert - all the joint lines were tight and glue free. I hadn't forgotten to clean up glue squeeze out after I clamped it.

Miller Dowels

I think these are the 1X size and I'm using two at each end. My only choices were birch (these four) and cherry. As far as I know Miller doesn't have poplar dowels.

nope

I used a half pattern to layout the end detail and it is off. The left side is over twice the size of the right. This would look like total crap if I did them. Time to execute plan 2.1D.

hmm.......

Shoulda, woulda, coulda, but didn't at the git go. I thought of this last night during my 3rd toilet trot race. I marked a center line end to end for positioning the pivot point of the beam.

bottom shelf

It worked much better than the half pattern did. The bottom shelf extends past the outside edge of the aprons by less then 1/8" so I had to keep it tight.

top shelf

The top overhangs the ends by 2" so I could make a larger chord here. I had to redo one end twice. I bumped the edge into the bandsaw blade so I had redo the chord to below the boo boo.

clean up

Started with the spoke shave, went to the small blockplane and then its bigger sibling, lastly using the rasp. All I needed to do this were the last two. I sanded it with 120 grit and the next batter is routing a chamfer 360 on both.

I couldn't wait

I think I achieved what I wanted with this table. Something delicate and airy looking but still capable of holding an objet d'art (french for art object) or two. I'm awfully close to oohing and aahing. And the kicker is my wife wants it with a shellac finish to match the other two poplar pieces. I would have bet a lung she wanted it painted. 

hmm.......

Wanted to get a look see at how a chamfer would look on the outside corners of the legs. Started with 5 1/6" which was too wide followed by 1/4" which still looked too wide. This is 3/16" and it won the Kewpie doll. I'll do them in the AM because I killed the lights here.

I would have done more but for some reason doing the ends of the top and bottom shelf worn me out. I didn't get winded to where I had to stop and rest but I was tired after doing them. The lights got killed a little after 1400 today.

accidental woodworker

Big OOPS, I forgot to post the blog first thing this AM. 

dry fit first

I did a dry fit first to make sure the aprons had the correct inset and that the dowels were the right length. Got it glued and cooking after I had double, triple checked it three times.

hmm.......

The dowels for the long aprons I left long because there wasn't room for the two apron dowels to bypass each other. Left the long aprons long because they carry/span more then the short ones will. Even at that the short aprons still have a 5/8" long dowel length in the dowel hole.

glued

I went back and forth about whether or not to glue these in now or wait. Glued them in because they wouldn't be in the way of clamping the short aprons.

glued and cooking

The plan was to let the two short ends cook for a couple of hours and then glue the top aprons.

last chance

Checked that the long aprons still had the correct inset at both ends before heading topside.

spacer

With the top aprons clamped the bottom of the legs, at both ends, swung outward several inches. The spacer is dead nuts on the distance between the legs.

dead nuts

I checked everything for square after I got the table glued/clamped and all was well in Disneyland. According to Mr 18" Starrett Combo Square, all the junctions are dead on 90°.

bottom stretcher

Got the stretcher sawn to length and it will be glued and Miller doweled in the AM.

hmm.......

Pine scrap that fits perfectly between the short ends with wiggle room. I was going to use this for a template for the poplar shelf but I changed my mind. I like the look of it and I sawed the poplar shelf to this width. I sawed it a little narrower than the pine so I had a wee bit more then 1/8" clearance on each side at each end between the legs.

oops

I put in two cross stretchers 8" in from each end. They will be used to provide a gluing surface for the bottom shelf. The first one cooperated but the 2nd one threw a hissy fit and split. I glued it and will use it - there won't be any stress subjected to it after the shelf is glued down.

glued and cooking

I'll let this go until tomorrow. I what to make sure that the joints get as secure as possible.

fixed

The split had cooked for 3 hours and after getting the last load out of the dryer, I glued the 2nd cross stretcher in place.

accidental woodworker

 Had a good day in the shop if being confused with what was at the top of the A list. I wanted to work on the bottom stretcher details and that quickly went south on me. I think I spent twice as much time scratching the bald spot then I did doing anything constructive. By the time I killed the lights I was looking forward to heading topside. I think I figured out how this puzzle of a console table will go together.

step one

I got the bottom aprons dry fitted so I could mark the inside/outside and the top/bottom. I had to cut a dado on the inside face for the bottom cross stretcher.

yikes

This sucks pond scum but at least I found it before I tried to glue it up. The left apron has the inset but the right one doesn't.

found it.

The two need to be shifted over to the right and up. When I flipped this to drill the holes on the opposite end I turned it the wrong way and flipped the reference face 180. Initially I sawed off a new board to get two new aprons before I realized I could fill in the errant holes and drill new ones. DUH.

let the fun begin

This apron thing befuddled me and made feel like I had the IQ of box of pointy rocks. I played with trying to get the aprons dry fitted but I was ending up with one of them not having the inset like the top left one. I drilled new holes, glued dowels in them, and tried again. I'd like to say I got it but it took me over an hour before that light came on.

nice feeling

Both the long and short aprons have the correct inset. I took a short break and then I double, triple checked it again. 

labeled

Used a sharpie to labeled the aprons to the legs. The bottom aprons are easy as they only go in one way.

stretcher dado

 I will glue and use Miller Dowels to secure the stretcher to the dadoes.

sneak peek

I still have to do the cross stretchers. The plan is to glue the bottom shelf to the long and cross stretchers. 

didn't make it

Got the labels aligned and where did the inset disappear to? Went into panic mode and initially I couldn't get it aligned. Good thing I couldn't find my 3lb sledge hammer.

happy face on

I had the labels aligned but I hadn't checked the leg orientation. Once I did them first, the top aprons lined up perfectly. It wasn't 1500 but after all this aggravation I killed the lights. I left this as is and I'll come back to it in the AM.

I had wanted to get the short ends of the table glued and cooking but that didn't happen. But now that I think I won't bury my head in arse again I should get the short ends done then. Fingers crossed on that happening.

accidental woodworker 

 

it has been a while

I had to stop and think about this table again. It has been too long since I initially figured out the dimensions. I had to stop and try to remember exactly how I had done it. The problem area is the bottom shelf is shorter on the length then the top shelf. Finally got it - the ends of the bottom shelf sit on the bottom stretchers and over hang them a wee bit.

got it

The top stretchers ended up 23 1/2"  with the legs being inset two inches from the ends.

slow going

The legs and the top stretchers are sawn to finished length. The bottom shelf stretcher I left as is and I'll get its finished length after the table is glued and cooked.

wake up call

Two faces on each of these four legs were rough sawn and I had to smooth them. Started with the 5 1/2 and got short of breath before finishing the first face. I had to stop for a few before resuming but I was ok after that. I didn't lose my breath to where I had to stop. I was able to work through and get all 8 faces done.

drilling the dowels

One good thing about getting short of breath is that it makes me go slow. That behooves me because I have a habit of brain farting on this. I usually drill a set referenced off the wrong face.

checking

I managed to get all the rail dowels drilled correctly.

glad I had this

This is a test leg I drilled to check for the dowel depth and how much I would have to cut the dowels. The important thing was it gave me the reference faces for setting the jig.

nailed it

Got all the dowel holes drilled and the next batter was fitting everything together to check to see if I got it right.

ugh

Drilled the first set of holes (on the right) on the wrong side of the layout line. I drilled the the 2nd set (on the left) off the wrong reference face. Filled in both sets and drilled the 3rd set on the correct side of the layout line and off the correct reference face.

hmm.......

I like it. It is small, delicate and airy looking IMO.

oops

I didn't think the bottom shelf all the way through. I could cut the width but I'm not sure that would look good. I will deal with that later. I have already have a couple of ideas pin balling around in the brain bucket.

hmm......

The holes are a frog hair over 3/4" and the dowels are dead on 1 1/2" long but the rails won't seat fully on the legs. I was going to kill the lights here but did one more task.

hand chamfer

I like to chamfer the dowel holes because it leaves a small place for any glued squeeze out to fill in.

I lied

Still didn't kill the lights because I sanded one face of the legs to remove planer ridges. No problems and the 120 grit easily removed them and smoothed the leg. I was going to stop after one leg but did the other 3. I wasn't sure I would remember which one I had done so I spent an extra 15 minutes completing the other three. Then I killed the lights. Overall a pretty good output considering I didn't get any AM time which I spent running errands.

accidental woodworker

 The saga of the DeWalt belt change and resuming the console table build again is restarted.  I got the planer back today and got the legs planed. The tech told me he almost gave up trying the the belt I gave him. I got two of them off eBay for $12 whereas an OEM belt was over $90 with S/H. I'll keep that in mind if and when I shred another belt.

step one

Before I could use it I had to install the chain and the sprocket. It was an easy do with zero headaches to deal with.

operational again

No problems making a pile of shavings. It was tiring setting up to do it though. My shortness of breath has increased a lot lately. I had to stop and rest to catch my breath several times but I got it done, albeit slowly.

done

Four legs planed square but a wee bit thinner than I was shooting for. I ended up a 32nd under 1 3/16". Still doable and the legs have the slender look I am shooting for.

stickered

I was worn out putting everything away and cleaning up the shavings in the driveway. I am going to let these legs relax until the AM. After I got them on the saw I was going to kill the lights for the day. 

made a detour

Decided to flush the 2nd box bottom before I killed the lights.

hmm.......

I was careful this time and I didn't get any plane tracks on the box sides. I was able to flush plane and sand all four sides without passing out. I got a wee bit winded but I didn't have to stop to rest. I coughed a little but no hissy fit spasms.

interesting

Not what I expected to see. The square indicated 90 at every corner. I thought after flushing the bottom it would have been off.

surprise #2

Both diagonals read 9 1/16". Working wood still holds surprises that make me smile.

box #1

This is the only glamour shot for this box. The Howard's feed 'n wax softened the brush marks and knocked some of the sheen down. I think this going out to Indiana to my sister Donna for her birthday on Nov 12th.

hmm.......

Surprise #3 - I got four legs out of each of the two boards. Thinking now that I will use these four - they are a few frog hairs thicker than 1 1/4" square. I'll have to plane two faces that have saw marks on them. I'm not going through the ordeal of running them through the lunchbox planer.

they fit

I have not quite a 1/2" on either side of the legs. I can saw the apron length shorter if I don't like the wiggle room. I'll start on this in the AM.

I strained my left arm somehow. When I move it I get a pain on my forearm by the elbow. I must have strained it hauling the planer out of the car and back into the house. At least I wasn't coughing.

accidental woodworker

 

came yesterday Joe

Your hammer looks too good to use but it will get used as needed.

the proud corner

This box isn't as sturdy as the first one I just finished. I don't think it could stand the stress of it being planed so the plan was to flush the tails/pins with a chisel and then carefully sand the outside with 120 grit.

spoiler alert upcoming

When I filled the empty screw hole with super glue I thought about it getting into the scissor part of the hinge. Would it get into and freeze the hinge? Well boys and girls after dinner last night I went to the shop to check on that.

it closed.......

...and then it opened - no binding at all. Zero indication that the super glue got into the internals of the hinge. Happy with how this came out.

flushed the tails/pins first

I used one of my big boy chisels because it was sharp. I didn't want to sharpen one of my bench chisels to do this.

checked for square

The inside of the box was square at every corner, each way, when I checked it with the square. The inside diagonals still were dead nuts too. I didn't bother checking the outside diagonals.

almost too small

The #3 was barely long enough to make the run around the box. Got it done but I switched to the 5 1/2 to finish flushing the top.

checking for twist

The bottom twist removed quickly but the top took a lot of dance steps. The first two runs I made it in the opposite direction of the high corners making the twist worse.

change of plans

I hadn't planned to use this as a box. It was done mostly to see how doing small dovetails would work out. Changed my mind on that and the first regret was not cleaning up the pencils marks on the inside of the box. The box will be getting a bottom and a lid.

hmm.......

This is the off cut from the first lid and I had thought about using as the bottom. It is about an 1/8" thick but the width bowed and I didn't think it would work. I flexed it one more time and it split in two. Glad I hadn't used it now. It would have been nice to have the box be all solid wood.

one more hmm.......

This is the off cut from the 2nd lid and I thought about gluing the two off cuts together to make it thicker and stiffer. If I had one more off cut I could have made it this into a plywood.

bottom glued and cooking

I went looking around the shop for pine scraps to make the lid from and nada. The 3 pieces I found were all long enough but short on the width. I do have a lot of poplar that I could use.

The tool repair guy called and said the planer was ready for pickup. This works in my favor because there was nothing else on the horizon for the next project.

sigh

The brad point poked through on this hinge mortise. I only noticed it when I wiped it with steel wool and Howard's feed 'n wax. I'll have to think on how and what to do about it overnight.

upgrade time

I had upgraded the desk computer two days ago and the shop computer is getting the same one now. Upgrading Linux Ubuntu is so much easier and quicker then any Windows OS I have ever upgraded. The only annoying changes made with either upgrade were the user permissions. I had to change them so I could long in without using my password.

The Rx I got is working. I slept last night like I was dead, it was a blissful night of sleeping without trying to hack up my lungs. During the day I hardly coughed at all and I had zero 10 minute coughing spasms. The only time I coughed was when I exerted myself (walking). Even then it was just a few polite coughs. It is a wonderful feeling not coughing continually all day long and night. The doc gave me a 3 bottles of cough suppression meds. I hope that I don't have to renew it.

Didn't kill the lights yet here. The upgrade in the shop was over WiFi and the connection is slow. I will wandered down twice 15 minutes apart until it was finally completed.

accidental woodworker

before the teeny dovetails

The finish is done and the Soss hinges are getting secured. There is a 'space' on both sides of the hinges for a screw and I'm only using one screw on the box and one on the lid.
 

hmm......

Hindsight sucks pond scum. It would appear it would have behooved me to screw the lid first and then the box. I stopped here and went to the VA to get the Rx pulmonary put in this friday past. This got done before I started the next box.

The trip from the front door of the VA to the pharmacy was not a walk in the park. I got as short of breath as I did on Saturday. But this time I had to do with traffic and for the first time I wasn't looking to walk around slow moving vets, because I was one of them too. On the way out I had coughing fit and had to sit for a half an hour to catch my breath and calm down. I was hoping then the pills were magical and would kick in real quick.

yikes

With the screws in the lid, it became hinge bound. The screws were causing it so I removed the ones in the lid.

no longer hinge bound

The hinges were a snug fit in the mortise holes but I didn't have a warm and fuzzy that a year from now that would stay the same.

worth a shot

I filled up the hole that had the screw and wicked in some all the way around the top. Fingers crossed that this will hold.

sizing the box

Initially I sized the the box about 2 to 1. The long sides are 7 1/4" and the short ends were 3 1/2". I didn't like the look of the box based on those measurements. It looked squished up and too small. I like the look of the short ends here. They are 6" which makes the box still a rectangle. I think the difference of the side thicknesses is helping to balance out the look of the box.

hmm.........

That is an awfully thin baseline. The tails are going on the long sides and the pins will be on the short ends.

fancy dovetail saw

This is the saw I bought for doing Kumiko. It was expensive and the teeth are finer then my bench japanese dozuki saws. It should do a good job on the small tails and pins.

half pins

No knife walls for the half pins. I sawed directly on the baselines. No hiccups so far and I was expecting the smallness to go south on me somehow.

tails done

First half of the dovetailing without any problems. The tails felt solid and not flimsy. Clean up was easy and the middle pin socket chopped out in nothing flat.

it worked

The depth of the saw cut wasn't that deep and I couldn't see the baselines. I put blue tape on the baselines to give something better visually to guide me.

pins done

Chopping the pin sockets surprised me. First I didn't have to chop from both sides on 6 of them. The pin socket waste popped off on those 6 from one side. They were all clean with very little bits and pieces to remove from the corners.

off the saw

All the corners went together off the saw. I didn't have to trim any of the pins to get the tails to seat. I was concerned about the thinness of the pins but I no had problems with them.

happy face on

All the tails/pins closed up without gaps with hand pressure. I couldn't get the diagonals on the outside to agree but no headaches with the inside diagonals agreeing dead nuts.

hmm.......

I think the outside diagonals were toast because the pins/tails on one corner were proud. There was no way I was getting those diagonals to read square. 

glued and cooking

No clamps needed but I did have to tap down on a couple of pins to fully seat them. I'll let this cook until the AM and hopefully I'll finish it tomorrow.

I didn't run into any hiccups, speed bumps, or headaches doing these tails/pins. In the end they were done just like any of the 'bigger' dovetails I normally do. This only thing I did was to size the tails to my chisels. I was going for 3/8" but the middle one came out smaller than 3/8". A small annoyance at best. 

accidental woodworker

came this close

I got 5 coats on the box and the lid and I'm calling that part done. In the AM I'll install the Soss hinges and I'll rub down the box and lid with Howard's Feed 'n Wax. Then the oohs and aahs can commence followed by much dancing and rejoicing in Mudville.

I spent most of the day resting and doing nothing. I made two trips to the shop to slap on shellac and that was it. Last night I hit the rack at 2200 and 5 minutes later I launched into a 15 minute coughing fit. After that I coughed on and off for the rest of the night. The last time I looked at the clock it said 0235. I must have drifted off after that and woke again at 0330 coughing again.

The rest of the night pretty much stuck to the same dance steps. I finally went vertical a little after 0700 feeling like crappola. That feeling stayed with me all day long. Tomorrow I'll go to the VA and pick my Rx and I'm looking forward to getting some relief. Everything on my body that can be crossed is, not that I'm superstitious. 

accidental woodworker

 First thing this AM after posting the blog I went to the VA to pick up a Rx. I finally got a hold of pulmonary and they gave me a new Rx. It is for managing the cough but when I got to the VA the pharmacy was closed. No weekend pickups. I should have gone on friday but I didn't want to deal with the school bus traffic.  I'll have to go back on monday to get it. Which is just as well because the doc told me to make sure that I get my flu and COVID shots up to date. With my current lung issues getting either one of them would suck beyond  drinking pond scum.

cooked

I came back to the shop last night after dinner and resisted the urge to take this out of the clamps. I let it be to fully cook overnight to impart as much strength as possible to the miters. 

better

I got the 3rd coat of shellac on the box and the lid. Now I can see a wee bit of shine and a definite difference between the shellac and the raw pine. It would appear that 3 coats are needed for that to pop. 

Based on the last outing with this shellac I am wiping down the shellac with steel wool between each coat. So far it appears to be setting up and drying unlike the last time. I haven't feel any stickiness between the coats so far.

doesn't fit

The front to back (long sides) fit nicely but the short ends don't. The right side will drop in but the left won't. I penciled the over and it is a strong 32nd. The decision was where to remove to get it to fit. Removing it from the base would be difficult so I opted to plane/sand the box bottom.

took a while

I took my time planing/sanding the bottom until it fit. I didn't want to end up with ugly looking gaps. The gaps changed on me with a slight one on the front right. I tried reversing the the box 180 but the gap was still there. 

There was also the gap on the back left short side that was there on the dry fit up. With the base glued and cooked, it shrunk a little.

I was careful with the fitting because I didn't want to have any of the miters open up on me. I still don't have good luck with miters staying glued but today they cooperated.

based glued on

I have to rely on glue only because there is no way to get screws to hold the base to the box. I let this cook until the PM.

When I went to the VA the shortness of breath kicked my arse big time. The pharmacy is a hike even though I got a good spot in the parking lot. I had to stop and catch my breath 4 times walking to it. Last week when I had my podiatry appointment I had gone to the pharmacy and I got winded but I didn't have to stop and catch my breath.

This little trip sapped my strength and made me tired. I spent most the morning sitting at my desk resting with my eyes closed. I made a brief appearance in the shop in the PM to finish up what I started in the AM working on the box.

chamfers

I planed a chamfer (20 strokes on each side) to finish up the base. I did the chamfer to lighten the base and make it look thinner. I am finding that the less I walk around in the shop the more I can do. Most of what I accomplished in the PM involved me standing at the bench mostly. 

first coat

 I'll try to get back to the shop at least once more to slap on the 2nd coat. I still don't have issues walking down the stairs but coming up them against gravity ain't so good anymore. I have to stop in the back hallway to catch my breath before I navigate the final 3 steps up into the kitchen. 

This box would have taken me no more than a couple of days pre lung surgery but that is the way it is. Next month marks one year since the initial lung cancer diagnosis and June will be one year post tumor removal surgery. I'm settling into a rhythm with this now. I'm comfortable with working in the shop whenever I can. I like that a whole better then vegging out sitting on my arse or worse laying in bed staring at the ceiling.

accidental woodworker