Accidental Woodworker

one down, three to go

The left short side was done first with the front long side next. I worked my way around the bottom until all four miters closed up.

a lot to remove

Rabbeted miter corners confuse me a lot. Rather then saw the miter closer to the line I used the plane and shaved it to the line. When I got close I stopped and took one shaving, checked it, and repeated until the miter closed up at the corner.

um.......

The back left corner has a small gap with the other three sides pretty much seamless. I am not putting a small molding on top the base. So I had to play and fuss with it a bit to get to this point. This gap is due the corner of the box being slightly out of square.

happy face on

Got the base band clamped and the box dropped into it without a problem. I can live with the gap.

final cutout

Clamped the sides together and drilled a 7/8" hole 1 1/2" in from each end.

double line

Before I drilled the holes I had ran a line to mark where the base cutout would be. I cut the line out on the bandsaw. 

needed some massaging

When I tightened the band clamp pulling the miters tight, it also twisted the base. After tightening it I saw that the base wasn't laying flat on the tablesaw. I loosened the band clamp until the base laid flat with no rocking. I added the quick grips closing the miters up tight. This will cook until the AM.

first coat

I was not expecting to get the shellac on the box today. But once the base was glued and clamped there wasn't anymore woodworking to do.

hmm.......

I almost made the me-steak of applying shellac to the whole box. Glad I thought it through because you can't glue over shellac for the long term. Instead I applied shellac to the inside and the top of it. I'll do the rest of the box after I glue the base to the box.

2 coats

The build ain't happening as quickly as I would like. It barely looks any different then raw pine. I had planned to put only three coats on the inside of the box but I'll probably have to be put on more than that.

accidental woodworker 

 Still slugging my way through the box. It is taking a lot longer than I thought it would even with the health issues factored in. It is a small project but the devil is in the build steps that I changed again today. I'm so close to the slapping on some shellac but no check mark for the done column today. Maybe tomorrow or the.....

new lid

Resawing it as much as I can on the tablesaw. Like the first one I'll complete it with the japanese saw.

hmm.....

I tried to resaw the web evenly top to bottom but wandered off. I was doing good until I flipped it to complete the cut from the opposite direction.

new lid

Got 8mm dowel locators in the holes in the box. These are made for twist bits and not brad point drill bits. Regardless, they locate the drill point in the lid. 

hmm.....

Soss hinges dry fitted and the back looks good. The joint line is consistent R/L but it isn't dead nuts flush. The lid is off a couple of frog hairs but not along the entire length.

ta da

I like the 'no hinge' look of these. They don't act like a stop hinge but that might change once I secure the hinges with #2 screws.

????

The lid gap is tapered, close on the left and wider on the right. The Soss hinge on the right isn't centered on the box. In spite of that the lid opens and closes smoothly. No binding or hesitation at all.

hmm.....

First change with the box build. Decided to put a base on the box to dress it up a wee bit. I sawed the 3/4" stock down to 5/8" because 3/4" looked too thick and clunky looking. The initial plan was to glue up the box, install bearers, and then glue the box to them.

change two

I didn't like the thickness of the base at 5/8". I sawed a 3/16" wide rabbet in the base for the box to sit on. That leaves it a wee bit less than a 1/2" - you can see the difference in left and short (thicker) side.

sneak peek

I changed to this because when I was dry fitting the base I made the first long one short. With the rabbet I now have a 1/4" plus of wiggle room. I plan to do a cutout on the bottom of the base. I'll do that before I glue the base together.

Last night was peaceful with little coughing and lots of uninterrupted, blissful sleep. I had 3 toilet trot races but no coughing and I dropped off to sleep right away. When I went vertical in the AM, no coughing. Usually that is a given and it varies from a few fits to seemingly endless as in when will I stop trying to hack up a lung. I was looking forward to having a nice relatively cough free day with a AM and PM shop session.

All that got flushed after lunch. I went into a spasm that left me light headed and wanting to lose lunch several times. This fit was the worse one I've had since the lung surgery in June. It wiped me out and 30 minutes after it stopped I was still wiped slick. I went to the shop late in the day just to get my camera. At least one more day before this box gets done.

 accidental woodworker

from yesterday

This was the last thing I did in the shop before I killed the lights yesterday. 1/8" plywood I have learned is more than sufficient for a box of this size.

hmm......

Put the Soss hinges in and checked the swing and how much clearance there was. It is basically 2 frog hairs and beveling either the lid or the box wouldn't help. The hinges are too close the edge - the bevel would eat into the hinge holes.

I was going to make a new lid with the hinge mortises inset further in away from the edge. That plan went south on the express in a hurry so I stuck with what I got.

flushing the bottom

Sawed off most of the bottom overhang before planing and sanding it flush. I paid attention this time to make sure I wasn't throwing it out of square again. The front edge was bit on the wonky side. There was a hump in the middle with the left side corner square but the right one was out to lunch. Some things you just let go because it still looks good.

signature look

I went back and forth about beveling the back and in the end I didn't. With the hinge mortises so close to the edge the bevel of the top might have exposed them. I didn't want to chance being wrong or right about that.

can you see it

Made a small finger grabbie thing on the underside of the lid. Opening and closing the lid as is without would have worked but this only took a minute a whack out. 

a real big sigh

I didn't go postal on this and just excepted it. I put the grabbie thing on the wrong edge. I did it there because that is where I had the center of the back edge marked. After looking at it I decided it was for the best because the grabbie thing looked like crap against the bevel. It looked too thin and looked like a big me-steak.

new lid upcoming

I had three pieces of pine to choose from and picked the one that had most straightest grain. All of them had swirls and cathedrals that looked too busy.

ran out of gas

I'll finish the new lid in the AM or PM. The other box is still waiting for its turn at the workbench.

Had a terrible night last night trying to sleep. I had been coughing continually all day long and it didn't slow down when I hit the rack. I would cough, it would stop, I would fall asleep, and then I would wake up coughing. Wash, rinse, and repeat all night long. This was something new as before this I would wake up and then I would cough a minute or so after. Now I was waking up coughing.

I finally said No Mas and went vertical and instantly felt like crap. All morning long I felt like a carpet that had the snot beaten out of it. Didn't even entertain any thoughts of wandering down to the shop. Feeling like this sucked pond scum where I just wanted to take nap. The nap wasn't happening because the coughing just would not stop. Hoping that this is just a another bad day that it will be better in the AM.

accidental woodworker 

 Been sleeping late and today I woke up just before 0800. Last night was peaceful too. I barely coughed at all and I was only entered in one toilet trot race. I coughed off an on all day but nowhere near the volume and intensity yesterday. I hope this trend continues because it was nice for a change.

ready for clean up

The box looked good when I eyeballed it. All the tails/pins appeared to be gap free.

flushing the corners

The bottom of a box (or a drawer) is the reference surface. I flushed the corners first and then ran the #3 around it a few times.

happy face on

The bottom is twist free. If I wanted to be totally anal I would run a knife line all around the top and then plane down to it. That would make the bottom and top parallel. But that isn't necessary for this box.

Soss hinges

These are the smallest Soss hinges I have with a 8mm diameter. The minimum stock thickness for them is 7/16" and the box is between 3/8 and 7/16. I am going to use them regardless.

flushing the top

The top is now twist free too.

cleaning the box

Instead of planing the box I sanded it. The tails/pins were no more than a frog hair off flush. First one out of the starting blocks was 80 grit followed by 120.

hmm......

I want the lid to overhang the box at the front. The tablesaw wasn't able to make the complete resaw cut. Finished it with my japanese saw.

it is gone

Flushed the web first and then planed it until it was a 1/2" thick. I made it that thick to accommodate the 3/8" depth needed for the Soss hinge.

minimum

I went with a frog hair more then a 1/2" to allow for the spur on the 8mm brad point drill bit.

close, oh so close

The front and back walls on the hinges in the box look ok. The ones in the lid aren't the same. They ended up painfully close to the outside edge. Thinking now that maybe I should have pushed the back of the lid past the back of the box a wee bit.

 The instructions say to drill a 8.2mm hole for the hinges. I drilled 8mm holes and the hinges fit in them snug. The lid opened and closed without any hiccups. 8.2mm seems to be oversized and the hinges wouldn't fit even with the screws installed.

#2 FH screws

There is a groove on both sides of the hinge, top and bottom. They are for a #2 screw to secure and keep them from twisting and uplifting when the lid is opened/closed.

hmm......

The outside of the box ain't square. The inside is dead nuts square. There is also a slight bow in the back long side. I didn't expect the sanding to go nutso and throw the box out of square. Used the #3 to square the back corners. I left the front one alone. I did this to help with evening the overhang on the ends.

slight curve

Didn't get to the smaller box but there is always tomorrow. I got the planer to the tool guy and he said that the way he does the belt change is to loosen the big pulley. When I had first looked at changing the belt I had thought that was the way to replace it. Don't know when he'll get around to it and I'll get it back. 

accidental woodworker

hmm.......

Made it to the shop late and I was determined to make something. Even if it was something I didn't need. On the flip side I just had the desire to work with my hands and have something to show for the effort. So a box it is but with a twist. The long sides will be thicker than the ends. I can't remember if I have made a box with different thicknesses of the sides. Not only different thicknesses, the dovetails will be on the teeny side.

made a detour

While I was figuring out the dimensions of the box I saw a scrap of pine by the tablesaw and resawed it to 3/8" thick. I'll make a box out of it first. Then plan was to get both boxes glued and cooking by the end of the PM session.

my shavings

I was able to plane the sawn face smooth and flat without expiring. I didn't have a coughing fit but I had to take 10 to catch my breath.

not my usual box

I sized the box so the long sides are twice the size of the ends. I also sawed the sides so that the grain flowed around continuously.

tails sawn

I have gotten in the habit of using the dozuki saw for stock thinner then a 1/2". No headaches sawing the tails which was welcomed. No fits or shortness of breath issues. 

no Moxon

I had thought of using the Moxon to do this but nixed it. If I was making a lot of boxes I would have done that. Instead I used this handy jig for setting the height of the pin board. 

off the saw

I didn't lose anything with my dovetail skill set. It appears that this type of work is something I can still do. It is relatively stationary and doesn't involve a lot of exertion. Both diagonals agreed on 8 3/4".

happy accident?

I thought I had centered the middle tail. The left pin socket is noticeably larger than the right one. I must have read my centering rule wrong. I didn't have my glasses and I didn't want to go topside to get them. Looks like I should have.

happy face

The inside corners are gap free. This is something that I don't always get.

opposite end

I usually end up with one or two gaps on the inside but not today.

it is square on the inside

No need for clamps as the tails/pins are on the snug side. I had to fuss with it a bit to get here. I had used a clamp to close one tail/pin and that threw the diagonals off.

kind of like the asymmetrical look

The plan is to glue a piece of 1/8"  plywood for the bottom of the box. IMO that would mean making sure the larger pin/tail is at the bottom and the thinner one is under the lid.

Didn't get to the thickness box but it will give me something to look forward to in the AM. I had to go topside during the AM session and that wore me out. I sat down at my desk to catch my breath and once I did, I didn't feel like getting back up. Spoiler alert - stayed there for over an hour.

Called the repair shop this AM and he said that he was out of the shop today. He also said that he has replaced the drive belt several times. I'll drop the lunchbox off to him tomorrow. 

accidental woodworker 

 Yesterday was the first day of the heating season for me. The temp dropped down to freezing (0C) overnight and I set the thermostat at 70F. I don't play with it and I'll leave it set at that until I shut off the heat in may/april next year. I struggled taking the radiator covers off and stowing for the season. Coughed a lot and got short of breath quick too. Got it done albeit at an ninety year old man's pace.

need a good cleaning

I've been thinking a lot lately about a post by CS at Lost Art Press he posted a few years ago. It was about him going to shop and just looking around. No work just him contemplating the space he occupied. In that post he also wrote about a wood carver who couldn't work anymore but still went to the shop just to be in a familiar space. Enjoying his time there even though he couldn't carve anymore. 

I'm feeling a lot like the wood carver now. Two weeks ago I was aligned with CS. Today I went to the shop to do some woodworking and I did nothing. I looked around the shop noting the things I've made and the thought of that not happening again popped up and said hello. 

I don't have a warm and fuzzy about getting the console/entry table done now. Or it just might be the last project to leave Ralphie's Workshop. I am going to try and make it even though I will have to work slowly, I find that thought more comforting than sitting on my arse at my desk.

cherry Welsh stick chair

I think I waited too long to take my head out of my arse before starting this chair. I have been thinking more and more of selling it because I can't see myself being able to make it anymore. If I do part with it I'll include the templates for it too. I got to sit in a Welsh sitck chair at the Lost Art Press when I took a class there. It was the most comfortable chair I have ever sat in. That is when making one went on the future to do list.

On a brighter note, last night was the best nights sleep I've had in days. Maybe it was my wife coming home from North Carolina that did the trick. Coughed a little after the 3rd toilet trot race but I dropped off right away and didn't wake up again until after 0800. 

Wish me luck with the lunchbox planer saga tomorrow.

accidental woodworker 

clean up time

Put all the tools away except for the allen wrenches. Buttoning up the lunchbox was next on the menu. I had planned to go to the tool repair on Jefferson but it didn't happen today. I was getting the directions when I noticed that it isn't open on saturday. Saved me some time and gas on that one. It opens on monday at 0830 and I'll head that way after breakfast at Johnny's Chalet.

neat and tidy

This is all I got done today and this took a bazillion hours to get done. I woke up feeling ok but by mid morning I had a headache that felt like it was going to split my skull in two. It was manageable if I sat and did nothing but that sucked pond scum. I had wanted to go to the shop and make a box. After suffering with it I finally took a couple aspirin. I have to be careful with that because I take blood thinners for my A fib.

For the 3rd night in a row I have repeated the coughing fit dance steps. Again last night it was the 3rd time I woke up that was the worse. It looking like the early blog posting is going to be a thing of the past.

Fingers crossed that the tool repair shop will be able to get the belt on the DeWalt. Glad that I got two when I ordered it.

accidental woodworker 

FINALLY

I tried to get the belt on with the rod but got nowhere. I got a teeny bit of the belt on the big pulley and that was it. The belt would not cooperate at all and after 30 frustrating minutes I removed the rod. I felt like I had given birth when I got the belt partially on both pulleys then.

blurry pic matches my mood

I couldn't get the belt to fully engage on either pulley. I did manage to get about 3/4 of the belt onto to the bottom pulley and then I stalled. Even though I got 3/4 of the big pulley, the smaller one was gong in the opposite direction. I started with 1/2 of it on but by the time I got 3/4 on the big one, the smaller one had moved outward and barely had a 1/4 on the smaller pulley.

I cursed and threatened it with going postal on it and still nada. I tried to hit the belt with a hammer as I turned it and that did absolutely nothing. It wouldn't move even one more groove onto either pulley.

it got worse

I got most of the bottom pulley on but the smaller one was in danger. The belt was only on two grooves there. What idiotic engineer came up with this design? It shouldn't be this difficult to change a high wear part like this.

hmm...........

This was the last thing I tried trying to get the belt onto the pulleys. I turned the switch on and pushed the plug in briefly. I was hoping that the motor turning would cause the belt to ride over onto the pulley. No such luck boys and girls as nothing happened. As the belt didn't change its position on either pulley one iota. The belt didn't shred or break so at least that is a point in my favor. 

I tried doing it a couple of more times without any success. Maybe if I had another set of hands I could have used a screwdriver as lever to push the belt as the motor turned it. But I am done trying to do this. Tomorrow I will go to tool center on Jefferson and talk to the service tech about it.

came today

I'm glad I didn't wait for this to come in as it took a while for a in stock purchase. To further increase my fun, this kicked my arse all over the house trying to get it open. I could see that the bottom was screwed on but the label was adhered with a glue that wouldn't let go.

nice looking bit

This is the first purple colored router bit I have seen. The six cutters and the mass of the head should make for a clean and smooth cut. I'll road test on the twisted sapele board tomorrow or the next day.

Had another rough night sleeping. Woke up 3 times, 2 of them I coughed a little and drifted back off to sleep. On the third wake up I thought I was going to cough up a lung. I watched YouTube for over an hour and tried to sleep again sitting up against the head board. I had stopped coughing and I didn't want to risk another fit going horizontal on my side. "Wandered in/out of sleeping and I finally laid down on my side and after coughing for a while I finally was able to fall asleep. 

I don't know what time that was but I didn't roll out of the rack until 0815. Maybe it is time for me to change my blog posting to around lunch time. I felt better today than yesterday when I went vertical. No blah feeling and no feeling tired and washed out. After my first pot of coffee and finishing my two puzzles it was 1030. 

Since today was fish 'n chips day I waited until after lunch to do battle with planer. Thinking now that maybe I should have taken the entire day off from it and gone to shop and made a box. At least then I would have something to show for the day.

accidental woodworker 

 Had an absolute horrible night. I woke up 3 times, and 3 three times I had coughing fit that lasted for a bazillion hours. The upside of that was I was able to fall back asleep once things calmed down. Not the best night I have had and it was awfully close to being the worse one.

I rolled out of the rack late and felt blah all day long. Not sick blah or tired blah but something entirely new for me. I played with the DeWalt a few times but most of the day I spent molding my butt cheeks to my desk chair. The crappy blah feeling didn't go away but I did get bone weary tired in the late afternoon. 

My patience with getting the belt changed is wearing super thin. If I can't get it changed in the AM (if I'm up to it) I'll bring it to a tool repair center. I found one on Jefferson Blvd which is only 5 minutes from my house.

hmm.......

I watched the YouTube vid again but it was muted. I learn better visually over reading or an oral rending. I was listening to a podcast at the same time. I watched it twice to make sure I understood how he maneuvered the belt unto the big pulley. 

ouch

I spent more then 5 minutes trying to screw the rod back on and nada. Initially I thought that it wasn't engaging the first threads but that wasn't the problem. The rod is threaded left handed. I was putting the rod back in because that is the way the vid has it.

nope, nope, and nope

I couldn't get the belt to partially engage on the bottom pulley. I could get it to pass by the rod after the 3rd attempt but couldn't get it started. The vid made a point of not levering against the rod and damaging the threads. I was able to get the screwdriver under the belt and the tip on the nut. Tired to pull the belt and turn it at the same time and got nowhere.

I left this here as is and watched the YouTube vid again with the audio this time. Discovered a tidbit that I missed from watching it muted. I had been putting the belt first fully on the top black pulley but I should have been putting only 1/2 of it on that pulley. I revised the battle plan for the AM. 

accidental woodworker

 Things didn't go merrily, merrily down the lane today. Spent the AM at the DMV getting my license renewed. The clerks there must attend 6 months learning how to be arrogant and exasperating all the while smiling smugly. IMO the forms are confusing, and the instructions when available make it even more confusing to fill out. After filling the pie hole I drew up a new battle plan for replacing the belt.

my absolute best goofy looks

Cleaning up the two pulleys was a royal PITA. Holding a flashlight to see WTF I was doing and trying to scrape the remnants of the old belt off took me almost two hours. The lighting SNAFU was the worse annoyance to deal with until it came time to put the new belt on. BTW the goofy looks didn't help one iota.

hmm.......

I wanted to take this pulley guard off but I stripped out the screw. Made it awkward trying to get a pick and a steel wire brush on the small pulley. I could get the front 1/4" easy enough but the back had me cursing up a storm.

finally

Managed to get the big pulley cleaned up. I turned it slowly and got all the little spots I had missed. It looked brandy new to me. The smaller, black pulley to top left was not being as cooperative.

it worked

I got the acetone to clean up the big pulley and I wasn't expecting it to do anything with the belt residue. It softened and removed it. It worked on the black pulley but it wasn't as easy removing it. However, it did soften it sufficiently that I could get a pick at it and remove it.

I thought of drilling out the screw on the black pulley cover and went so far as to find my set of screw extractors. I only two, one for a tiny screw and one for a 1/4-20. Neither of them would have worked here. Briefly thought of drilling it out too but nixed it. I endured the tedious process of wiping it with acetone, picking out with a pick and knife, and then wiping up what I could. Wash, rinse, and repeat 25 bazillion times before the pulley was clean.

another hmm.......

I couldn't see how you could one, get the belt behind this rod and two, then get it on the bigger pulley. To my thinking this rod has to go. Started with removing the plate at the bottom held on with two screws.

nope

I got the plate at the bottom off but the rod wouldn't unscrew so I nixed doing that. I tried to get the belt onto to the big pulley and nada. I couldn't get it downward so I could get a piece of it onto the bottom of the pulley.

this sucked pond scum

I had to remove this sprocket in order to unscrew the rod. Up to this point all the screws were imperial but not so on the bottom boys and girls. Here it was, lets switch over to metric. The two set screws holding the sprocket were 3mm held on with blue locktite.

off and out of the way

The bottom plate on this is set in a groove on the rod which locks in the proper position of the rod. Nice touch that it doesn't need to be aligned or adjusted. 

frustrating 30 minutes

I tried everything I could think of to lever the belt onto the bottom pulley and nothing was working. I had soaked the belt in hot water from the tap for about 10 minutes. I don't think the water was hot enough because the belt hadn't seemed to stretch at all.

because I'm brain dead

I also like pissing into a head wind and say it is raining. Let the belt soak in boiling water, off the fire, for ten minutes. This was no better and the first hot water experiment. The belt didn't even feel hot to the touch.

No Mas

I called it day mostly because I was getting nowhere getting the belt on. Instead I went back on YouTube and looked up the belt vid again. I couldn't find the one I watched where the guy did the hot water trick but I did find one YouTube vid from 'ereplacement' that was an eye opener. 

First off I found out that you can remove just the side panels without having to take off the top. Secondly and most important is you don't have to remove the threaded rod. He showed how to get the belt in position on the big pulley after getting it on the smaller one. Then he uses two screwdrivers levering against the rod and using the nut on the big pulley as the fulcrum point. Zippty Doo Dah and the belt was on.

I don't remember seeing this vid when I searched the other day. If I did I might have ignored it thinking it would be an advertisement for 'ereplacement'. I will try the belt replacement dance steps in the AM following this vid (which I bookmarked). Right now all I want to do to the planer is see how well it will survive me going postal on it with a 3lb sledge hammer.

accidental woodworker 

 The weather forecast changed and now there was rain in the morning and cloudy skies in the PM. Based on that I decided to wait on changing the belt until tomorrow. The skies looked like they would open up at any moment and drop rain like a cow letting loose on a flat rock.

done

Got the jig set so both aprons are inset an 1/8" from the outside edge. The first leg was 1 1/4" and this one is 1 3/16". The dowels didn't bypass each other so I had to adjust and play with them until the aprons seated fully on the legs gap free.

only a 16th

I was surprised that I could see a difference between the two thicknesses of the legs. Once this one has the chamfers on it, it should look a little more thinner and slender.

Stopped here and did some grocery shopping and dropped off a package at FedEx. Decided that I would change the belt in the back hallway rather then wait until the next day.

ready to do battle

Didn't know it here but I hadn't brought all the tools I would need. I ended doing the one thing I wanted to avoid at all costs and that was trotting up and down the stairs getting things I forgot. Getting the outer shell off the planer was painless and incredibly easy to do.

worth it

I purposely made this little tray to hold screws etc etc. These things can go MIA in a heartbeat. As long as I don't knock it over I should have them come time to put it back together.

this sucks pond scum

The old belt had melted on the bigger pulley. The smaller one (up to the left) had some melted crappola but not as much. I have to remove and clean this up before I can put on the new belt. It doesn't look like it is going to easy to do.

found it

The block with the knives wasn't turning which was making cleaning the big pulley a ROYAL PITA. Now that I found this I won't have to flip the planer 180 so I could have access to the bottom of the pulley.

incoming headache

I got some of the melted crap cleaned off and stopped. I went back to the shop and got my vacuum and more tools. That wore me out and I sat at my desk to rest and fell asleep. When I woke up I tried to get the belt on - just to give it a look see.

Getting the new belt on isn't going to easy.  The belt has to stretch about a 1/4" to fit. The procedure says to install the new belt first on the top, smaller pulley and the bigger one next. The bigger pulley has a rod in front of it. No mention of any hints to help. The YouTube vids I watched, one of them soaked the belt in boiling water which helped him. I still have to clean the pulleys before I can have fun, fun, fun with the new belt.

accidental woodworker 

 Things are getting worse for me with my breathing issues. Leaving the shop and coming up stairs is exhausting for me. It now takes me about 15 minutes before I fully catch my breath and stop coughing. I'm learning to work around it by moving as slow as a glacier. That helps because if I do my normal balls to the wall walk I cough for a bazillion hours and get short of breath. 

So I've been carefully planning before I go to the shop (going down is problem free still). I try to stay as long as I can before going topside. I try to make that as close to lunch time so I don't have to make any extra up/down dance steps. Once in the shop I can carry on albeit nowhere near at the pace I used to do. Regardless, I'm just happy to be able to make shavings and sawdust no matter what my body annoys me with.

cut list

I didn't see any reason why I couldn't cut out the aprons, top, and bottom shelf now. I know how wide (front/back) my wife wants it but she made no mention of the length (R/L). The top is 9" wide and 30" long. The bottom shelf is 6 1/2" wide by 26" long. The aprons and the one stretcher are all 2" wide but different lengths.

ouch

I couldn't find the wrench that came with this router. The only joy I take from that is that it is too big to sweep up with shavings and shitcan. I'm sure it will turn up in some totally unrelated black hole.

done

End aprons, top and bottom shelf, and the bottom stretcher. I am not putting any long side aprons on the bottom of the table. That will keep the table light and airy looking.

hmm........

Rounded the ends of the top and the bottom shelf. It isn't much but it lightens up the top continuing the delicate look I'm going for. I'll hold off sawing the round off until the aprons are glued and set. Leaving it square will be easier to position them and do the layout for the table top clips.

done

Got check marks on everything on the cut list. Once I get the legs done, finishing this will take no time at all.

tough going

Initially I got winded quick but the more I did it the easier it went. It didn't go fast and I got all the aprons, the stretcher, and the top and shelf planned and smoothed on the edges. I'll the do the faces before I do the glue up.

This is all I got done today. There is nothing on the horizon yet as the next project and I had taken this one as far as I could for now. Tomorrow I'll saw out a piece of scrap 1 1/4" square because that is the size leg I decided on. I'll use that to set the length of the dowels and the offset for the aprons. 

2 for $18

These came as I was finishing up this blog post. The email had said friday but I'll take it. I checked the weather and tomorrow will be cloudy but no rain. I had watched YouTube on replacing the belt and none of the vids looked difficult. Taking the planer apart to replace the belt was what I thought it would be. None of the vids said that any alignment was needed and it was put back together in reverse order. That is a bonus. 

accidental woodworker

 The legs for the table are in limbo for now. The belt for the planer is on order and this AM I got an email that it had shipped. A 2nd email said it would arrive on this friday. When I ordered it the write up said 2-4 day delivery, so maybe that is close? In the interim I decided to play with leg designs so I could eyeball the look of it.

first set of experiments

I've been running different ideas through the brain bucket since my wife asked me to make it. Because it will be narrow and delicate looking, I didn't want just plain square legs. I don't have a lathe so any turning options ain't happening. I'm starting with two blanks 1 1/2" square.

first changes

The 1 1/2" square size looked too clunky IMO. The leg on the right I ripped down to 1" square and I like that size. I don't have a warm and fuzzy about the leg cutout at the bottom. The real estate sitting on the ground is a little more than 1/8" by 1". It looks too thin. Note to self - 1" square is ok, the leg angle is history.

hmm.......

This kills it for good. The angled cutout looks flimsy but I did get the depth of the dowels dialed in. That took me 3 tries before the aprons seated gap free.

worked

I was worried that the size of the leg wouldn't be large enough for the dowels on adjacent faces to pass each other. They did, barely but neither set hit the other one.

Got one hiccup with the aprons. The set back is off - one side has it and the other doesn't. Taking the angled leg cutout into account screwed me all up when I drilled the holes for the dowels.

nope

The idea I had was to make the angled cuts so they were on the outside and front inside faces. I'll kill all the suspense and fess up that I screwed it up. The 2nd cut itself was good but I had sawn them on the wrong faces. The cutout at the bottom was painfully small. It looks delicate but it also looks like someone walking by it would cause it to snap in two.

hmm......

I'm scratching angled leg cuts off the to do list. I'm not happy with how thin the bottom of the leg looks. On to the 2nd option rattling around the brain bucket.

too small

Changed my mind on the size of the leg. I want a wee bit more separation between the sets of dowels and also to have more dowel sticking out. I think I'll eyeball what 1 1/8" and 1 3/16" square looks like before I decide. I think either one is still small enough to look delicate.

hmm......

I don't want the aprons to be flush with the front. I don't care about the inboard face position. I played around with the shims until I got a setback I liked. I'm leaving the dowel jig and the depth guide set up for this.

this is winning so far

The 2nd option was to plane a chamfer on the outside 90° edge of each leg. I planed the first one free hand which was a bit awkward. I whipped out a 45 planing sled lickety split and it worked perfectly for planing the 2nd leg.

hmm.......

I think I found the winning entry. A large chamfer on the outside 90 and smaller ones on the other 3. The other 3 are subject to change because the short side aprons haven't been factored in yet.

stopped chamfers

The inside edge opposite the could go all the way up to top of the leg. The plan is to stop the chamfer a 1/2" below the bottom of the aprons. Again this is subject to change. 

2nd leg

An alternate for the chamfer is a round over or maybe a round over with shoulders. I do like the look of the chamfers on all four legs. They make the leg look thinner and should make the larger legs look the same too.

accidental woodworker

ready, almost

I left these on the workbench to make sure neither of them had any stupid wood tricks up their sleeves. Spoiler alert - they both behaved themselves.

checking for flat

Put the boards together and they were flat against each other end to end. No humps and no playing Mr Helicopter. In all combinations the two of the lay together gap free 360.

the big sigh

This board wasn't planed on this face, it still has the scallops from the router. I was tired yesterday and not really paying attention 100%. The last two times I ran the boards through the planer, there weren't any shavings being spit out. I assumed (wrongly) that the setting was too high and the board just went through underneath knives.

hmm......

I ran a board through and nada. The roller pushed it through but no shavings came with it. I took off the cover and I didn't find any interlocks so I turned it on and nada. The motor spun up but the cutter head didn't move. My first thought was a drive belt or maybe a gear was broke. 

what's left of the drive belt

Glad it is just this and not a stripped or broken gear. I checked the WWW for a replacement belt and the prices caused a hacking fit for a bazillion minutes. The OEM price averaged $80 but eBay prices were about $12-18. Those were a lot more reasonable. I also had checked the wrong Model #. I have a DeWalt #734 and I had checked prices on a DeWalt #735. The prices were better for my machine and I got a replacement belt on order.

This put a rather huge monkey wrench into the gears of making the console table. There aren't any tool repair centers within a reasonable distance from my house so I'll be the mechanic replacing it. It looks to be a fairly simple job but I'm not sure how much of this I'll have to disassemble to replace the belt. And if there will be any alignment(s) associated with replacing the belt. I'll be spending some quality time on You Tube tonight.

accidental woodworker

 Today started a whole lot better than yesterday. No coughing fits going on continuously for a bazillion hours. The shortness of breath is still kicking my arse but the coughing has toned down a ton. That was a welcomed relief. I didn't do anything in the AM but sit and veg out. I wanted to make sure that it would keep going on as is.

I went to Gregg's for fish 'n chips and I when I got back home I started working on getting the boards planed to final thickness. It took me a long time and I spent four times as much resting then I did doing any planing.

80 pounds - 36 kilos

I had to do everything one at a time. The only things I doubled up carrying out were the extension cord and my hearing muffs. The boards, the back hall bench, and the planer I brought out one at a time. In between each trip I had to sit and rest to catch my breath. On a bright note, I didn't have to suffer through spasms of coughing. Definitely looking that yesterday was  a bad day.

planer was last

I will have to do these dance steps 3 more times. One to bring this all back into the house and then twice more tomorrow when I plane the individual legs.

hmm......

I usually put the planer in the middle of the driveway (to the right). That is a distant memory now. That is now too far to carry the planer to. This was manageable but I think this is something that I won't be doing again. 

done

I am not sweeping up the shavings. It was breezy and the pile on the left was already 1/2 blown away. Besides the wind owes me a favor.

This was all I got done today. I got all the stuff back into the house and brought the boards down to the shop. Overall I was kind of happy with how things went this PM. The shortness of breath sucked but after resting for 10-15 minutes all was well in Disneyland again. Tomorrow I'll try to do get the remainder of the donkey work done.

accidental woodworker 

 I can't remember the last time I didn't go to the shop during the day and made sawdust. I had gone to the shop in the AM to get my ear muffs. At that time I had fully intended to haul the lunchbox planer outside. That didn't happen boys and girls. I spent 99% of the day seated at my desk watching You Tube listening to pod casts.

I had a terrible night sleeping and woke up for the final time a little after 0300. Every time I moved or rolled over I would have a coughing fit. I must have drifted off again because I didn't roll out of the rack until after 0700. Things didn't get any better once I went upright.

I went through one coughing fit after another for half an hour. The coughing sucks pond scum but now I was being rewarded with the pleasure of losing my breath with each fit. I let things settle down and after not coughing for over an hour, decided to haul the lunchbox planer out to the driveway. Within a couple of seconds of walking about, the coughing fits started again.

There was no way I would be able to haul my heavy arse planer out to the driveway today. That much exertion would probably bring on a massive coughing attack. Decided then and there to take the day off and veg out at my desk.

Tomorrow is supposed to be mostly sunny so at least the weather is cooperating. Now I just have to get my body agree with what I want to do.

accidental woodworker 

quick check

Wonky rocking board is on the left and it still is rock free on the workbench. The other board that I got twist/rocking free is now rocking. 

I tried

There appeared to be a hump and I tried to plane it away. I knocked back some of it but not all. Rather then chase my tail on this I decided to put this board into the jig and flatten it that way.

hard going

My shortness of breath ramped up this AM big time. Trying to plane the hump off took a lot of calories and a lot of rest stops to catch my breath. Made something that should have taken a few minutes take a bazillion minutes

secured

Used six blocks to keep the board in place. I had to shim three of the corners to eliminate any rocking. Ready to commence the dance steps again.

Lie Nielsen pure beeswax

The router was stuttering on the rails. I waxed the rails and the base of the router. The stutter stepping went away and I only had to use the wax once.

see them

The board has what I'm calling scallops across the length. They are similar to plane tracks (when the iron isn't parallel to the sole).

much joy in Mudville today

The board is rock free. It was an ordeal to plane the face I routed. The shortness of breath was getting in the way much more today than in previous days. It was like someone flipped a switch that kicked in the turbo. Both boards are ready to be fed into the lunchbox planer.

hmm......

There is a noticeable difference in the two boards now that the flattening is done. the thinner one on the right was the wacky, wonky rocking machine. From eyeballing it I like the thickness of it for the legs. It will probably be a bit thinner before I am finishing running through the lunchbox.

The plan was to get the lunchbox planer out in the driveway and plane these two to thickness. Then rip out the four legs and plane them equal in thickness. That didn't happen boys and girls. I had zero energy left after bringing the boards up from the shop to the back hallway. I'll try doing this in the AM if the weather permits. 

I didn't get any time in the PM session. I had some errands to run and getting gas was one of them. $57 to fill up the truck that was between a 1/2 and 3/4 empty. I checked on Maria and the frame wasn't ready and then I went grocery shopping. I had a tough time on the walking portions of these stops. I hope that today was just hiccup in the time line I have left.

Going down to the shop doesn't upset things but coming back up the stairs does. I have two sets of stairs to navigate and the first one I have to stop and rest to catch my breath. The 2nd set has only 3 and I'm now getting short of breath going up them. For the most of the day any movement on my part, turning, moving my arms, blinking would make me short of breath and usually followed up by repeated fits of coughing. Not a pleasant day sports fans.

I spent most of the PM glued to my desk chair but I did jump into the rain locker for a shower. This was first for me, I got short of breath 3 times showering. I still take a navy shower - get wet, soap up, rinse off, and repeat once. It has me thinking about how much longer I can keep making sawdust. Not to mention if I will be able to tackle the Welsh stick chair.

accidental woodworker

done

No tackiness on the tote or the tray. I'll bring this up to the living room and let the shellac fully cure out.

router sled rails

I couldn't double these up due to the 90° lip on it. These are stiff enough I think that it will be ok with one.

rails done

I thought of moving this outside bearer to the outside edge of the back wall but I didn't want to drill any new holes in the rails. Four #12 screws hold each rail to the bearers.

ready to try it

I wanted the router to be 90° so the flats on the router base would butt against the upright walls of the rails but had to do it this way. The other way I would have had to cut the rails because they were almost touching in the middle. I didn't want to drill in the rails and I also didn't want to jigsaw a cutout for the router bit.

hmm.....

I checked the height of the bit and the two router sled bearers were too tall. I sawed 1 1/4" off both of them. With the router full down the bottom of the collet is about a 1/4" above the board. I will have plenty of room for adjustment once the router bit is installed.

I was ready

Got the board secured on all four sides. I got shims under the high corners. The board was secured with zero movement anywhere I checked for it.

hmm......

I had to road test. Made the initial first run with no hiccups. I was concerned with getting a chattering cut due to the router not moving smoothly on the rails.

tapered cut

This is want I was expecting although I wasn't entirely sure of which way the taper would go or how deep. I hadn't planned on doing anymore than this but changed lanes. It took me less than 15 minutes to do the whole board going L to R. 

There were some ridges because the rails did deflect a wee bit. None of the ridges were higher then a 32nd. Some I went back and removed but I left most of them. They would very easy to clean up with the 5 1/2.

done

Surprised that the router debris was rather subdued. On the board the deepest cut looked to be a strong 1/8". I was prepared to make a 2nd run but it wasn't needed. Vacuumed up the wood dust and decided to do the other board next.

2nd board

This one I didn't have any headaches getting it flattened and twist free. Just for peace of mind I ran the router over it. I set the bit so that it was barely taking a skim cut.

simley face on

From the near end to where my finger is, is the only place the router cut. And it was only on the right side edge, not across the width of the board. The board lay flat on the workbench before I loaded it into the sled and did the same after I took it out.

the wacky rocking board

It is laying dead nuts flat on the bench with zero rocking when checked on the four corners.

laying gap free

The face of the board looked similar to one that had been band sawn. Except the marks on this board were scallops. I ran the 5 1/2 over it smoothing it a wee bit. Next step is to run these two through the lunchbox planer. Hopefully that will be tomorrow if the weather holds.

sapele wood

This board has the same wacky rocking as the problem child board had. I will get one face of this flattened on the jig. It was too late to do that today so maybe tomorrow.

hmm......

I had bought this bit over 15 years ago and only can remember using it once or twice. It has a diameter of 1 1/4" and I had no hiccups/headaches using it to flatten these two boards. I don't have to cool my heels waiting for the 2" bit from Grizzly to arrive.

yikes

I planed off a 1/2" trying to get the wacky rocking board twist free. That was more then what I thought I had turned into shavings. Still more then enough for the size legs I want.

accidental woodworker 

hmm.......

Yesterday the handle was still tacky as were the top inside edges. Three days after the last coat went on it was still not dry to the touch. I soaked a rag with alcohol and rung out until it was almost dry. I wiped down the handle and the inside top of the long sides. When I checked it today, there was no tackiness anywhere I checked. I'm beginning to think the cheap shellac I bought wasn't the idea I have ever had.

white wood 2x4

Made a run to Lowes in the AM and bought a 8 foot 2x4 and a 2x4 foot 1/2" plywood panel. That wasn't enough to make what I had floating around in the brain bucket. I needed angle iron and the prices I saw at Lowes almost caused me to have an involuntary bowel movement. It wasn't even thick wall angle too but the thin (1/8") that would probably sag with the weight of the router. Nixed pissing away that much money for something that wouldn't work.

1/2" plywood

This 2x4 panel was $27 and it was the cheapest one. I wanted to buy a 2x4, 3/4" thick panel but none of them were flat/straight. This one looked to be flat/straight when I eyeballed it.

sneak peek

I really don't plan on using this router sled after this but you should never say never in woodworking. I ordered a 2" router planing bit from Grizzly but I don't know when I'll get it. I will screw the two outside bearers up from the bottom of the plywood into them. The span of it will be the width of the board plus 4 1/2". In this case it will be 10 3/4". 

nope

This was the router I planned initially to use but the up/down travel is toast. I don't know how much depth of cut I can get with it - the base plate is just shy of 3/8" thick. 

got room with router #2

The bit is 2" in diameter and there is room for the bit at the bottom of the base. It will clear the metal infrastructure so I don't have to worry about destroying it and making this into a heavy paperweight. 

hmm.......

Went off a tangent here that ate up a boatload of time. I was going to put an auxiliary base on the bottom and I needed to find some longer length screws to do that.

minor hiccup

The first screw I checked it threaded without any hiccups. The other three didn't want to cooperate. The problem - the first hole was threaded all the way to the outside. The other three weren't. The threaded portion had a blank area at the outside top edge. I had to tap them before I could screw in the screw.

sigh

Dawned on me after I did the threading that I didn't need to do it. The router will ride on the angle iron and doesn't need an auxiliary base to do that. The headache was the original screws didn't fit now. They were 10-24 and I tapped the holes for 10-32. I made a run to Ace to buy 4 new 10-32 x 3/8, FH machine screws.

hmm.....

I am pretty sure that the bearers don't need to be flat/straight end to end. Both of the ones I have are slightly bowed end to end. To my thinking, nothing will butt up against the bearers and only the height of the two of them needs to be dead nuts accurate. But me being me, decided to plane the cup/bow on one face and the hump on the opposite face. I used the factory edge of the plywood panel as my straight edge for the bearers.

done

The bearer is flush with the edge of the plywood, end to end.  

big hump

The hump runs from about 7-8 inches in from each end. I didn't have any hiccups planing it flat.

wash, rinse, and repeat for #2

No hiccups or headaches with removing the bow/cup/humps with either bearer. The height of the two is dead flush along their entire lengths.

pays to be pack rat sometimes

I don't have to buy any high priced angle iron. These blue things are from a router table I haven't used for over 12 years. They feel stiff enough to handle the weight of the router and I don't have to pay for them.

this will work

I will screw into the rail guide board with two #12 screws. The router base will determine the width of the rail guide boards.

hmm.......

I can double up the angle irons. The holes in both line up so I don't have to do any drilling. This should make them stiffer and less prone to sagging with the router sliding back and forth on them.

Quit here for day mostly because I had a headache that was wrecking havoc with my eyeballs. That and I was feeling tired right to the bones again. Not sure how much longer the tired feeling will hang around but I don't have to worry about another chemo cocktail party happening.

The cough is better and the pills that doc gave worked but didn't entirely make the coughing go away. I am not coughing nearly as much and I haven't had a 2-3 minute of spasm coughing fit which I appreciate. The cough is subsiding and it is a bit more manageable but the shortness of breath is starting to suck pond scum big time. I am dealing with that just like I deal with the coughing. Take it as it comes and continue on when it ends.

accidental woodworker

ready to do battle

The front one with the X is the corkscrew board I couldn't flatten yesterday. Before I expended any more calories on that one, I checked the back one which I had gotten flat and twist free.

sigh

It moved a wee bit over night. Not much but more than I could ignore. I'll let it relax and I'll deal with it after I finish the hissy fit throwing board.

2nd board

I wasn't surprised that this board still had a healthy amount of twist shaking hands with me. 

Houston, WTF???

This board according to the sticks was twist free. The 4 foot straight edge says it is flat end to end. However, when that face is down on the bench the board rocks like it is nuclear powered. There is a 1/4" gap on the rocking ends. I don't understand this. I feel like the board is a corkscrew. One hand says it is flat and straight but it is rocking like crazy on the bench.

hmm........

Eyeballed this board with my best goofy looks and nada. I threatened it with the best expletives an ex sailor could dream up and still nothing. I checked it again thinking I had a hump around the middle but I didn't. What I did find that the left end, for about 6-7 inches, was scalloped. The rest of the board was higher but that wouldn't be the cause for the wacky rocking.

new game plan

Decided to step back to square one and flatten the board again. This time the scallop will be gone and there won't be any light under the straight edge from end to end.

#4

Used the #4 last after the # 6. The #6 ate up most of the meat I had to knock down. The #4 went straight across flattening and smoothing the scallops.

????

It says I am flat. When I grab one end of the straight edge, it moves about a 1/3 of the way down from the opposite end. Same with the opposite diagonal. However, when flipped face down on the bench the same wacky rocking was still there.

still twisted

This sucked the wind out of my sails big time. Getting at my wits end with this board. Why is this one so )_@&Q%&)(@%*_ wacky and the other was the exact opposite.

sigh

The board is rocking like it is a corkscrew. When I sighted down the board it looked flat and straight. The opposite face rocked just a wacky as the other face. I had flattened the other face too, I made 5 runs with the #6 - 4 criss crosses and two straight across. Did absolutely nothing to get even a hint of the rocking removed.

glutton for punishment

Checked it for twist again and surprise it was back. The first 3rd was good, the middle one had a lot, and the final 3rd had a little. Planed the twist off with the #4 and checked the 3rds again and they were all twist free.

nope

The rocking was still there giggling at me. On a brighter note, it wasn't as bad. I would guess that about 1/2 the rocking said bye bye. 

Stopped the planing/flattening here again. I don't understand why the board is rocking like it is. But I'm done trying to do it with the way I know how to do it. I've been thinking of two alternative methods. One is a planer sled for the lunchbox planer. I have tried this once before about 20-25 years ago at my shop in Westerly with good results. 

The 2nd method banging around in the brain bucket is a router planing sled. I have tried this one too but not to flatten a board but to remove carved initials in a panel. That worked well and I was happy with the resulting surface. I am leaning in the2nd method vice the planer sled.

Looked online for a router planing bit and the price for them is all over the dial. Grizzly had the cheapest price I have found so far at $37 but the S/H is $20. On the flip side is the delivery time. I can use that time to make the jig. I could also use a 3/4" dado router bit as the planer bit. I have to time to think about it.

accidental woodworker