Accidental Woodworker

 

hmm......

Not sure if this is the correct way to handle a hammer head but it is the way I'm doing it. Slowly working down the head  until it will fit fully in the eye.

yikes

I was sharpening this draw knife by clamping the handle in the vise. I don't think I applied a ton of pressure but the handle said No Mas. The breaks were all clean and I had no problems getting the handle back to its original shape dry.

glued and cooking

I could have made another handle but I couldn't have made one like this. I don't have a lathe and this handle fits my hand perfectly. I'll let this cook for a few hours. The wood is dried out and I think that is why it split/cracked in the vise.

the before and after

The plan is to make the one on the left side to look kinda like the one on the right. I started by eyeballing the two to gauge how much wood to remove.

not yet

Gave up on the draw shaves. This piece of hickory is like working stone with a butter knife. Used flat and round bottom spokeshaves, two block planes, and couple of chisels. I was going slow doing frequent checks to gauge my progress.

big piece of hickory

The slow way seems to be working. None of the tools I was using were taking big shavings, but they were easier to operate over the draw knives. I was almost there - the hammer head would have gone on with a bit of gentle persuasion.

getting there

The hammer head is only around a 1/4" into the hammer head with about an inch to go.

my gauge marks

Used the ridge marks all the way around to gauge the next round of wood removal.

hmm.....

Thought I was going out into left field here. The eye is bigger than the handle. I thought initially I was going for a tight fit. 

almost done

Not happy with the gaps but I've seen about the same in the YouTube vids I watched. Once the wedges are inserted it should flare out the handle tight to the eye walls.

Yikes

I had the handle fully inserted into the eye. I wanted to remove it so I could clean up the fuzzy stuff before wedging it. I also wanted to separate it so I could finish shaping the handle. Ain't happening today boys and girls.

store bought handle

Decided to put the store bought handle on the hammer head. This hammer is for the grandson's toolbox.

took some work

The handle was too thick and I had to thin that before it fit. Not sure what to make of the gaps. The R/L is worse then the top/bottom. But this is the handle recommended for this size eye.

wedged

The handle came with a wooden wedge and two much smaller metal ones. No gaps at all and the wooden closed up almost all of them. The two metal ones were inserted at 90 degrees to the wooden one. The addition of those two closed up the remaining gaps. The head felt solid and secure.

hmm......

The handle feels off. It is too long for the size of the hammer head IMO. Overall I don't like the look of it. It feels off in the hand too.

still square

I bought this precision square back when I was going nutso rehabbing planes and old tools. The accuracy is way beyond anything needed for tool rehab but in for a penny, in for a pound. I made these wooden squares before Chris S at LAP did is big wooden square.

2nd one is still square too

I don't like using wooden squares and I prefer to use metal. Both of these wooden squares are displayed on my cabinet doors behind the workbench.

done

Scraped and sanded the handle smooth so I could eyeball the glue lines. All of the were tight with no gaps.

the sibling handle

It didn't like unbalance having one with a finish and the other sanded smooth. I'll buy a can of Boiled Linseed oil tod refinish the two.

Don't know if I want to make a hammer handle again. I don't like the store bought one at all. If I do I'll remove that handle and replace it with? 

This one was going ok until the handle broke while trying to remove the head.  I think now that the reason my other handle attempts failed was because I used softwoods. Although this handle is plain, there are curves and dips that are hard to execute in soft wood and especially so when there are knots and squirrely grain.

The Ubuntu OS is working fine. I am pretty much over the learning hump with a few more tidbits to figure out. But they don't interfere with surfing or posting my blog. The computer is so much faster. I expected a speed jump but it is a significant jump. Can't wait to see how the shop computer turns out.

accidental woodworker

toast

Before I pissed away calories and time again, I brought this to a computer shop to have them check it out. They said the boot loader was corrupt and that was why my installs were going south on me. He also told me that Linux Mint was buggy and I can agree with that. Nice display, easy to use, but it threw curve balls now and then at me. He recommended using Ubuntu. Said it was stable and support goes out to 2034.

current set up

Bit the bullet and I am having the computer shop blow in the latest Ubuntu version. Until then this is my computer setup. Small screen size of the laptop sucked. The keyboard is a PITA to use because several keys stick. Fingers crossed that I won't have to endure this torture for long.

no balls, no blue chips

I've had this handle to replace for over a year. I tried to make it a couple of times before and they were disasters (on scrap). Totally unrecognizable as a hammer handle. I've been watching a lot of tool handle vids on YouTube and I'm ready to jump into this again with both feet.

I got this piece of wood from a reader of my keyboard diarrhea and it is time to pony up. I don't know why I'm hesitating on this. I've always been a jump and do and let the chips fall where they may kind of a guy. Been cautious and slow because I don't want to waste the gift I was given.  

ouch

I forget what type of wood this is (hickory or beech?) and it is hard and difficult to shave wood off. I've had these draw shaves for over 25 years and this is the first real use of them.

sharp cures all

I vaguely remember 'sharpening' these with a file. Of course back then I was clueless on how to do it. I'm pretty sure I read it in a book (pre YouTube) on how to do it. This time I'm going to use my old diamond stones.

yikes

The business edge looks like crappola. I have no idea what caused the striations along the whole edge. I only did a cursory sharpening before I checked it on the handle. Big improvement. Still difficult to make shavings, but they were coming. Found that a smaller bite made the going much better.

4 hours later

I was surprised when the shop called me saying it was done. It is going to take some doing to get familiar with it. The biggest reason I went with this was Terminal supposedly works better in Ubuntu vice Linux Mint.

I will attest to that bearing fruit. I used the terminal to remove the admin user the shop had inputted to load the OS. I had tried this in Mint and got nowhere. Most of the terminal commands weren't recognized in Mint .

I brought the shop computer in to have them load Ubuntu on it too. They called me 30 minutes after I dropped it off to tell me the hard drive was toast. He said multiple sectors were corrupt. Understandable as the hard drive was probably used on the ark. I'll have to buy another SSD  hard drive and drop it off. 

Never got back to sharpening the draw knives. I'll pick that back up in the AM. Spent most the PM playing with the new OS. It will be a learning curve familiarizing myself how to work with this - trying to find and use 'settings' is a wee bit different now. But I'm good at '.....what does this button do....."

accidental woodworker 

 

started with this one

I got the Linux operating system (OS) on my shop computer with no headaches.  This OS blew in a lot cleaner and quicker then the last Linux OS I did. I got Fire Fox set up and signed into my google account with no hiccups. All was looking golden in Ralphie's workshop.

hmm.....

Made a left turn to play with the Stanley #59 doweling jig. I was clueless as to what this doo dad was. Labeled 3/16 -1/2 at the bottom.

test

Dug these 3 out of the shitcan for doweling them together. Laid out my marks and drilled some holes.

happy face

Glued the 3 up with no problems. The joints lines aren't dead flush but well within 1 frog hair. On top is a comparison look between the Stanley and the Dowel Max. I don't have a lot of time on the pond with either one but I can see where one would be easier to use then and other one.

it had instructions

Their were two instruction sheets in the box. The one on top of this one was for the dowel making jig. It is a depth stop - goes from 3/16 to 1/2 inch.

it was working

I updated the OS with all the updates and restarted the computer with no problems or hiccups. Surfed the internet and YouTube for a while and shut it down.

ditto

I went to Best Buy and bought a SSD Hard Drive. OS loaded as quick and easy as the shop computer. Did the same dance steps on this one too. Happy face on.

came yesterday night

I cost almost as much to ship as the lime. S/H and the tax were more than the lime itself. I decided to eat the extra cost to get clean Hydrated Lime. This 5 lb pail should last me a bazillion years.

booting up for the first time

Good feeling that none of the crappola I endured yesterday shook hands with me today.

my home page

This was the last thing I played/checked before bringing it upstairs. 

toast

Shop computer wouldn't boot up at all. Got nothing but nonsensical garbage. I don't understand what is wrong. It seems the longer the computer is off, the less the chance it will boot up.

back to the laptop

I left the computer on and made a run to the grocery store. When I got back I had to sign in because I forgot to remove the screen activity time out. The computer wouldn't recognize my password. Kept telling me it was incorrect. So I shut it off and rebooted it. This is what the screen said hello to me with. I couldn't get it past this screen. It is frozen and won't go past the initial boot up.

Earlier I had two functioning Linux computers and a few hours later I two heavy paper weights. I'm ready to go find my 3lb sledge and do some gentle persuasion with these )(*^&%(@&)_*%!%K!  computers.

The only bright spot in the day, other than the initial success loading the Linux OS, was the Stanley #59 doweling jig.

I'm convinced

Cleaned the test piece  with the #3. Big smile on the face. I remember watching my neighbor 40-50 years ago using a doweling jig. Don't know if it was Stanley but he used it to edge joint boards. The jig looked easy to use and I can see myself using it for a long edge glue up for alignment. Especially so if one or both boards is not straight. 

accidental woodworker 

 Today was one of those days where I felt like I walking through liquid fecal matter up to my armpits. Every thing I tried to do immediately went south on a bullet train. There were a few times where I had evidence of things going right only to hear laughter as the light went out. I'll attack this again in the AM and I don't plan on taking prisoners.

wristwatch size

The time keeping movement is a lot smaller than what I expected. I gave up on this and shit canned it. I let it go for over two days and nada. The hands didn't budge a frog hair. 

hmm.....

Yesterday I thought this was pendulum movement and I had lost the arm. It ain't so boys and girls, this is/was a non pendulum movement.

missed it

The pendulum movement arm has a magnet and the copper coil - those two are what keep the pendulum arm swinging right and left.

Spent the morning playing and failing with the movement that keeps time and Bim Bams.  However, it isn't Bim Baming correctly. It is singing 4-5 minutes before the hour. I played with moving the hands and nada. Came close a  couple of times but no cigar. After beating myself up with it for over an hour I said NO MAS.

another rabbit hole

My USB stick with the latest Linux Mint OS came two days early. This OS install made me feel like my IQ had dropped down into triple negative numbers. I couldn't get the computer to boot into the Linux OS. I went in and out of the settings so many times it was ridiculous trying different combinations. I tried to install it 7 times and 7 times I failed.

I had changed something in the RAID settings that the computer didn't like. The computer wouldn't even boot up into the start screen. I couldn't get into the settings to change it neither. I cleared this headache by pulling the BIOS battery.

In the end I think I have a problem with the hard drive. One recurring error was that it couldn't find something, it was missing. I couldn't feel any movement in it and I couldn't find in the settings. Not 100% sure of that and I'm kind of rusty with this. New Solid State drives are only $40 or so. If I change this it will be the last thing I try with computer. I have dumped enough $$$ trying to revive it.

dark as I feel

I looked and I think this computer will accept legacy IDE hard drives. I'll think about that over night.

the bright spot

I got Linux installed on the shop computer. Got the network connected and it was looking like people were dancing in the streets of Mudville. That didn't last long.

I messed up jumping ahead of myself and crashed the install. I tried to reboot it but I got a scrolling line of numbers. I was beyond frustrated at this point. The urge to give both of these computers free flying lessons was making my toes tingle. Killed the lights here and I'll attack this one in the AM too.

before I left

This is a Stanley doweling jig and it was on the table with the shop computer. Forgot I had it. To calm myself I made a bunch of holes. This is a slick and well designed doweling jig. I assumed that it was crude and not worth the calorie count to use. I was wrong, so very wrong. 

The vertical scale on the right is for the center of the dowel hole. The short scale on the left is for the size bushing. You align the bushing size with the measurement on the right scale. Changed my mind an opinion of this. I will definitely be considering using this in future projects. The one bright spot in a overall dismal day.

accidental woodworker

 I had my follow up CT scan. It was over and done with in less then 3 minutes. Remarkable technology done with magnets. I don't know when I'll get the results. The doc will review that and the pulmonary function test I did last week. Can't really say how I feel about it. It could be good news, no cancer, or bad news. Either way I'm not going to obsess about it until the doc tells me the results.

happy face on

The router powered on and off with no hiccups. Turned it back on and cycled it up/down with the variable speed dial. Still haven't checked on the handles - I get the heebie jeebies every time I think of doing that.

it is all good

Sometimes memory changes can be a hassle to straighten out. The 12G I replaced had 3 different makers which isn't a good idea IMO. All 24G I installed is from the same maker and all are the same amount. Just need to get the latest Linux on the USB drive. Checked that and it is supposed to be here on monday. 

set for 1000

The minute hand is 30 minutes off but the Bim Bam sounded off on 1 thru 12 and then 1 to 10. I'll be using this movement for the clock project.

hmm.......

Haven't figured out where to place the speaker in the clock case. There isn't a lot of wire and that will limit my choices. It doesn't sound muffled at all laying against the 1/4" plywood. It might though up against 5/8" thick solid cherry. 

feels solid now

This movement is for a 3/8" thick dial board and I plan on using 1/4" plywood. With a 1/8" thick plywood spacer along with a rubber washer, the movement is tight and secure now.

cleaning up the wood species frame

Still wavering on completing this or sticking it in the boneyard. While deciding that fate I cleaned up the back frame which is butt jointed. No reason to go nutso on it . Flushed the four corners and checked them for square. Not necessary but I had nothing else on the hit parade to occupy my time.

planing all front facing surfaces

Paint lays down better on smooth surface. I will go over the entire frame with water to raise the grain before I slap any milk paint on it. 

worth it

None of this will be visible if this is hung on a vertical surface. I did it mostly for the practice. I checked and corrected as I planed the edges square.

how?

I was getting ready to put this aside because I thought I was done with it. Clueless as to how this chip/blowout happened. There is also one on the diagonal corner to this. Super glue and blue tape fixed it. Before I planed it I had scraped all the glue squeeze out off, inside and outside with a carbide scraper.

hmm.....

Giving it a try but it ain't working. The far edge looks kinda ok but the front edge is torn out. That aside it still didn't look like a 1/4" round over.

hmm......

None of the four round overs seem to work nicely. I couldn't get the same shavings pushing and pulling the tool. Since sharp solves a lot of headaches I sharpened the four of them with the supplied sharpening doo  dad with 320 and 500 grit sandpaper.

not much help

These still weren't working that good. The shavings were a wee bit better and easier to make but they didn't feel reasonably sharper in use.

much better

Nice shavings and they were about the same pushing and pulling. I used ceramic hones and slip stones to sharpen them this time. In spite of the better shavings, the round over still looked lopsided. There is no way I could use these to make a round over for the moldings on the wood species poster frame.

hmm.....

The larger round overs (3/16" &  1/4") were larger enough for the ceramic hones and slip stones. The two smaller ones (1/16" & 1/8") were too small for the ceramic hones and slip stones. I made some small dowels to wrap sandpaper around that worked.

I didn't have a warm and fuzzy about sharpening these. Do you sharpen/hone both sides of each size? What I did was to lightly rub the flat side (bottom part in the pic) with 400 grit to knock back the burr. I used from 240 to 500 grit on the other face that makes the shavings (far top of the pic).

Another thought occurred to me while I sharpened these - will repeated sharpenings enlarge the profile hole? The four round overs are 1/16", 1/8", 3/16", and 1/4".

ready for paint

My hydrated lime for making milk paint is coming tomorrow. I've been reading my book on making milk paint reviewing the recipe and I'm ready to try it. Blue for the miniature chest and black for this picture frame.

accidental woodworker

I had an appointment at the VA this AM and I have another one tomorrow in the AM. I had asked while I was at the VA if I could get tomorrow's MRI done today but there were no cancellations. In the PM I had to take my wife for her last colonoscopy. Because she will be older than 75 for her next one, she (me too) won't have endure the day before prep. Needless to say not much shop time neither today. 

came last night

Finally got all my slots filled with 21 gauge pin nails. I've had this nailer for several years and I've found that 5/8" nails are used the most followed by 3/4". Came last night and opening the containers was a (@^%)Q_)@#^%&)_)@*%*_ PITA. It took me several minutes to separate the two halves. On the bright side at least I had the strength to do that.

still good and square

The corners were surprisingly pretty much flush. Thinking of painting this frame with black milk paint.

day late

The current memory in my desktop is 12G and I bought 24G to replace it. When I saw the cost of the 4G sticks I didn't hesitate to pull the trigger. Back when I did computer repair etc, a stick of memory (name brand) was about 70-80 dollars a stick. Generic sticks were roughly half what name brand was.

last one

Three sides glued, nailed, and clamped. Last one going in before lunch and then off to take my wife to her medical appointment.

big happy face on

The movement spat on the Bam Bim for the 3rd hour. The time is working even though it isn't correct. It is keeping the correct 'time' when compared to my shop clock.

hmm......

Booted up the computer and it recognized that the memory had been changed. Ran a quick diagnostic on the memory. That was enough to imprint the memory into the BIOS. More importantly the computer recognized and tested all 24G without any hiccups. 

first memory test

The CPU on this computer has 4 cores and although it is over 15 years old, it is more than adequate for my needs. I like to run both memory tests as I have had pass on the first test and hiccups/errors on the 2nd one. This test reads/writes/reads all 24G into memory on all four cores.

2nd memory test

The first test takes less than 10 minutes while the second can take well over an hour. I let this run while I my wife to her appointment.

done

At least the woodworking is almost done. I still have to make and apply the beading moldings to the inside and outside edges. Teetering on the edge about whether or not to complete this. Is it worth the expense to have Maria do her thing on the frame? I do have one spot in the boneyard where I could hang it.

look what I found

I forgot that I had this. I bought this 20 years ago(?) and used it mostly to cope and stick rails and stiles. Just eyeballed it and didn't try to turn it on to see if it would power on.

1/4" collet

Lucky again that I found this box that had some accessories for the router in it. There is a 3/8" collet for this too but I have yet to come across a 3/8" shank router bit.

hmm......

These are where the handles go and they are MIA. They weren't in the accessories box. I doubt that after all these years that I'll find them anywhere in the shop. A quick look see on the part websites weren't encouraging. Three of them said to call for availability and pricing. That usually means I'll have to take out a second mortgage to buy them. By the way the screw that secures them is no longer available on any of the sites. 

accidental woodworker 

will it keep time?

I'm taking the clock movement hiccups one step at a time. Set the clock up to see if it will keep time. Yesterday I hadn't done that, I was just listening for the Bim Bam.

nada

It has been 20 minutes and the hands haven't moved. I don't have a warm and fuzzy with this movement.

movement #2

This one appears to be keeping time. I saw movement in the hands in less than 5 minutes.

hmm.......

Been about a half hour and the clock seems to agree. I left this as is to keep on trucking. After a couple of hours the time was working but no Bim Bam at all.

this is odd

There is no way to connect a battery on this side of the movement. But it shouldn't be necessary. The two C cells on the right drive the speaker and one AA battery is sufficient to run the time.

hmm......

The pendulum swinging arm is MIA. Couldn't find it anywhere in the shop. Noticed that the back of the movement case is not fully seated. Problem solved? No. A gear was rattling around in the case that I put back. 20 minutes later, still no movement in the hands and nothing out of the speaker.

picture frame time

Ripped the stiles and rails to a rough width. Make one edge flat and straight. After the other three were done, I ripped them to the final width.

one dry fitted picture frame

I doweled the frame together - 3 dowels at each corner. The frame is square with the diagonals less than a 16th off.

dry clamped and still square

I couldn't get a tape measure in diagonally because the clamps were in the way. This is my largest pinch rod and I only had 4 frog hairs left to extend. As an aside the diagonal is 47 5/16".

sigh

I was being careful but I was not double triple checking myself. Filled in the errant holes and I had to redrill one hole on the other three.

double triple checking it

The inside dimensions are 2" more than the size of the poster. I didn't fully think this all the way through. Eyeballing the size of the frame I can see I don't have a chance in hell of hanging this anywhere in the shop or the house. 

back frame stock

I got all the back frame stock out of the extra stiles and rails I ripped out. I had four extras that decided to perform stupid wood tricks. Fingers crossed that I'll be able use them. They are thin and I should be able to position/secure them as needed.

glued and cooking

Still square when checked with a square and the diagonals were dead on.

nope

I'm not happy with how this is coming out. Getting lots of tear out and the beading planes are constantly jamming. And this still isn't done. I still have to rip/plane them to the final width.

I broke down and bought a small portable router table top. My trim router should fit the predrilled plate. I have a 1/4" beading router bit to use. I looked on line for a smaller beading bit but I couldn't find one. 

accidental woodworker 

 I strolled today for the first time in weeks. When I got sick I started filling the pie hole non stop. I wasn't walking and I think from when I got sick till today, I walked maybe twice? Paying the price now as I have piled on 42 pounds. T shirts are getting tighter along with my jeans and pants. Went back on the diet wagon monday and it is tough to do. Especially after eating whatever and as much as I could. After the eye opening cost of pants/jeans I bought at LL Bean, I can't afford to get a new wardrobe.

not impressed

These are a lot smaller but they feel flimsy. The bars are thick but the tabs that get the screws are thin and bend when a gentle breeze blows over them. I didn't have a warm and fuzzy with these.

new frame coming

I'll squeeze this in while I make the clock.

hmm.....

I had enough numbers for a clock. Thinking of using these on the upcoming clock build.

clock face templates

Made these two several years ago. They are a great help with positioning the numbers.

setting the iffy lid stays

First step is to attach the hinges.

nope

Played with the lid stay on the workbench and I thought I had figured it out. This is as far as the lid will close. All I got from this was three more holes to fill in.

this sucks

The stays came with no instructions or templates. This didn't come out the way I thought it would. Nor did it come out the same way I had played with it on the workbench.

poorly made

I had to flatten one of the tabs that bent when I screwed it to the lid. After I took it off I tried to turn the same tab and it popped off. All the hinge points and the tabs are peened in place. I easily pulled the hinge bars apart along with the other tab. These are garbage. I saved the bars and tossed the tabs into the shitcan.

shoulda, woulda, coulda, but didn't

I should have gone with a chain stay from the git go. I had a chain snap on me when I lost control of the lid and it fell back. It works and fingers crossed it will stand the test of time.

sigh....

I filled in the wrong holes These two are for the hinges, not the (@%)*)@%*_*@)*%$ lid stay. 

hmm.....

Thinking of making the clock from cherry. This is the cherry I had in my scraps stash. I think I can build the clock I want without having to glue up anything.

a test

I had one rough sawn board that I flattened one face and squared an edge to it. I was curious to see if this would be too strenuous for me to do. It wasn't. I didn't feel fatigued nor do I get winded. After seeing the grain pattern I am thinking of using this board for the sides.

Most of the cherry is 7/8 thick or a few frog hairs thicker then that. For the clock I'm thinking of doing, this is too thick. I'm leaning in the direction of 5/8" or a wee bit less than that. 

1/2" thick cherry

 I forgot I had this and after eyeballing it, I think it is too thin. 3/4 looks too thick so 5/8" thick stock is ringing the bell for me.

test time

This is a quick jig so I can figure out the pendulum swing.

got it

The swing is about 5 1/2 to 6 inches right to left. I need this in order to set the inside width of the clock case.

The movement is not a bim bam, it plays two different tunes. Both count out the hours after playing the music. However, I could barely hear either tune even with my hearing aids turned up. There is no way anyone could hear the music or the hour count once it is in a clock case.

hmm.....

Something is amiss in Disneyland. I couldn't get either one of these two movements to spit anything out of the speaker. Both will play music or do bim bam. Neither one of them seemed to want to play nice. I let them go for an hour and heard nada. I had a wicked headache here and I killed the lights. I'll play some more with this in the AM.

accidental woodworker 

 The plan in the AM was to start a new project. That didn't last long as I jumped down the computer rabbet hole head first with a jet pack assist. Spent most of the day running around with my head up my arse. I needed a DVi double male monitor connector and nada. I went to Wally World where they didn't have any legacy monitor cables. From there I went to Staples which had what I wanted but I would have to order it on line.

 Made a detour to the local LL Bean store to exchange a xmas gift. Unfortunately LL Bean had liquidated the present and it was no longer available. I got a gift card and bought a pair of jeans and chinos. I can't believe the prices for the pants - both cost $69 and change.

I bit the bullet after dinner and headed out to Best Buy which is on Rte 2. At least it wasn't a parking lot but I caught every _)@*&)#&%_)Q@*)% red light going there and coming home. Best Buy followed Staples - they had the cable but I would have to order it online.

nonsensical work

This top edge had a rabbet that I planed off with the scrub plane. I then squared it off with the 5 1/2. Why? Because I wanted to do something that didn't matter and make a pile of shavings. 

new project

It is going to be a clock. I can't remember what this clock movement speaker spits out. Knowing me it is most likely a bim bam counting out the hours. It doesn't matter because next to boxes, I like making clocks. It has been a long time since I've made one.

starting from square one

The tech at the computer store said he couldn't clone my drive. The pins were too iffy so I'll be starting from ground zero with a fresh OS install. Hoping that Firefox saved my bookmarks but I doubt it. I'm not lucky that way. This is where the saga with the DVi cable commenced.

considered a legacy connector

I had some monitor cables and surprisingly enough, my wife had more than I did. The downside was none of them worked. We didn't have any DVi cables with a double DVi connector. The connector to the left I thought was a HDMI connector but none my HDMI connectors would fit. And I  had a DVi to HDMI cable too.

I should have been slapped upside my head. I forgot that the desktop computer upstairs had a double DVi cable. Duh. The laptop connector to the upstairs monitor is HDMI to HDMI, there is no DVi connector on the laptop.

hmm......

 The monitor kept saying there was a fan failure. The fan failure was the bird cage one which cools the memory sticks. The failure was being caused by the power cable. Routed the cable so that is wasn't in the way of the fan blade rotation. After that the fan failure messages disappeared.

ran diagnostics

This was a good sign. I wanted to make sure I hadn't broke something with all the work I did installing/removing the fans and the hard drives.

don't have a warm and fuzzy

This is a Linux OS USB installer stick. I played around with trying to get the the OS installed and nada. I kept seeing error messages while installing it. Once I did get it installed in compatibility mode it froze. I had problems with this installer with the shop computer.

it passed

I ran the memory test from the USB stick which is more comprehensive than the memory test on the computer diagnostics. It passed with flying colors. I bought another USB installer from ETSY with the latest Linux mint version. I should have it either saturday or monday. 

I'll get back to the regularly scheduled channel of woodworking in the AM.

accidental woodworker 

 Finally got the bookcase done and it is going to daughter #2 later on this month. Until then I'll have to find a hole for it in shop or the boneyard. I also need to point out that this wasn't the last project for 2025. It was the 2nd to last one but either way it is done and oohs and aahs were long and satisfying.

ready to hang

Waxed both doors and buffed them. Cleaned the glass of shellac by scraping them with a razor blade followed up by glass cleaner.

essential

This is what is called a radio man ratchet screwdriver. It is incredibly awkward trying to hold the door in place and start screwing in the screws with a hand screwdriver. This ratchet screwdriver is light and the perfect size for initially driving the screw home. Made hanging the doors a wee bit easier. The only headache I had with it was it like to roll away right onto the deck

helping hand

Sawed a shallow rabbet in a scrap of pine. I will use it hold the door latch at the proper height.

the latch

I don't remember how I installed this the last time but makes sense to me. This way the latch stays square and in place while I mark for the screws.

glad I did

I didn't wan to make any errant holes in the door so I decided to first do it on a scrap of pine. It would have been too low if I hadn't tried it this way first.

done

I had looked at this with the two parts reversed and it took up about the same amount of real estate. The part that is attached to the door rolls up over the part on the shelf and drops down and locks the door.

not perfect but....

Still having nightmares about this left door. However, the right door closes up against without it having a a door latch.

first glamour pic

I'm calling this done but it still needs a latch/catch for the right hand door. The doesn't lay flat on the left door. At this point I decided a putting in a magnetic catch. I got one from my neighborhood ACE hardware.

glamour pic #2

If I make another one of these it will be wider. That is the only quibble I have with this. 

glamour pic #3

This is a big project that is going to eat up a lot of shop real estate until it goes bye bye.

side/back glamour pic

Next to cherry, pine is my favorite wood. I just wish it was a wee bit harder to take the dings from building it.

it's possible

Glamour pic #4 of the back isn't horrible. It could be shown as is. The only defect is the top left edge of the panel. It is chipped and torn out a bit.

 

hmm.......

I think I have enough width on the top door stop to mount the magnetic catch.

less than $2

This surprised coming from ACE. I find most of their offerings to be a wee bit high. But they are convenient being down the street from me. And it came with screws.

fans came

I forgot about these coming today. 

catch installed

The magnetic pull on this catch was higher then I expected it to be. I had to balance closing the top close to being able to open the door one handed. I pulled with for few and closed the gap some more.

done

New fans in and tested. A whole lot quieter - I could hear the old ones but not the new ones. The new fans turned silky smooth. Monday I'll try to find a computer shop to clone my drive. If I can't I'll install Linux Mint on the new SATA drive and start over again.

accidental woodworker 

came last night

All three came at the same time even though Amazon said two were coming on the 5th. I might buy another blue pigment, this one has shiny things in it. I want a flat blue color. I'll have to think on it for a while.

how to waste hours

We had an Epson ink jet as the main printer but it went south. After days of paper jams and ink jet headaches I tossed it. I bought this Canon 6030w because it supposedly is Linux ready. That ain't so boys and girls. The drivers supplied didn't work. I loaded and deleted them a bazillion times before I cried NO MAS.

On the Canon website, the drivers offered were garbage. They had none for this model laser printer - I loaded and tried the ones offered but none worked. After pissing away hours I gave up loading drivers. I have to add, that I needed the drivers to access the WiFi.

The printer came with a USB cable and that worked but it also gave me fits. I didn't have a free USB port on the laptop. Everyone one of them were taken for the keyboard, mouse, etc. I thought I had saved a USB hub but if I did I couldn't find where I hid it. So I ordered two of them from Amazon - insurance in case one won't work.

The printer worked with the USB cable with no problems. I use it 99% of the time to print out my sudoku and crossword puzzles. The added headache is the printer USB cable was short and I don't have anywhere to put it close to my desk (because no WiFi). Where I want to put it would require a 8 foot USB cable and I don't like using USB cables that long.

Needless to point out, the time line on the bookcase has slipped once again. I finished getting shellac on the doors before I started playing with the printer around 1000. I said NO MAS with that at 1408. Maybe tomorrow I'll ooh and aah along with letting out a long breath of relief.

why???????

I saw a half can of this on eBay for $250. I've had this can for a bazillion years. I don't use it much because the smell of it gives a headache. I'm using it to wax the door fronts - this knocks down the brush marks and smooths it out.

needs a 2nd application

About 90% of the doors got smoothed out. What didn't get smoothed sticks out too much IMO. I rubbed and shined the first coat and tomorrow I'll do a 2nd concentrating on the spots that are being a PITA.

accidental woodworker

 I think this is the last step for the bookcase before the oohs and aahs commence. I still haven't come up with an idea for latching the right hand door. I don't have a warm and fuzzy that the door will stay shut on its own. I have time to figure that out. I'll have to find someone that wants this because I don't have the room for anywhere in my house. I'm hoping that daughter #2 will say yes to adopting it.

still no lid stay

I went to ACE and my neighborhood hardware store, and neither had a small lid stay. They both had the exact same one I had that was too large. I searched Amazon for 30 minutes before I found one. It will work and I hadn't expected it to be so hard to find a small one. 

Jewelry box lid stays were too small and most of the Amazon offerings were for large, heavy lids. All I want is the lid won't flop over and rip the hinges off. And no, I didn't want to use a chain as lid stay - I have had too many of them snap off on me. IMO this lid is too large/heavy for a chain stay.

done

Back side of the doors are done. Four coats of shellac and they look good. I am glad that I planed the glazing bars flush with the muntins.

almost done

Four coats on the front but it will get at least one more. I'll get one on after dinner and decide after that if more coats are needed. Either way I'll hang the doors in the AM or PM tomorrow.
 

hmm......

Applying shellac only to the bottom as it won't be visible. The rest will be painted. The interior of the of the miniature chest will get shellac too. I applied shellac to the underside of the lid - for now. I may end up painting it but for now the plan is to go with shellac. 

This was it for today's output. I don't know what the next project for Ralphie's workshop will be. My stash from Gurney's is almost gone. I only have four 1x12 boards left. I really want to start on the desks for the grand kids. That will involve making a road trip to Highlands in New Hampshire.

accidental woodworker

 Today is a holiday. I didn't know that and I didn't know until my wife told me that. After lunch I went to ACE but it was closed. No biggie, I thought it was because it had snowed and they were closed because of that. Almost  two hours later, and after going to 3 other ACE stores that were closed, I headed back to the barn. I wanted to get a small lid stay but that will be delayed until tomorrow.

last night after dinner

Took the left door off so I could plane a tapered rabbet. I couldn't wait until the next day before I did it. Before I did the rabbet I planed the glazing bars down to the muntins.

sigh

The middle screw hole is toast. Both the top and bottom screws were pulled out by the weight of the door. I filled them in with unfinished maple golf tees.

2nd round

Missed getting a pic of the fit after the first planing run. Not all of the taper was gone - I would guess ta mate that 95% of it was. I had planed down to the layout line on the first run. On the 2nd one I planed the lines away. The 2nd fitting had to wait until the AM.  

happy face on

The 2nd planing run was the trick. I am happy with how the right door is laying up against the left one. Tiny bit of a gap at the top but I am not going to obsess about it.

hmm......

The margin I have is more than I expected. But it might be in my favor come summer time. I don't anticipate the doors to move much but this will afford some room for it.

80 grit

The bottom shelf had gotten dirty with all the times I put and took the doors off. IMO the quickest way to clean it was to sand it.

the forgotten pic

I don't understand these two doors. Both of them lay flat on each laying here on the bench. Why, how, and what is causing the left door to toe in at the bottom when it is attached to carcass.

attaching the knobs

 The centering of the knobs on each door was different. The right one is centered on 1 3/8" while the left on an 1 1/8".

hmm.....

The knobs don't look unbalanced to my eye. The astragal serves as a distraction for the eye.

more shellac work coming

Sanded both doors, inside and outside with 80 grit. A few planing defects popped out that I had missed. I sanded the edges of them smooth, feathering them out as much as I could.

sigh

One knob didn't fully seat. I noticed it when I sanded the door.  It had only been a few minutes which made it easier to remove. Sawed off the knob and drilled out the tenon. I checked to make sure the next knob fully seated dry first.

done

I hadn't checked before but the tenons on the knobs weren't the same length as the thickness of the stiles.
 

2 coats

I applied shellac on the muntins (both sides) and the inside face. Four coats on the back and then I'll flip them and put 4-5 coats on the front faces. Rehang the doors for the final time (?) and figure out a door catch/latch for the right one.

accidental woodworker

 Made progress on mopping up the bookcase today. I'm going out on a limb but I am confident that I'll be done with the bookcase this weekend. I didn't get any sleep induced ideas but this AM I finally thought of something. It wasn't what I wanted but I have too many calories expended on this already. Starting over again at square #1 or #2 is not an option.

over 14 years old

I can date this as being made before 2011 because the drawers aren't dovetailed. A painted bookcase because the wife wanted it painted. Pretty much the same theme as the current one, sans the drawers. I don't remember having any hiccups with the doors on this.

door astragal detail

I should have looked at this when I did the astragal on the bookcase in the shop. This one has a bead and the two doors are rabbeted on the latch/knob edges.

left side door

I plan on putting this catch on the current bookcase too. You can swap the two parts of this catch. The left door is held in tight to the top door stop and the right  door closes up the rabbet without any type of door closure, latch, magnet, etc.

rehung the doors again

Stood here giving it the absolute goofiest looks I could muster. That usually cracks something open in the brain bucket but not today. I took the doors off and laid them on the bench to see how the two laid up against each other.  No taper between them - the closing side was flat and straight top to bottom. (forgot to snap a pic of that).

hmm......

The right side isn't square at the bottom or the top but the left side is. I don't see any connection/cause between this and the taper between the doors. Besides I planed the left and right side doors to fit their respective openings.

right side door

I thought maybe the hinges mortises weren't aligned and that was causing the taper. However, both the stiles on the right hand door are dead nuts square with the top and bottom shelf. Scratch that off the blame list.

ta da

Problem solved. This I can understand causing the taper. It is a 1/4" off square at the bottom. It is square at the top though. Now that I know what the monkey wrench in the gears looks like, I'll have to put on my nuclear powered thinking cap and big boy pants  and figure out how to fix it.

lid stay

I thought I had a smaller one but as usual I couldn't find where I hid it. This one still had the directions with the measurements. I think these are handed - either left or right. This one is a right hand but I reversed the layout to use it on the left. I just naturally wanted to install it on the left so I did.

)(&@%)*%_)_)^_*)#)_%#

As an aside, the comment is called a gralix. The first time I installed it, it opened and closed. It was hard to open initially so I repositioned where it was secured to the lid. Now the lid won't close any further than this. Removed the lid stay and filled in all the screw holes.

sigh

This screw hole split when I plugged it. I will make a road trip to ACE and buy a smaller lid stay. I have several pairs in my stash but they are all for larger and heavier lids.

step one of the final fix

The top of the doors need a full length stop to close against. Getting a new one installed is in the on deck circle.

checking the stop

Clamped the right side of the door stop to see how the left door is laying against it. There is a 2 frog hair gap which I like.

wash, rinse, repeat on the right side

Gap disappeared at the far end of the door stop. Not sure how to address this here. Both doors line up flush on the front face where it matters. If need be I can plane a few frog hairs off there.

The door stop is installed dry, no glue, with only 3 screws. After the doors are 100% done, I will put in two more screws.

hmm......

I had to stop and think about this for a few. I wanted to ensure that I wasn't looking at this from left field. The gap at the bottom is a strong 1/4" and it peters out around 18" up.

taper layout

The bottom gap is 3/16". That will give me a 16th of wiggle room to play with. Up next is setting the rabbet plane and planing a tapered rabbet going from 3/16" at the bottom to nothing at the top.

layout

Pencil wasn't working on the shellac. I used a micro black sharpie to lay out the lines.

took a while

I don't want a wide margin between the astragal and the rabbet. I had a devil of a time setting the fence on the rabbet plane. It took 9 attempts before I got where I wanted it.

almost

With the left door hung again (the billionth time), The rabbet at the bottom is few frog hairs shy of being flush with the front edge of the bottom shelf. What I was hoping for - I have wiggle room to remove more. 

happy face on

95% of the gap is gone. This was a good time to kill the lights for the day. Tomorrow I will plane a wee bit more at the bottom and fingers crossed, I'll get 100% of the taper to disappear.

accidental woodworker

scrap

This was the original lid for the miniature chest. I ripped off the back stop and then the curved front.

yikes

There was almost 3 lines of twist according to the sticks. Step one was removing the twist on one face and making it flat and straight.

on to step two

Decided to make parallel faces. It has been a while since I have thicknessed a board, I made this one so.

done

Ended up with a board 9/16" thick. I don't need it but I'll keep it in my off cuts stash.

back to the bookcase

I will have to take off and put on the doors several more times before I can call the bookcase done. Putting the hinges back on the doors is the first step. Became aware of another potential problem - what and how will I install a door catch?

PITA upcoming

I find trying to get a screw started in the hinges awkward to say the least. Having to do it at a minimum 3-4 times sucks pond scum.

hmm.......

Both doors hung but the right one ain't cooperating. It is hitting at the bottom and tapers up and away towards the top. With the left door open, the right one will close straight.

nope

At first I thought this was hinge bound. But that wasn't causing the right door's tapered closing. If this was hinge bound, the door wouldn't close fully and it does.

hmm.......

The door is not twisted so that isn't why I have a tapered closing.

2nd check

Other than a hump on where the muntins cross, the door is flat in every plane I checked. I planed the muntins and the glazing bars flush and removed most of the hump but not all of it. The front face is flat and I don't see how this hump on back could cause the taper. Just in case, I planed what I could.

big gap

There is a slight bow in the top door stop. This end on the right side doesn't matter. It has no effect on the taper. Another dead end.

it is square

Next up on the list to check was the top front and bottom front edges were in the same plane. I checked that in a bazillion spots from left to right and right to left. A couple of spots had a some light between the straight edge and the square but nothing to cause this problem.

removing the stop

Going back to square one and that means removing the top door stop. It wasn't difficult removing it but it did leave an ugly scar. Thankfully it is at the top and the next door stop will hide it.

nope

Noticed that this top hinge was not butted up tight against the back. Fixed that and I had high hopes it was the cure but it wasn't so boys and girls.

not frustrated yet

Both doors will lay flush. The left one is few frog hairs proud on the left side stile and it toes in a strong 32nd at the center. The right one looks better than the left with it being close to flush at the top and bottom.

two hours later

I put a door stop at the bottom and nada. With the stops removed and the doors closed on each other, with no taper, I was at a lost as to what the )(&^@#Q%__)(Q^%Q+_+(+(*^%^%@) problem was.

a shaker knob

 I had bought this several years ago and never used it. The piece at a right angle to the shaft can positioned anywhere along its length. It can be turned and capture the right door to the left one. Thinking that maybe it will pull the taper to zero.

Not sure if I'll use it but I ran out of ideas for why I had the taper on the right door. I called it quits for the day here. Maybe something will light the bulb in the brain bucket overnight and tomorrow I'll fix this hiccup.

accidental woodworker 

One of the last two (miniature chest) projects is 99% done, just waiting on pigment to arrive.  The bookcase needs the doors hung, knobs installed, and some touch up shellac work to be 100%. I don't have a warm and fuzzy that I'll get either one completed before the ball falls.

 

it is twisted

I went to the shop after dinner and immediately checked the lid for twist. Sad to say but there was a lot of twist in it. I couldn't check the top face because of the stop but the underside told the story.

I was so concerned and focused on the lid being flat and straight, that it didn't occur to me to check it for twist first. Ignoring this detail has bit me on the arse before. 

it is up over an 1/8"

I couldn't see this twist eyeballing down the edges. Laid flat it jumps right out and slaps you.

shoulda, woulda, coulda, but didn't

This is the second time I glued back on a chip on the feet. After this had set up I rasped a chamfer on all four. I should have done this right after I glued and nailed it together.

new lid

Sawed off a new lid and planed a twist free reference face.

other face was twisted

I was gentle untwisting this face. My goal was to maintain as much of the thickness as I could.

done

 I didn't make the two faces parallel. My thoughts on it were this - the reference face will be down on the top of the chest. The opposite face just has to look flat and straight, which it does.

hmm......

The opposite face to the reference one - there is a teeny bit of twist but IMO it can be ignored. I left the lid stickered on top of the chest overnight.

AM work

I had an appointment at the hospital this AM. Had a pulmonary function test but I won't know the results until after my MRI on the 9th.  Back from the hospital I played with the new lid. Used the same 1/2 pattern I used the first lid and routed a 45 degree chamfer on the front and sides.

happy face

Got the lid on the chest and no rocking. I had checked the lid for twist before I started playing with it and there was still none.

rasped the feet

The shinto rasp is quicker but I don't like the surface it leaves. I prefer to use this rasp. It is a little trickier to use and you have to rasp in the direction of the grain. The surface is smoother and I find it easier to get a consistent chamfer on each foot.

back stop

New back stop. I did consider sawing off the one on the original lid but nixed it. I had too many scraps to pick from for a new one.

got lucky

I was surprised after checking the two shelves that both were twist free. All I had done to the two of them was to plane away some cupping.

hmm.....

The top had a small bit of twist to it caused my me wandering out into left field fitting the first lid. Corrected that and checked the diagonal corners with a straight edge. I don't know what this proves/checks but I had the straight edge on the bench and did it.

checking the width of the shelves

The front edge of this stop is what the inside faces of the doors will close against. 

hmm.....

 One shelf was short of this by a 16th and the other one was a 16th over.

need to be wider

 I planed the wider shelf a 16th. I had to make the notches for the shelf pins wider. As is there was gap between the back edge of the shelf and the carcass back. I thought of filling the notches in (still might do that) but for now I just made them wider.

it is flush

This was a good feeling. With the shelf width thinned, the left door is flush with the edge of the carcass.

hmm.....

I don't like the amount of movement in the shelves in/out. On the flip side the shelves are the right width and the doors close up flush.Maybe I could a partially fill in the notch to eliminate the excessive in/out movement?

slight gap

I wasn't expecting to see this. The gap on both shelves is about the same too.

sigh

Got clamp rosebuds on the top and bottom. They weren't deep and after eyeballing them, I am convinced that they were caused by the clamp pads. I don't see clamp rosebuds when I use the quick grips.

hinging the lid

I put a few dabs of super glue on the hinge. Positioned the lid and clamped the hinges for a few minutes.

not moving

I have tried this super glue trick without clamping but I didn't have much success. The hinges would pop off with the slightest amount of stress. With the clamps putting pressure on the hinge for a few minutes, no problems. I put two screws in each hinge leaf on the lid. I still have to take the lid off when I finally get around to painting it.

partial ooh and aah

The miniature chest is 99.99% done. It is sanded, all defects filled with wood putty, it just needs paint. The latest update from Amazon says it will come 3 Jan. The other two pigments are still scheduled to arrive on the 5th. Ordered all 3 from the same supplier, why the different delivery dates?

accidental woodworker 

 I came close to finishing this up today but it ain't so boys and girls. I got the glass and the glazing bars installed on the last door and then I ran into bit of a hiccup. I will have to address that show stopper before I can ooh and aah. So maybe tomorrow or tuesday for dancing in the streets of Mudville?

happy face on

This glazing bar had a big gap yesterday that I clamped shut with a couple of ghost sticks. The right side looks like there is a gap but there isn't. Happy with the fit and look of door #1.

hmm......

Me thinks I made a me-steak. I should have applied shellac to the muntins before I installed the glass and glazing bars.

the show stopper

Put the finished door in place and it doesn't fit. The top shelf is definitely too wide. The door is a 1/8" proud laid up against it. The bottom is flush but that could be because it toed in. I might have to make one or two new shelves. Sigh.

oh what a relief

The chest is still square. When I took the diagonal clamp off, the chest didn't groan or move. 

flushing the ends

When I nailed the sides on I left them a couple of frog hairs proud of the end. That way today I could plane them flush.

didn't allow for this

When I adjusted the bandsaw I did it so the front/back were flush in the notch. I planed the rough bandsawn surface smooth and got this. But this is to my advantage. Easier to flush this then deal with the front/back being proud.

sigh

I didn't predrill for the nails and paid the price. I didn't think I needed to do for this because I was nailing into sides. Went back to square one and started again with predrilled bearers.

ouch

The bearers are 3/4" thick and the ends are 3/4" thick. I used 1 1/4" finish nails but all three still stuck out to shake hands with me. Glad that I'm using milk paint on this chest.

bearers done

I clipped off about a 1/8" from each nail and none poked out.

flushed

Filed all the poking nails with a file. One of the clipped ones  poked out a few frog hairs that I filed flush too.

hmm.....

I flushed the top of this bearer with the top of the end ones. A tapered portion over hung on the bottom. Flushed what I could with the violin plane 

2" chisel

What I couldn't get with the violin plane, I got with the chisel. I could have used the chisel to do all of the flushing.

dutchman

I meant to put this facing the inside but it became a moot point when I saw I had another chip/blowout on the opposite face. I enlarged it a wee bit and glued in a dutchman. No need to match grain/color because I'm painting this.

*%&*&_)()(*_+^%@)_$+(

I love my new glue bottle but this red cap I am beginning to hate with a passion. I can't seem to keep it close when I take it off the bottle. I am forever losing it or it walks away on me. It took me 15 minutes to find it this time when I searched for it.

jig time

Made a quick jig to hold the glazing bars while I chopped notches for the glazier points.

2nd door done

Two of the long glazing bars were bowed, one on each side. In the end I got all the bars gap free and down to the glass.

sawing the dutchman

I put a thin piece of wood on the chest to guide the saw so I wouldn't dig into the chest. The portion left proud I flushed with a plane.

done

Again it didn't need to be perfect. The few gaps I will fill in with wood putty.

wee bit of twist

It was rocking pretty good. The sticks showed two lines out of whack which is a healthy amount of twist.

you can knock because it ain't rocking

It took a while but it is laying flat on the tablesaw. No rocking when pushed on any of the corners. However, the chest will not lay flat on the workbench. That is why I use the tablesaw as my reference flat surface.

bottom done

The bottom of the chest was slightly  out of square - the top wasn't. To hide the ugly looking gaps I used the last of my quarter round moldings to keep it down on the bearers. Haven't decided on how to secure them yet. Glue and pin nails or just the nails?

hmm.....

Too much overhang on the front. I am overhanging the ends a 1/2" and I want the front to be the same. The trick there is the front will be curved.

no twist

The lid was rocking and I could see that it wasn't laying flat neither. At first I thought it was the top of the chest but it is dead nuts twist free.

too short

This beam compass is almost 3 feet long but it wasn't enough. I want a shallow curve on the lid and it wasn't happening this way.

first time

I had this flexible layout doo dad for several years. This it the time I can remember using it. Making a half pattern for the front of the lid.

ripping it to final width

The front over hung the front of the chest too much IMO. Nailed a straight edge over hanging the curve so I could run it against the fence to get a parallel cut on the back edge.

hump

The lid still wasn't laying flat on the chest. Just realized as I was looking at this pic that I didn't check the board for twist. I planed the hump and it did improve the rocking some but didn't eliminate it.

hinges mortised

I don't like how these no mortise hinges lay without a mortise. Without a shallow mortise the back end is pushed up about a 1/8".  I don't like the tapered look of the lid. 

like this router a lot

It is only a 1/4" but it is cordless. The balance is good and visibility for seeing the router bit is decent. Used it to rout a 45 chamfer on the sides and front of the lid. I am putting a back stop on this chest too.

glued and cooking

I cut the height down twice on the back stop before I glued it on. I did a 1" round over on the ends and left the rest of the stop square.

hmm......

The mortises weren't flat side to side. I chiseled them even and that made the mortise a wee bit too deep. I try to have the hinges flush or a frog hair proud. With them below the top of the mortise, they become hinge bound.

got lucky

This thin sliver of wood is an off cut from ripping the lid to its final width. With this piece of veneer, the hinges were less than a frog hair proud. Once screws go in it should pull the hing down so it ends up flush.

 Had a good day in the shop and I got a lot accomplished. I have two projects that are both an inch from finish line. The bookcase wasn't the last project of 2025 and the miniature chest might not claim that honor neither. There are 3 days left in Dec 2025 and I might get to start the first project of 2026.

accidental woodworker 

done

I put two more coats on the insides of both doors. Called it done. After eyeballing the doors I noticed that the muntins need another coat or two of shellac. I will deal with that after I get the door hung. 

2nd snowfall of 2025

Got 3 inches of white fluffy snow. Before I got to the shop I shoveled the driveway and the front walk.

3 times wasn't the charm

Before I did this I had to fiddle with the bandsaw. The blade wouldn't track for some reason. Fixed that headache and adjusted the fence for the crosscut on the miniature 6 board chest.

side cutouts

Small cutout for the bottom of the sides. 

doubled them up

Rasped the cutout to the penciled lines and smoothed with 100 grit sandpaper.

glued and nailed

Attached the sides to the front/back with cut nails. I predrilled a 1/8" pilot hole for the nails and no splits. First time I have used cut nails without getting at least one split. I went 20 for 20.

needed some help

I squared this up on the inside diagonals. They were 5/16" off. I will leave the clamp on until tomorrow.

it is glass time

Dry fitted all the glazing bars again. I had to play with a couple of them because I didn't label them.

sigh

I chopped a notch for the glazier points. This one split when chopping it. Initially I glued it with yellow glue and moved on. By the time I had finished all the notches I shit canned this split one and made a new one.

2 down, 2 to go

I did the two small ones to check how the gluing would go. I used hide glue and along with the snug fit of the glazing bars, all is well in Disneyland. I don't anticipate any hiccups with the rest of them.

done

I was bit surprised by how heavy the door was with the glass installed. I put in a couple of ghost sticks because the right long glazing bar wasn't tight and gap free along its length.

glazier points

Setting the points was a bit tricky. I only used 4 per pane of glass. I managed to get them all inserted without cracking/chipping the glass or splitting any of the rabbets.

lid and hinges

I thought I would get this done today but it didn't happen boys and girls. Doing the glass took more time than I thought. I had checked the plans in the book and the bottom is nailed in. No grooves or dadoes. There is also a nailed on molding on the four lid edges. I don't think I'll be copying that detail.

hmm......

This I don't understand. I had dry fitted these a couple of days ago and I had no gaps. All the miters fitted up snug then. Made a new one and got a snug dry fit. I also had to shorten 3 glazing bars. Don't understand how 3 grew and one shrunk.

 I got the glass and glazier points installed in the 2nd door before I killed the lights. I thought I would get both doors done today but I'll have to wait until tomorrow. 

accidental woodworker 

The good words to hear while I was in the Navy coming into port was, "line one going over". That is where I am at with the bookcase project. I am hoping that I will be oohing and aahing over it tomorrow. If not then, then sunday for sure. 

day after xmas 2025

After dinner on xmas I went to the shop and got two coats of shellac on the doors, both sides.

the problem

This rabbet is what I need to stay bare wood. I will be gluing the glazing bars to this. Glue will not adhere to shellac. It will initially but it will fail in a short amount of time.

glazing bar

This edge of the glazing bar is what will hold the glass panes in the rabbets.

shoulda, woulda, coulda, but didn't

I missed getting shellac on this edge of the glazing bars. I still got four coats on them by the time I killed the lights.

hmm......

Figured out where the knobs will live. The astragal on the right door is eating up some of the real estate  where the knob should go. I can't center the knob on the right door but I can on the left one. Decided to center the left one and try to get the right one as close as possible to center without the knob eating up any of the astragal.

hmm....

I wasn't expecting these long ones to launch into stupid wood tricks. I could clamp these as I glue them but I don't think that is a good road to travel. Instead I will make 4 new ones - I have plenty of extras.

sigh

I made two and I thought I could use the other two original ones. Not so boys and girls. Two new ones at the top and bowed ones beneath them. I whacked out two more.

almost done

Both doors will be done come the AM. I have four coats on the inside and 5 on the outside. I will keep adding coats to this side until it matches the shellac build on the astragal. I am awfully close to that here but I need at least one more coat to make sure.

3 extras

I think the shellac had something to do with the long glazing bars going nutso. Before I applied any to the edges, they were all flat and straight. I had to make two more for the other door. The other two original ones are iffy. They bowed a bit and I think I can glue them but I'll have to wait on that. I have extras to make two more if needed. 

The 6 new ones I made are still flat and straight after getting 4 coats of shellac. Fingers crossed they will still be that way in the AM.

the 3rd one?

The bookcase was not the last project of 2025 and neither was the platform for the tower computer. This is the stock for a miniature six board chest. This one could be the finale for 2025.

where the idea came from

The six board chest is one of 3 projects I will be making from this book by Kerry Pierce. The 8 drawer chest to right of it is the 2nd one.

the 3rd one

I am jazzed about this project. Making a blanket chest with a drawer has been on my to do list since I watched Normie make one in season two(?) of the New Yankee Workshop.

I intend to paint the two chests with milk paint. I ordered a blue pigment for the miniature 6 board and red for the larger one with a drawer. I also ordered some black pigment - thinking of painting the miniature lid black. Maybe. Just thinking ahead.

less than an inch

I have almost emptied another can of shellac.  I almost done applying it but I think I have enough to finish the bookcase. It is just the glazing bars and how much can they soak up?

accidental woodworker 

 

 

empty

I barely had enough shellac in the empty can - what I did have I poured into the front can. Surprised that I blew through an almost full can so quickly. I'm happy with how the  shellac laid down and looks. No hiccups with  5-6 coats I have laid down so far.

before I forgot

Used this carbide scraper to clean up any glue squeeze out in the rabbets. Wash, rinse, and repeated for the other door.

almost

Got three coats on the shelves and one more to go. That one went on after lunch.

one more

The base has 9 coats and the interior has 4 right now with one more to be applied. That means the carcass will get a check mark in the done column today. 

last two

These are going to be a PITA to do. It isn't the brush work but avoiding getting shellac on the vertical walls of the rabbets. I need them to be bare so the glue has something to grab on. I have to be picky doing the glazing bars too. I will need to avoid getting shellac on the outboard edge and the miters.

accidental woodworker