Accidental Woodworker

chamfering the holes

This doo da does an acceptable job chamfering the dowel holes.

problem

I initially knocked down the top of the holes with a chisel but I could still feel a wee bit of a raised bump. The hand chamfering tool got rid of that. I didn't want anything to keep the rail from laying up tight to the legs. It also gives a little relief for glue.

sigh

I need to chamfer for the head of the screw I intend to put here. I have off set screwdrivers for driving the screw but no offset chamfer doo da. I have an idea percolating in the brain bucket. It is a trick I saw on a Popular Woodworking You Tube post. Fingers crossed that it will work.

back rails

I had to take the back rail slats out again to plane/clean up the top edge with the mortises.

two taps

Doing the last dry clamp before gluing it up. I put a piece of blue tape on the leg face that the side rails will be glued to.

hmm.......

The offset that I knew about shook hands with me. Rather than glue a piece on the top I am leaving this as is. I will glue a thin piece of cherry over the face like I did on Miles's desk.

ditto

The other rail has the same offset. 

less than a 16th difference

survived the first one

Paid attention this time to getting all the glue squeeze out cleaned up on both sides of the rail. Had a slight panic attack due to glue freeze. It took a while to get glue applied to the dowels and the in the holes. The clamps pulled the legs tight to the rails.

2nd one done

No hiccups with this one. A bit of a PITA getting the squeeze out cleaned up. Noticed that I forgot to do the slots for the table top clips.

sigh

Had a mind fart. Initially I glued one end of the rails to the wrong face of the leg. Even though I had put blue tape I still managed to ignore it and screw up. Lucky for me I noticed that the offset on the rail  with the leg wasn't correct. I caught it within a couple of seconds. I had to clean out the glue in the holes. Before I glue up the back rails I will run a drill through these holes again.

another oops

I assembled this and the diagonals were OTL (out to lunch). One was 38 3/4" while the other was 39 1/2". The distance between the two rails was 14 5/16" R/L. I had a parallelogram. The top and bottom mortises were misaligned. (Don't know why I have four fingers here - can't remember why).

success

Aligned the mortises correctly and checked my diagonals again. This time they were both dead nuts on 39 1/4".

missed it

The first time I assembled this I noticed that the center wide slat looked crooked. I assumed that it was because the rails were slightly offset R/L from each other. Should have checked for alignment then rather then assembling the entire thing.

sigh

I had glued the chip now missing here with superglue. It didn't last at all. The chip missing is on the top rail so it will be difficult to see, if at all.

the misalignment

This is the result of not centering the layout stick. I had centered it on Miles's desk and had no hiccups with his.

aligned

sizing the top

The top has to lose about 2" off one of the long edges. This last board is a little more than 7" wide. That will leave this at roughly 5". hmm...., don't like that much.

the other option

If I take 2" off this edge it would balance out the two outside boards better. However, it would remove this knot defect that I want to keep. Sucked it up and sawed 2" off the other edge.
 

hmm.......

This was surprising because the 'hole' didn't look that deep. It had been less than a minute and it had already sunk. FYI - You don't need a pound of dye mixed in with the epoxy. I used less than a 1/4 of what I used previously. The color is still deep and with no clear spots.

first saw cut

Used my cordless skil saw to do both the long rip and cross cuts.

yikes!

Where is all this epoxy going? Less than 5 minutes after doing pour #2, I had to do a 3rd one.

hmm.....

The diagonals are off by 1/8". You can't see that amount eyeballing the top. I doubt anyone would throw a square on it or break out a tape and check the diagonals.

no choice

I had no choice. I couldn't fully lower the blade below the top. This mess has a 'hole' that the gear extends into when raising the blade up/down. It was packed full and it was a solid blob of saw goo. I dug that out thinking I had fixed the problem but I was wrong.

tight quarters

This rod (I removed the handle and nut) turns a worm gear which engages a half circle toothed gear that raises and lowers the blade. Everything from this view point seems to be working as it should.

sigh

That looks a lot like a hole for a pin that would keep the worm gear from spinning as the handle turns it. And spinning is exactly what the worm gear is doing. It will spin forward, stop, engage the toothed gear, and lower/raise the blade. What it won't do is lock down and keep the blade at a specific height. Which the problem I have had with this saw for a while now.

time flies

I came to the shop just before 0800 and worked through lunch. This was the time when I checked it. Been a long time since I worked this much and missing filling the pie hole. I kept on trucking.

4 times filling this

It has been over an hour and the epoxy is still raised. When I checked it again before I killed the lights it was the same. Hopefully it will be same in the AM.

side drawer guides

Used the scrap from sizing the desk top to get the four guides. Fingers crossed that I won't use them for something else without thinking of them.

1/2" maple

I've had this piece of maple in the shop for 5+ years. I can get 3 bottom supports for the drawer guides from this. I'll address the cup after I rip out the pieces.

hmm......

Planed the hump first and then I attacked the cup. Started with the #3 criss crossing and switched to the #4. I thought it might be difficult to remove the cup on such a thin width but it wasn't. 

done

I got all three flat and straight. I'll need to make a Lowes run and buy a 1/2" maple board for the 4th guide.

accidental woodworker

round 2

What will it be this time? I heated the top on all sides before clamping and setting it aside to relax over night yesterday.

hmm........

It closed up a wee bit more but still not enough. I can effortlessly close it flat with hand pressure. I clamped the center and set it aside until I need it. I am definitely leaning in the direction of screwing it to underside of the table.

made good progress

Got the rest of the slats trimmed and fitted for the back. I was having problems aligning the slats to their respective holes and switched to clamping it. That worked way better than I expected without all the nightmare scenarios banging around in the brain bucket.

I started the first two in their mortises and then used the clamps (one at each end, one in the middle) slowly closing them as I worked from left to right. I have a good, snug fit in all the mortises and when it comes time to install it I'll do it dry. There isn't any need to glue the slats. Plus it will make it easy to replace one if ever needed.

no hiccups

I was expecting to do some adjustments to get the rails to align with the legs but I didn't. I didn't have to tap either rail in any direction to have the dowels in the rails align perfectly with the holes in the legs. I quick and painless dry clamp.

hmm.......

The top of the rail is flush with the top of the legs. I thought after yesterday it would have been down about 1/8". Having the top flush like this will make installing the drawer guide assembly a lot easier.

first side done

Trimmed and fitted the slats on the first side and dry clamped it. I had to do a couple of mallet taps on the top rail before the dowels in the rails aligned with the holes in the leg.

last one

The holes are the same on the legs so this works for checking for fit. Two taps on the top rail and the fit was like a hand into a well worn glove.

final prep

Planing and sanding to get the side assemblies ready to glue up. The master plan is to glue up the two sides first and let them cook. Then I will glue the back and drawer rail. After that is making drawers and attaching the top. IMO doing the slats is the hardest part of building this desk.

careful time

I can't mix up the slats. They have been individually fitted to each rail and aren't interchangeable. I have a bad habit of not adhering to that particular policy.

ready

Rails have been planed and sanded. Ready for gluing and shellac. Where did I put those two cans of shellac? 

I planed all the rails when I fitted them. I eyeballed each one to make sure they were clean and smooth on all four edges. I won't be sanding them and I'll go with the finish off of the plane.

I'll prep the legs in the AM and hopefully get the two sides glued and cooking.

accidental woodworker

drawer rail

After dinner last night I went to the shop, unclamped this, and heated it with my heat gun. Clamped it back together and let it go until the AM. Any bets?

hmm.......

It straightened out a wee bit but not enough. Yesterday it was less than a frog hair more then 1/8" at the center. Today it is a couple of frog hairs under 1/8". I heated it again with the heat gun, clamped it, and set it aside. I'll check it in the AM. I'm not betting the ranch on it working.

done

Got the last slat mortise chopped and cleaned up. Stopped here and brought Miles's frame to the Frame it shop.

heebie jeebie dance time

I find doing this a tad nerve wracking. It so incredibly easy for me to miss and not position the jig correctly. Which is exactly what I did on the first holes I drilled. I was so focused and intent on getting the jig positioned correctly that I forgot to also make sure it was also on the right face. 

Got lucky with boo boo. Because it was the front leg I was able to erase the old reference marks and do new ones based on the leg being rotated 90°. Sometimes you get lucky.

hmm.......

I did this one wrong. The right side edge was the original one for the slat mortises. I changed my mind and did the mortises on the left edge. The hiccup was I had already drilled the holes before I made this change. The hole spacing is not the same R/L L/R. Not sure how I'll deal with this.

another hiccup

The mortises are a wee bit off too. I did the layout from the left end  going to the right on all the rails. I have to align the bottom rail keeping that in mind with the top rail.  I think this is the last hiccup I have to account for.

hmm......

I got the holes drilled for all the top rails. Before I did the bottom rails I had to determine where they were going to live. I eyeballed it and 5" up from the bottom is what looked good to me. The slats ended up being 15 1/8" long.

done

I survived another round of drilling dowel holes. Other then the initial brain fart, I got all the holes drilled exactly where they should be.

lifesavers

This mark is worth its weight in gold squared. I used to do this with RF and LB etc and  with numbers. This can't be beat and I used it extensively when setting up the doweling jig.

done

Got all the slats sawn to the same length. Fitting them is in the on deck circle.

first one fitted

Started with the wide center slat first. Got it fitted in the bottom and top rails.

first 8 slats

I was going to fit the slats in the bottom rail first and then in the top rail one at a time. I only did the first rail and stopped. It was too awkward moving the rails in/out of the vice. So I did them the same way I did Miles's desk, fitted them all in the bottom ones first and then the top.

That plan went south because I came upon two cracks/splits among the slat mortises 9 thru 16. I had to glue them and let them cook. Instead of killing the lights I fitted the first 8 slats into the top rail. 

Then I killed the lights for the day. I should have this glued up by monday?

Amazon came at 1804

I had to satisfy my curiosity about the fluted dowels. I would say that they are 6mm and not an imperial 1/4". I'll have to check and see if Dowel Max has metric bushings.

metric equivalent of 1/4"

This is a spiral dowel. Extremely happy that I got a true 1/4" dowel. (6.30mm = 1/4")

a 1/4" is 0.250

This is close enough to 0.250 IMO. These dowels were a loose fit but tighter than the 6mm ones. 

accidental woodworker 

almost ready

It is the AM and I let the holiday I painted yesterday dry thoroughly overnight. Got the 2nd coat of shellac on and the 3rd and final coat in the PM session. I'll get this and Miles's drawing to Maria in the AM. 

shoulda, woulda, coulda, but didn't

All the holes filled in and flushed without any hiccups. However, up close I can see a difference between the two epoxy pours. It would have been better if I had dyed the epoxy black. From a couple of feet away, I can't see anything different. And who (besides me) would eyeball the the black spots up close and personal?

side rail mortises

The side rails have two more mortises (total) to chop than the back ones (with the wide center slat). One benefit of this new method is the long sides of the mortises stay cleaner and crisper. 

snug fit

I like the fit of the slats so far. It is snug on the width and doesn't fit at all the other way. There are burn marks on the sides that I will plane off. That should be enough for the slat to fit.

chopping away

It isn't taking a lot of time per mortise. I would estimate that it isn't more then five minutes each.

yikes

A brain fart that shouts and laughs at you. Missed drilling the holes in one of the top rails. I didn't notice here that I made the stinky fart me-steak again with the bottom rail. Fixed that one later on in the PM session.

too shallow

I measured the holes and they were all about 7/8" deep. Too shallow for the 2" dowel pins I intend to use. I marked the stick at 1 1/16" (16th for glue) and redrilled all the holes to that depth.

last two

Got the outlines done on the last two side rails. Stopped here for two reasons. The first was my right wrist was starting to hurt which means I was waking up my carpal tunnel. To go along with this, my lower right back was hurting. Bending over for hours ain't what it used to be. Not a real problem as the pain goes away once I straighten up and head upstairs.

The 2nd one is the 3/8" chisel edge was chipped. I was still chopping clean but I could see the one big and small chip missing on the blade's toe. Stopped here and sharpened it removing the chips first which didn't take much time on a 100 grit runway.

this one is 80 grit

I have two of these runways that I use. This one is 80 and used for heavy removal and squaring blades. The other is a double sided runway with 100 grit on one side and 150 on the other.

can you see it?

This is the front top, drawer rail. It is bowed an 1/8" at the middle. This has to be straight so that the flush drawer fronts stay flush. So for the leading candidate is to screw it to the underside of the top on either side of the center block.

worth a try

It is easy to flatten it with hand pressure and the quick grips are strong enough to do it too. I'll check this in the AM and see what shakes out with it. If I see no results, I'll try hearing it with my heat gun and clamping it again. I really don't want to make another drawer rail.

fluted dowels came today

Not 2" long but about 1 7/8". There are from China too so I don't have high hopes that they 1/4" diameter pins neither.

they ain't a 1/4"

In a 1/4" hole this dowel has a 32nd space all around. I don't think that is tight enough even allowing for glue swelling to be joint worthy. The spiral dowels are coming in tomorrow. Fingers crossed that they are imperial and a 1/4" in diameter.

dead battery

It worked yesterday but its dead the next day. There was a little battery corrosion that cleaned off the contacts with alcohol. Went to CVS to get a L1154C button battery and nada. CVS has cut way back on the range of button batteries it used to sell. I went to Wally World next and the same results. They don't sell N batteries anymore neither and they used it because they were my source for them. Ordered both batteries from Amazon and I'll have them tomorrow. Then I can measure these pins - the calipers read imperial and metric.

accidental woodworker 

I got to the shop late this AM - I rolled out of the rack at 0708. I had woke up at 0130 and couldn't go back to sleep. Watched YouTube until 4-ish when I finally got the eyelids to slam shut. I had to quit the AM session to go to the VA for an appointment. I had a high resolution CT of my chest. It was odd because they asked me if I had any thing metallic on my right side. They said something showed up on the last scan they did.

first pic of the day

I can see a pattern emerging - lots of blurry pics lately. Laid out the mortises on the 4 side rails. I was glad I had to go the VA because my right wrist was sore still from chopping mortises yesterday.

one coat of shellac

Two coats on the back and 3 on the front and the front outside edges will do it.

sigh

Teeny holiday but it sticks out like a neon sign on a foggy night. This killed getting one coat on the entire frame. And I forgot to paint it before I went for my appointment.

epoxy

I used clear epoxy to fill the in the holes on the side rails. I had some left over so I filled in the fissures on one of the drawers. At least one tail will end up dead center on them. If I run into any hiccups I'll regroup and make new drawer fronts.

PM session

I had planned to work on the side rail mortises but that didn't happen boys and girls. The epoxy I used has a 24 hr cure. I thought it was 5 minutes - I was wrong. So I decided to work on the legs. They hadn't budged in any direction. Both reference faces were still dead nuts square. They were still flat and straight too so no reason to wait. 

I want the legs to be square and not rectangular. The short side is roughly 1 7/8" and the longer one is 2 1/8". To ease the strain on the lunchbox planer, I ripped the long edge to close to the short one.

happy with this

I almost got my 1 7/8" square but two legs threw a hissy fit. I had to settle for 1 3/4". Miles desk legs are 1 7/8" but this is close enough. Neither desk will ever be side by side for a comparison.

nice curly Q

Removed the planer nick humps with a chisel before sawing the legs to finished length. I had planer snipe on every single leg. I was lucky because the leg lengths are 29" and the blanks were 36" long. I was able to saw it off on all 6 legs.

done

It took a while but I finally settled on an orientation of the legs. The front legs both have straight, vertical grain on all four faces. The back legs have straight, vertical grain on the front and back faces. The other two have straight-ish grain - the grain lines are wider but there aren't any cathedrals. 

I had three legs with straight, vertical grain and I initially placed the  3rd one at the back but pulled it. I didn't like the look of the odd leg not even closely matching it's opposite mate. As is, the two front ones match as do the back ones. 

I like

Used one of the off cuts as a test piece to check the rail placement. There is a 1/4" offset from the edge of the leg to the rail - perfect IMO. And I got it on the first try.

1/4" dowel rod

I couldn't push this into the holes I drilled with a 1/4" twist drill bit.

hmm.......

These are 1/4" spiral dowel pins. They aren't a snug fit but they are denying gravity. These dowels are 1 1/2" long and I need 2" dowel pins.

1/4" fluted dowel pins

Same as the spiral dowel pins but with a twist. They were looser than the spiral pins but the twist is these are 6mm and 6mm is not the same as a 1/4". Went to Amazon and bought 2" spiral pins that I'll have tomorrow. I'm guessing that they are imperial and if they aren't, I'll buy 1/4" dowels and make my own pins.

snug fit

I chamfered the bottom of the pins and easily tapped them home with the hammer. I would say that the holes aren't changing much so far.

accidental woodworker

 

Miles's frame

The front face has only one coat. I was surprised at the coverage too. I'll bet the ranch that I can get away with two coats. A couple of coats of shellac, I'll be able to get this to the Frame it shop by saturday at the latest. 

Leo's desk top

Just did a quick flush of the glue joints with the #3. I only did this side which will be the face. I'll do the back side when I am ready to get it to final size.

hmm......

Ready to flush/plane all the epoxy on the side rails. All of them were still overfilled, no sunken areas anywhere.

sigh (blurry pic again)

This is the biggest epoxy spot and after I got it flushed, a hole popped out. Not a bubble hole and it is visible despite the small size of it. I'll fill it in later.

lower right corner

I like the reddish background against the black epoxy.

done

All four side rails flushed. Another small hole shook hands with me that I'll have to deal with. Three of the rails are about the same - the 3rd one down from the top - doesn't have a 'circle' but it is what it is.

drilling the side rails

Got all the side rails holes drilled. As I was doing the last one a thought occurred to me, maybe I should have waited before drilling the holes. Would they change size before I glued them? I will be finding out that mystery shortly.

hmm.......

This was going to be the edge where I chopped the mortises for the slats. I'll be swapping the edges - the other one doesn't have any of these fissures.

hmm......

Tried a new way of doing the mortises. Instead of doing each one at a time, I chiseled the outline of each one first. Then I started chopping the mortises one at a time.

one done, 5 to go

Did a better job chopping this set. I only had to glue one chip and one split.

back rails done

I got the 2nd one done five minutes before quitting time.

oops

Both of the back rails are the same size. All the top rails are 5 1/2" wide and the bottom ones are all 4 1/4". I ripped this one to match the other bottom rails.

accidental woodworker 

 

1/8" router bit

It is solid carbide with a 3/4" long cutting length. I like how easy it was to make the slots for the table clips with my plunge router. Hopefully I'll remember to do it before I glue the rails up.

hmm......

Missed about one inch on the first pour. In my defense it was covered with tape. Filled it in and all the other sunken holes.

not expected

If I had known I would have stuffed in cherry shavings before filling them with epoxy. Fingers crossed that the 2nd pour will fill them.

done

30 minutes after I filled them, all the holes were over filled. Looking like a win for the home team.

gluing the top

The middle and right board are carved in stone. The far left board is one of two that I will marry to them.

still working

I worked through all the ways I could use these two left boards and it took a while to make up my mind. There is no way I could get a color/grain match with the other two. I started by sawing about an inch off of the two right boards. I did that so that the third board would be wider than 6". I didn't like the look of two 11" inch boards with a small 5" wide board.

two boards

Dry clamped the first two boards together. I had a nice, tight joint line from R to L. It came together with minimal clamp pressure.

dry clamp run

I had thought about using dowels on this glue up - 3 in each board. Didn't need them as the boards were easy to align within a frog hair or two.

I smiled looking at this because it brought back a memory. When I first started woodworking I couldn't glue up stock to get wide boards. I would limit myself to making things that didn't need anything wider than a 1x12. I've come a long way in the past 51 years.

hmm.....

One clamp and everything is still together. The ends didn't shift up/down and the joint lines were still tight. The glue up went off without a hitch. One end had the ends shift by with the glue and I had to put a clamp on them to flush it.

nice touch

This doo da lets you keep going with the doweling jig. You insert this 1/4" aluminum pin in the last hole drilled to keep drilling holes. I also have one that goes out 12'(?).

eight holes

This is one of the back rails. Drilled 5 holes, put the pin in, and drilled 3 more holes.

Miles's frame

He wanted red and this was the brightest red I found at the paint store. Got good coverage with one coat. I'll get a second one today and start on the front in the AM.

mortise layout

Laying out the mortises for the slats. I'm sticking with the same number that I did on Miles's desk. I don't want any blaring differences between the grandson's desks.

story stick

I couldn't layout the mortises for the side rails (epoxy is still setting up).  I will use this to lay them out once the epoxy is dry. 

started

Got the outline of all the mortises chiseled and the center one outlined. This is where I stopped for the day. I need to sharpen the 3/8" & 5/8" chisels. I didn't feel like doing that now so I'll pick it back up in the AM.

accidental woodworker 

 Found some sinus medicine that almost cleared my snot locker. 95% better than what it was without it. Got a good night's sleep and only got up twice for the toilet trots. I still had to empty it through out the day but less frequently and with a lot less snot. 

it is full

The house shit can holds two boxes of snot rags. This is after 2 1/2 days.

happy face

Both of the leg blanks are laying flat and straight on each other. Happy that I don't have to deal with any stupid wood tricks.

reference edge

The plan was too establish one face and one long edge as references. Then I would run them through the lunch box planer to thickness. It wasn't necessary at this point but I like planing cherry.

hmm......

Used my catch all bench chisel to remove all the nicked blade ridges on the faces of the two boards.

last one

Made the long edge square to the face I planed a couple of days ago.

moving along

Got the leg blanks planed to thickness - not quite 1 7/8" thick. Next batter was sawing the legs out of them.

hmm......

The tablesaw was struggling to rip out the legs. I did get one done with the blade high enough to rip it out. All the subsequent legs I ripped out half way from one face, flipped the boards 180, and ripped the leg off. I had to go slow because the saw bogged if I pushed too fast.

drawer guides

These are all that are left over. I think I can get all four side drawer guides from them.

two extras

I ripped out two legs first, one each from each outside edge. I ripped another leg from the middle portion left. The four faces aren't straight grained but swirling with some cathedrals. I got 3 legs out of each blank.

the four desk legs

This leg on the left only has straight grain running vertically on three faces. This one has some cathedrals and I'll put this at the back. The other three legs all have straight grain running vertically. 

time to relax

When I sawed out the legs only one of them curled a bit. It didn't pinch the blade and the legs are over length by about 6-8". I can saw off the bit of bow. I'll let these hang out on the table for a few days to make sure they don't do any stupid wood tricks. After that I will run them through the lunch box planer to square them up. I think I can get them at a minimum of 1 3/4" square.

rail stock

Next up on the A list was sizing the rails to width and length. The top rails will be 5 1/2" wide and 31" long.

finally

See the rough spot left here? It was originally almost 12" long and it was a valley. It took me 10 minutes to plane this edge straight and flat. It also made the width of the board a few frog hairs less than 5 1/2". Didn't know that yet.

side rail

Rather then work around the knot holes and pockets, I am leaving them and I'm going to fill them with black dyed epoxy.

hmm......

I used putty to fill in a couple of defects in the splines. With shellac they will pop out and I don't like that. So I asked daughter #2 to ask Miles what color he wanted me to paint his frame. I'll find out tonight what the color will be. Amanda said it will probably be red.

side rails

The defects are more prominent on one one side than the opposite one. At least both will have something visual to look at.

helping hand

I'm trying to avoid the me-steak I made with Miles desk twice or was it three times? Anyways I laid the rails out as they will be and marked the edge with chalk that will get the mortises for the slats.

2nd bite

I had to remove the screws on the front to rip it to the new width. When I put the screw back in, it cracked the block again. Glued and clamped again and set it aside to cook. Sigh. If the screw cracks it again I'll have to replace it somehow.

I like

Used the Dowel Max to check drilling holes in one of the side rails. I love the spacing of the holes, it almost perfect on the two outside ones.

hmm.......

Filled in the defects with black dyed epoxy. It is going to need a 2nd round because a couple of them are sinking. Some of them were a surprise because they didn't look deep enough to suck in that much epoxy.  I'll do round 2 in the AM.

the legs

I was a roll so I planed a reference face on two edges. That is all I need to run through them through the lunchbox planer.  I might be getting ahead of myself but I was feeling good about the legs behaving.

not working

I need a 1/4" drill collar to set the depth for the doweling jig but none of these fit the 1/4" drill.

this explains a lot

I had bought these a bazillion years ago and I remember having the same problem - they didn't fit the drill bit. It didn't occur to me then that they weren't imperial. I checked three of the collars with my metric drill bits and they fit. Big sigh. I'll check Amazon and get some imperial ones on order.

Had a good day. Got in a full AM & PM session and I made a serious dent in Leo's desk. Fingers crossed that tomorrow will be as productive too. 

accidental woodworker 

 Spent another fitful night trying to sleep. Besides getting up for two toilet trot races, I got 7 times total to blow my nose. There was absolutely no position where I could sleep for more than an hour or so. I hope this blows over quickly because it sucks pond scum feeling like this.

I was hopeful

Took the clamps off and nothing moved or groaned. All the miters were still tight and passed the wiggle test. Felt good about the frame here.

last test piece

Trying to set this jig makes feel as smart as a box of pointy rocks. I thought I had it set correctly - I had measured from the plywood to saw blade - but it took me 7 attempts before I got it.

miters still suck

Two of the miters let go while putting the splines in them. I think the other two stayed together only because I already had splines in them. I had to use bar clamps to close up all the miters.

cleaning up the  back frame parts

Working in the shop today was difficult. I had the desire to be there but with the snot locker jammed full it was a chore working. I spent the AM session working in spurts which kind of worked in my favor. The frame shook hands with me several times before I killed the lights for the day.

2nd one

I had to replace the first spline because it was too thin. There were gaps on both sides of it. Without glue I was able to push the splines and seat them fully by hand. With glue, two of them locked solid before being fully seated. So I made the last two splines looser by sanding them. One filled/swelled the groove with glue but this one didn't.

sigh

Screwed up on the length of these, again. I've done this twice before but I thought I was done having that brain fart. It ain't so boys and girls.

new set

An hour later I made a new set for the back frame. I made the length a 1/4" over to allow for planing the miters and fitting.

almost done

Nailed and glued the back frame, set the nails, and filled them with putty. Thinking of using shellac on this frame. But if I change my mind, I'll paint it black.

hmm.......

I am leaving the frame as is. No chamfers on the inside and outside edges. I'll get this to Maria on tuesday so I can get it done as quick as possible and get a pic of it to Miles.

Hoping to feel better so I can get started on Leo's desk. I want to get it done ASAP. Been thinking of renting a U haul  to bring the things I made for Amanda to her. Waiting in the boneyard are Leo's dresser, Miles' desk, the small cherry table, and the bookcase.  Leo's desk will be joining it in a couple of weeks. My wife can only bring one at time when she visits. Depends on the cost which is probably cheaper than having it shipped.

accidental woodworker

Starting feeling like crap yesterday afternoon. I couldn't sleep last night for more then an hour. My snot locker was stuffed full and I couldn't breathe with the CPAP machine lying down on my side. I spent a fitful night sleeping propped up against the headboard. Didn't feel much better in the AM.

broken dog

I lost the doo hickey at the top of the dog. Found this on the deck when I came to the shop in the AM. I would have just made a new one but as usual I couldn't find something. The something I was searching for was the bullet catch on the side of this dog. So instead of a replacement dog, I glued a new doo hickey on at the top.

checking the leg stock

Both boards behaved themselves over night. They looked to be still flat and straight. Neither one grew a hump back too. Cleaned one short edge on both boards. I'll make them 90 before I run them through the lunch box planer.

happy face on

Both boards passed the flat test with flying colors.

both for $6 and change

I couldn't resist the miniature bin. I like that it is clear so I can see what I have in it. The 5gal bucket was a lot cheaper than I expected. Lowes even had pink buckets for the ladies.

pic frame coming

I sent a pic of the frame I made for Leo's drawing and he remembered doing it. I didn't want Miles's to feel left out so I'm making a frame for a pic he sent me before my CT biopsy. 

done

After I got back from Lowes I finished the fitting the doo hickey on the dog. The dog is maple and the doo hickey is too. It keeps the dog from falling through the dog hole in the bench.

flushed the top

I still have the original metal dogs from when I built this desk. I switched to wooden dogs the last time I nicked a iron on them. I haven't noticed any difference in gripping power between the metal and wooden dogs.

shooting the miters

I'm making Miles's frame the same size as Leo's but Miles's is 3/4" thick. I didn't have any 1/2" thick stock but I don't like making the exact same thing for the grandsons. 

sigh

Gave up on this again. The slip nuts were nice with adjusting but I couldn't get all four miters closed and gap free.

hmm.....

And this slip nut wouldn't tighten, as it got close it slipped. Go figure on that. I switched it with another one and the same thing. I didn't feel like playing with it to find what went south. I won't be playing with this clamping method for the foreseeable future.

nope

I was able to get 2 then of the 3 miters to close up tight. I fiddled and faddled with it and then gave up. I went back to the miter shooting board and touched up the miters again. That didn't improve it and one miter was still open a frog hair.

sigh

I was expecting this to be the winner. I even tried sweetening the miter heels with a block plane. It worked for one but with the 2nd one I started chasing my tail around the frame.

this surprised me

This is the first time I can remember all four miters closing up tight with these miter clamp doo hickeys. I took it apart and repeated it with the same results. Decided to glue it up with these. If this hadn't worked I was going to try my metal band clamp.

success

With glue applied, one miter wouldn't close up tight. I tried but with glue applied I didn't have a lot of time to play with. I put bar clamps on and that worked closing up the miter tight. I put two more clamps the opposite way to equalize the force. I'll let this cook until the AM.

Clamping this up wiped me out. I didn't feel winded or tired, just spent. Like I had nothing left to give. I think I'm coming down with a spring cold because my snot locker fills up quicker than I can empty it.

Didn't go back to the shop for a PM session. Instead I sat at my desk and watched Unforgettable on Amazon prime.

accidental woodworker

 Made the trip to Highlands today and now I'm thinking maybe I should have waited a few more days. A lot of the cherry shorts were rough sawn while last month when I got wood for Miles's desk the cherry shorts bin was stuffed full with S4S. Not so today. But I still managed to get what I needed for his desk. Albeit it is going to take more time to prep it.

rough sawn 8/4 cherry

There was no S4S 8/4 cherry to be had. There also wasn't any wide rough sawn 8/4 cherry (for four legs). I picked these two out to get the legs from.

4/4 cherry

The  S2S 5/4 and 4/4 cheery bins were full. The two stacks on the right here are 4/4. The wide boards are for the miniature cherry chest that is coming after Leo's desk. The thinner width 4/4 boards are for the rails. A lot more than what I need but the extras are for the cherry chest. 

5/4 cherry

I bought two 10 foot boards for the top and had them sawn in half. I only need 3 with one orphan board.

hmm.....

Both of the 8/4 cherry boards are cupped. I am going to flatten one face on both first to allow them relax for a few days. I always start by knocking down the hump side of the board. I will flatten and straighten that face first and then ran them through the lunchbox planer.

legs?

The plan is to get the legs from each outside edge. They are mostly straight grain which is what I want for the legs.

hmm.......

Might have some trouble with this board. The outside edge straight grain on the right is a little thin. I'll put these two legs at the back.

comparison

Cherry is a pretty wood off the plane.  The right board is almost there. It has a wee bit of twist and I still need to smooth it out from the #6 plane.

still some twist

Along with the twist there was still a hump. I traversed this board at an 45° and a 90° several times but it was slow going. 

hmm......

I like this plane because it works equally well pushing or pulling it. Here I pulled over an area that I identified as high. It took a lot of back and forth before I got this one flat and straight end to end.

2nd board

Wash, rinse, and repeat. Of course this one had a hissy fit and went into camera shy mode.

no twist

After the first 4 planing runs over the board I checked it for twist. There was none and it stayed that way until I got it flat and straight.

sigh

This board was a pain to flatten. The hump refused to cooperate and go away.  I attacked it with 5 different planes but it was as stubborn as a mule. The first board took about 45 minutes and I was already well past that with this board.

wow

Time flies when you are having fun. I stayed until I got the 2nd board done. I wanted to have both of them relaxing over night.

LN #4

This plane got a work out on the 2nd board. It was only plane that seemed to be knocking the hump flat. I spent a lot of time pulling the plane vice pushing it.

finally

This check is the last one I do - checking it for flat. I grab the far end of the straight edge and move it left/right and watch for where it pivots at the opposite end. For the longest time it was pivoting about the 1/2 way point - still had a hump. 

Here the straight edge pivoted around the pencil mark from this diagonal and the other diagonal. That proves the board is flat. I got this tidbit from watching Keith Rucker at the vintage machinery website. Anyways it took a lot of time and calories before this board got flat and straight.

final check

Still twist free which surprised me. With all the back and forth I did planing the hump flat I was expecting some twist to shake hands with me.

before I left the shop

The left and middle boards are 11" wide and the top needs to be about 26-27 inches wide. I got two boards with a partially open knot/gum pocket so I can match Miles's desk. The far right board is 10 inches wide and I only need about 5" of that one. Not sold on this but I won't probably get to the table top until next week, maybe monday.

accidental woodworker 

 The foot was a wee bit sore when I rolled out of the rack this AM but it was so much better feeling than yesterday. No problems walking or standing but I took it easy nonetheless. I wandered up down to the shop several times but I didn't exert myself. I think the most strenuous thing I did all day was to sweep the deck in the shop.

sigh

I can't bring myself to shitcan these cherry scraps. Went searching the shop for something to put them into and nada. I'll have to make a Lowes run and buy a 5 gallon bucket. 

hmm........

Thinking about doweling Leo's desk. I read the literature again on the Dowel Max and tests showed that doweled joints were stronger than mortise and tenon. I had no problems doweling the small table. I don't anticipate any headaches with the desk. I checked and I can get 7 dowels on the ends of the top rails.

only one

I put 2 1/4" long screws in the top - one at each block. On the bottom I put one screw at each end and two in the middle block. On the bottom I don't have to allow slots for the table top clips.

ouch

The screw I put in at the top split the end block. It wasn't a complete break and it closed up nicely when I glued it. Instead of putting a 2 1/4" screw back into it, I put a 2" screw. It held and the block didn't split, break, or crack again.

youngest grandson is an artist

I am going to hang this one in the shop somewhere. I will have to do some rearranging but I'll find a hole for it.

for my wife

My wife is fascinated with old township/district maps from the late 1700's to the middle 1850's. 

proof

This is one of five frames that I made for my wife. All of them are still together. All the miters are tight still and zero evidence that they are planning to go south.

Union #3

Because I am brain dead I pissed away a couple of hours trying to get this spit a shaving that was the full width of the iron. After the umpteenth time putting it back together I noticed that when I screwed down the right screw in the frog, it titled backwards pushing the bottom edge at the mouth up. 

Screwing down the left screw wasn't the same - no tilting or  movement. With that one screwed down first the right still cause movement in the frog. But it wasn't as bad as when the right one was done first.

unbelievable

I put the plane together for the last time intending to put it on a shelf and forgetting it. However, I tried to make RML shavings one last time. I couldn't believe what I saw. The last time I had made RML shavings the lever adjust was fully over to the left. Today it is full over to the right. ????????

RML shavings

All three are the same thickness but the right one isn't as long as the other two. I made two more runs and I got RML shavings that were all about the same. The right ones were a wee bit more wispy than the RM ones.

I'm done with plane. Now that it is together I put it on top of my shop cabinets to gather dust.

accidental woodworker 

I didn't sleep that well last night. My right foot was sore and achy. It woke me up a couple of times to shake hands with me. When I got up the foot really said hello to me. It hurt like hell to walk and I limped for the entire day. The pain lessened a little but it flared up off/on all day. Something is not right with it and I'll be calling the foot doc for an appointment.

I thought of going to Highlands today because it turned sunny before lunch but I didn't. I'll be going on friday which is supposed to be partly sunny/cloudy here and sunny in New Hampshire. 

Getting ready for that trip I filled up the pickup and I was less then a second from having an involuntary bowel movement. I had gotten gas less then two weeks ago for $3 and change a gallon. Today the same gas was $4.17 gallon. The trip to NH is going to be expensive I have fill up before I leave (done), fill up again before I leave NH, and one last time after I get home. Ouch - it was $45.87 to fill up from a 1/2 tank today.

forgot this

This pen box was the third thing I worked on yesterday but I forgot to include it in that post. It is done - four coats on the inside and outside. Tomorrow I'll rub it down with wax and ship it off to my sister.

glamour pic

Plain and simple with little adornment or embellishment. Just the way I like it. 

done

The two cherry bookshelves are done with 3 coats of shellac. The walnut one I'm giving to Maria at the Frame it shop. It had a blemish on the shelf that I had to add another coat of shellac to.

Don't know what I'm going to do with all bookshelves I made in the past couple of months. I have 12 of them - one is being used (my shop books),  two are going with Miles's and Leo's desks, and one to Maria tomorrow. The other eight are waiting adoption.

rejects

Worked on sawing the slats to width and thickness. These are the rejects from thicknessing. I added 8 more when I sawed the slats to width. I had to do this in batches because standing wasn't that comfortable. Surprisingly going up and down the stairs was easier than walking and standing.

plenty

I might have to make a new 2" wide slat. When I measured it after cleaning it up with the 5 1/2 it was dead on 3/8" thick. All the narrow slats are 1/64 more than 3/8". I'll check the fit of it after I chop the first narrow slat mortise.

the drawer runners

Went to Lowes to get some 1/2" maple for the drawer runners but nada. What they for sale was all twisted, cupped, or bowed. Bought some New Zealand pine instead. I'll let this relax in the shop until I make the drawers.

more drawer stock

The prefinished plywood will give up the two drawer bottoms. I have enough poplar to make one drawer. I have my wood list for Highlands and it includes two six foot 1/2" poplar boards. 

I might be taking it easy tomorrow too. Maybe the walk I went on yesterday is the cause of my current foot headaches. I could check up on my reading because the pile isn't shrinking at all.

accidental woodworker 

 The VA appointment was easy peasy. The tech took my vitals and then I walked for 6 minutes, and he took my vitals again. They both agreed - oxygen was 97 pre walk and 95 post walk. The blood pressure readings were almost the same. 

The only time they do this test is at 0900. I couldn't reschedule so I went. I wanted to go to Highlands because today was sunny. The next sunny/partly cloudy day is friday. I'm going to try and go then but is there is another sunny/cloudy day in between that, I'll jump on it.

ready

Out of the clamps and all is well in Disneyland. The drawers fit one frog hair loose R/L but no fit top/bottom. 

top rail

The top rail is 1 1/8" wide and the bottom is 3/4". The top is wider because it will get the table top clips. Noticed that the rail has bowed a wee bit. Not sure how to address that to straighten it out. I've got plenty of time to figure it out.

hmm.......

Cherry is such a pretty wood. This is after the first coat of shellac. 4 more and it will get a check mark in the done column.

sigh

I had wiped the shims I stuck in the gap with a wet rag. Still got some residual glue squeeze out. I cleaned that up by chiseling the end grain like I do on half pins with dovetails.

scraps

I need 34 narrow 3/4" slats and one slat 2". I think I have enough with the left overs from Miles's desk to get want I need. Should have a few extras too on the narrow slats.

1st round

Got the 2" wide slat and 37 narrow ones. As I was ripping these to rough width/thickness I saw a few iffy ones. With these slats it pays to have a few extras. 

60 narrow slats

I went nutso on the extras. I could have stopped at 40 but I had two more boards. I should have more that enough to pick and chose from.

almost forgot

My friend asked what/how the ends were so important. First step is to saw the rail length a couple of inches more than needed. 2nd step is to saw out the top and bottom rails. 3rd saw out the center block (mine is 3"). 4th is to cut out ends leaving them long. 5th is to position the ends in towards the center block. That is too make up for the saw kerfs and the length of the drawers. Glue it up and let it cook.

Went for a walk today for the first time in a couple of months. Back in November when I was first was told I might have lung cancer I said screw it to the diet. Now that is up in the air and the doc said it will be 7-10 days before I get the results of the CT biopsy. Still waiting.

The result of that is my weight ballooned. On april 21st I weighed 267 pounds. My heart rate is higher and my blood pressure is elevated. I piled on 72 lbs and I am now back on the wagon. I want to drop some tonnage so my BP drops down to what it used to be. 

My normal range was around 110/85 and now it is running 150/90. I had a good run and ate like a condemned man. Cookies, ice cream, candy, and lots of take out. All gone now for the foreseeable future. Looking forward to getting back down to 195-ish.

accidental woodworker 

last night

I didn't glue it up but I did do a dry clamp up. Everything fitted nice, nice. I left it in the clamps until the AM.

clipped the corners

I don't like leaving the corners of the shelf at 90°. I don't think a round over fits in with the overall 'square' look of the bookshelf so an angled corner it is.. 

happy face on

Getting better at chopping these mortises. All four came out with clean with crisp edges. I hope the upcoming slat mortises for Leo's desk come looking just as good.

ready

Planed and sanded the insides of the ends and the back slats. In the on deck circle are four clamps and glue.

Leo's front drawer rail

I was going to motor up to New Hampshire tomorrow but that got nixed. I have a VA appointment with pulmonary for a 6 minute oxygen evaluation walk, whatever that is? But I can work and get the drawer rail done. 

Tuesday is supposed to be sunny/partly cloudy. The rest of the week has rain forecasted until the weekend. It will be next week before I can go north to NH so I'll have to fill in my shop time with something new project wise.

layout done

I think I got this one figured out. The drawers will have a continuous grain flow L/R (or R/L). I'll have a good piece of this left over - roughly half the board. 

done

I sawed out the parts and dry clamped them back together. I won't be repeating the brain fart with the drawers I did with Miles's desk.

happy face on

The drawer fronts are a couple of frog hairs longer than the drawer openings. The key is making the two far ends (that get the tenons) longer than necessary.

been a while

I haven't used this shooting board for a whole bunch of full moons. Checking the plane body square to the stop. Spoiler alert, it wasn't. The drawer fronts weren't square and I shot them square and a wee bit smaller then the drawer opening R/L.

snug fit

I didn't plane the top/bottom to fit the opening. I'll do that when I start on the drawers.

clips came

I thought that these were thinner than the ones I used on the small table. Turns out that they are exactly the same. These new ones are lighter in color but they are the same.

blurry pic

Cleaning up the 2nd cherry bookshelf. The pic I snapped is blurry and I don't understand why. I shoot my pics with the automatic setting selected. Usually when I get a blurry pic it is because the automatic setting got moved somehow.

last two

The 2nd one is in the back. I'm leaving the top as is. No round overs or clipping the corners. I also didn't make the top of the ends  parallel to the bottom.

one down, one to go

Most of the pre prep for shellac is sanding the end grain. Cherry is a wee bit harder to do - takes more time and calories than doing pine.

sigh

 

My nemesis shook hands with me again on both sides. Small gap but my OCD goes into overdrive no matter what the size is. I glued a piece of cherry veneer in both.

ready for shellac

Sanding and branding is done. But no shellac today. Mickey's big hand is on 12 and the his small one on 3. Quitting time but I might get a coat on after dinner.

hmm.....

I don't know what this is (top board), certainly not a gum pocket. It is exactly where the half blind tails want to live forever.

worth a try

I soaked then with super glue. I don't know what or how they will like being sawn and chopped. Hopefully the superglue will consolidate and fill up the voids?

accidental woodworker

 

hmm.......

I am liking this rag ball for applying the final shellac coat. It flattens the brush strokes it makes the top looks like glass. Thinking out loud, would a foam brush do the same?

nope

Out of the clamps and the lid won't close. It fits on 3 sides but still won't close. I knew that it would take some fussing to get that to happen.

the fix

I have made several of this type of box lids and none have closed without any help. The sanding sticks make it a quick and easy process.

sanding stick safe edge

The safe edge on the sanding sticks keeps me from sanding a groove into the top edge of the bottom.

closed

Took a while but I finally got the lid to close. It needed a wee bit more fettling because it was too snug. With shellac applied it won't close. I want the lid to fit loose so it is easy to take off and put back on.

finally

Got the lid to fit on the bottom in both orientations. However, it is loose one way (X on the lid/bottom aligned) and tight the other. Too tight to call it ok.

getting closer

The left side is a few frog hairs higher than the right. The corners were keeping the lid from freely closing. I used my 1/2" shoulder plane to knock down the corners because the sanding sticks were working too slowly.

ta da

The shoulder plane worked a treat. Lid closes easily both ways and a little on the loose side. That should tighten up when I apply shellac.

hmm......

I should have used this plane from the start. Sanding sticks are still the ones to use on squirrely grain keepers but with anything else the shoulder plane goes to the head of the line.

splotches

They are hide glue bleed through from the glue up. I wanted to use a oil/wax finish on this but I didn't. I know shellac will lay on hide glue but I don't know if the oil/wax finish would do the same.

two coats

Started applying the shellac on the box doing the bottom of the bottom and the top of the lid. After I get 5-6 coats I'll switch and do the interiors of the bottom and the top.

cherry bookshelf

Getting the depth of the back slat mortises the same as the shelf dado wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. The key for me was to chop the first run shallow and sneak up on it. I did it mostly by scraping the bottom of the mortise with the same chisel until Mr Starrett said I was to depth.

rasping the feet cut out

I survived another angled bottom cut. I had to make a a couple of trial cuts to make sure I would get it right. The angled cut should be done (and the cutout) before the glue up. Much easier to get it done before the glue up.

ready for glue up

Planed the inside faces of the ends and chamfered the ends of the back slats. The dry fit of the back slats were snug. I had to plane the left end of the shelf before it fit in the dado.

sigh

Glad I caught this on the dry fit before I laid down any glue. I glued and clamped this boo boo and set it aside. I was hoping to get this glued and cooking but it didn't happen boys and girls. But it might if I haul myself down to the shop after dinner.

coat hanger

This is what I came up with to hang the frame. Wedged a board between the floor joists. From that I hung a short length of coat hanger to catch the wire on the frame.

for air flow and standoff

Silicone feet to keep the frame from touching the cement wall and let circulate behind it.

looks good

Maria did an awesome job of matting this. The glass is a conservation glass that blocks 99% of UV. Helps with keeping the poster underneath it from fading or discoloring. It cost me $90 which I think is a bargain. 

accidental woodworker 

easy table top clip installation

I still have to put in 4 more clips but I was surprised by how strong the clips I did install were. The top was tight to top of the rails and easy to pick up and move around. And no headaches with getting the last four done - nothing in the way of that. 

bottom shelf

The shelf is flat and tight to the bearer with two clamps holding it down. Nothing moved when I screwed it. No glue - just one screw at each end. This way any repairs will be easy.

6 ounces of shellac

Running out of shellac so I mixed up a new batch. 6 ounces of shellac and 3 cups of alcohol giving a 2lb cut. Turned out that I didn't need this because I had just enough from the last batch to finish the table.

splines

I don't want to rely on the miters staying together even with the help from the top/bottom panels being glued in the grooves. Going with 1/8" thick  cherry splines to help out the miters.

WOW

Went to the Frame it Shop before lunch and this is all that was ready. I think this looks absolutely awesome and I can't wait to get it hung. Maria told me the other stuff I gave her will be ready by wednesday.

its new home

I got this painting after I got out of the Navy in '94. Never thought of framing it but it is going bye bye now. The Periodic Table of Wood is going to hang there now. Just have to figure out how to do that so the frame doesn't touch the cellar wall.

sigh

I had tapped each spline with a hammer to fully seat them. This one didn't get the memo. I'll fill it with a piece of the scrap shims.

sawing the lid free

I saw a You Tube vid where someone was sawing a lid free. Normally I start sawing at the corner but I tried it the way I saw it by first sawing about 1/8" down on the shortest side. From there I sawed down a long side using the kerf on the short side to guide me. Worked well and I did good sawing the lid off. I'll have to try this a couple of more times before I can say whether or not it is a game changer.

Had no problems sawing it off and cleaning it up with a couple of planes. Planed a small chamfer where the lid and bottom meet for visual interest. 

cherry keepers

Dry fitted with mitered corners. It didn't fit on the bottom in either orientation. I'll dial that in after it is glued and cooked.

Initially I was going to hinge the box but changed my mind. The lid height wasn't high enough for the surface mounted hinges I planned to use. Went with keepers instead.

glued

One of the long sides had a gap that I didn't like. The keepers need to be tight against the inside of the lid. If not fitting it can be a headache.

glued, clamped and cooking

No more gaps. All the keepers are up tight against the inside of the lid now.

hmm.....

Saw two white spots on the bottom shelf. I don't think are glue because they are too large. I scraped them with a card scraper and applied shellac over them. The seemed to disappear with the shellac.

ready to use

Been a couple of hours and the shellac is already to use. Whizzing the flakes up in a spice grinder speeds it up dissolving in the alcohol. I added a little more alcohol to the shellac to knock the pound cut below 2.

first glamour pic

I like this a lot and if I had room for it in my house I would keep it. But my daughter already yes to adopting it. Just hoping that my wife doesn't convince her to paint it down the road.

glamour pic #2

Side view. Still on the fence with the number of slats. I like the wide center one but maybe I should have added two more narrow ones?

A quick and easy project that I whacked out lickety split. Fingers crossed the weather will be nice next week. I have to go to Highlands to get cherry for Leo's desk. Thinking out loud, will the 2nd one be done quicker?

accidental woodworker 

 

a good sigh

First of the make up mortises on the correct side of the rail. I think it is now impossible for me to screw this up again.

hmm.....

Got the banding at the top done all the way around. When I did a sneak peek preview, the bandings were not visible with the top on. There is a one inch overhang of the top past the outside edges of the legs.

bottom shelf

The new bland bottom shelf. I had thought of sizing the bottom shelf so that it extended to outside faces of the legs. Switched lanes and decided on this - the shelf in between the inside edges of the legs. However, I think I made it too tight R/L. I don't have to worry about expansion/contraction this way but I didn't like how tight it was.

hmm......

I think this will look more balanced if there is a slight gap on the ends.

another look

I don't think this looks out of place. The important point is that my me-steak table top clips are covered and hidden. When I chopped the mortises on the correct face I ended up with through mortises. I had chopped them (both sides) about a 1/2" deep and the rail is only 3/4" thick.

hmm.....

My normal glue up would have been two boards of equal width. That would have put the glue joint right on the screw in the bearer. With unequal width boards, the screw wouldn't be on the glue joint line. I am hoping that the shelf will only need one screw on each end to secure it. With one screw I don't have to worry about expansion/extraction.

clearances

There is a 16th of a gap on both ends and a 1/4" on each side of the shelf at the legs. The 1/4" clearance should be sufficient for the shelf to expand and contract. The 16th gap on the ends gives a shadow line.

low angle jack

Giving this a try - planing the end grain to see how smooth it comes out. Did this to avoid having to have to sand them from 100 to 220 grit.

the last bookshelf

I had glue a blowout on the top so I started back on the bookshelf. Checking the ends for twist before planing them down to thickness.

done

I had sawn off the waste fairly close to the knife lines. I didn't have to make a lot of runs with either plane before the the knife lines disappeared.

three times

This chip threw a big hissy fit. The planing on the end grain kind of worked but I still had to sand it. The chip was blown out with a sanding stick. The first two times I glued it, it came off when I pulled the tape off. The third time was the charm for me.

2 coats

I routed a chamfer on the top and shelf, smoothed both with the #3, and followed it up with the RO sander up to 180 grit. I will get the 3rd coat on the bottom of the shelf and top after dinner.

This is almost at the finish line. My tabletop clips are scheduled to arrive on monday but I don't need them to attach the top. The 4 that will be missing I can install after they come. I should be done with this by sunday at the latest.

accidental woodworker

first one

This looks a lot neater than the first six. For whatever reason, I thought you couldn't chisel the outline a 1/8" wide mortise (too narrow?). I was wrong and this looks almost as good as the routed mortises.

done

These will probably never be seen again but at least I know how well they looked.

yikes

My 18" Starrett holder gave up the ghost. I pulled it out and the pine doo hickeys broke off. Made a pit stop to repair it because it is something I use every time I'm in the shop.

long rails

This glue up went off without a hiccup. I let this cook for a few hours. I wasn't having any issues with the lung biopsy, but I still took it easy today. No pain, soreness, or shortness of breath, still working but at a more leisurely place. 

sigh

I'm beginning to see a pattern here. I chopped these 3 table clip mortises on the wrong side. I hadn't checked before I chopped them that I was on the right face. I have made a rash of avoidable me-steaks on Miles's desk and now on this small table. Note to self - take your head out of your ass and look and verify before jumping.

the fix

There is no way to 'fix' this screw up quick and easy. The first thought in the brain bucket was to fill them in with shims. That didn't appeal to me because this is a show face and the filled in mortises would be visible.

Union #3

Gave up on getting this plane to make RML shavings. All I could do was to get shavings to spit out on the left side. The problem is the left side flat frog seat. It is chowdered up for about halt of it and it is lower than the right one. 

I thought of trying shims to raise it up but that would be a PITA. The sensible fix IMO is to braze/weld up the left seat and then mill all three seats parallel/flat to the sole of the plane. For a plane that I paid $25(?) for, a repair like that isn't warranted. I'll put it back together and put it on a shelf to collect dust.

sneak peek

The bottom shelf is history. I am giving this to daughter #2 and she doesn't share my love for grain (she didn't like the pic I sent her). I will reuse this top on a miniature chest. I've wanted to make one out of cherry for a long time. Which means that I'll have to make a new bottom shelf.

new bottom shelf

I used my Stanley doweling jig to put in three dowels to help with the glue up. Didn't have to, but I'm experimenting and getting used to using it. Killed the lights here and let the shelf stay and cook overnight.

accidental woodworker

The lung biopsy today at the West Roxbury VA went well. No hiccups and after almost 6 hours in the PACU, I was allowed to go home. I had instructions to not operate any equipment nor engage in any stressful activity. Tomorrow I am cleared to resume my normal ADLs  (activities of daily living). Which for me means I can work in the shop.

No results on the tissue they took from lung though. All I now for sure is that  the lab said the tissue was ok to analyze. I'm hoping that they have something for me in a few days.

Before I left for the Providence VA at oh dark thirty five, I sprayed one coat of shellac on the end panel slats. After that I looked around the shop for a few and killed the lights. Headed out to catch the shuttle to West Roxbury.

back home and hmm.....

It can't be all that stressful to remove the clamps from the bottom shelf.

side by side

The top (right) and bottom (left) can't be confused with being from the same tree. I'm going with this side for the bottom shelf too. I like it too much and I believe it adds a lot of visual interest to the table. 

the other side comparison

These two are very similar in graining but not so much in color. However, once shellac is on it that should blend and agree more. Moot point as it will be facing the floor.

before I hit the rack

I got three more coats on this before I went to bed. Spraying the slats beats the snot of brushing them. No matter how careful I am, I always have drips and runs to deal with. 

I had to scrape one slat because it had 2 glue drops that I missed seeing on the first two coats but caught on the 3rd one. Shellac will stick to the glue but it will not hide it.

hmm......

After seeing (and liking) how the mortises for the table top clips looked like off the router I am trying something different with the make up mortises for the end panels. I knifed them all the way around. They should come out a lot cleaner looking then the first errant ones I chopped.

I would have chopped them after dinner but I declined. The doc said to take it easy and I didn't want to push the issue. I can whack these out in the AM lickety split.

accidental woodworker