Hand Tool Headlines

The Woodworking Blogs Aggregator

NOTICE

Norse Woodsmith will be going offline for possibly up to a week during the month of February to attempt a major site upgrade.  If it is successful it will return, however it may look wonky for a while while I dial it in.  If not successful, well.. then your guess is as good as mine!  Thanks in advance for your patience.

Be sure to visit the Hand Tool Headlines section - scores of my favorite woodworking blogs in one place.

Accidental Woodworker

Subscribe to Accidental Woodworker feed
The daily dribble from my workshopRalph Boumenothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10606484453109932074noreply@blogger.comBlogger5376125
Updated: 21 hours 48 sec ago

prepping stock......

Wed, 02/12/2025 - 3:30am

 Haven't gone on a post lunch stroll yet. The snow is still piled up on the sidewalks every where. That means I will have to walk in the road which I don't like doing. The roads are not their full width due to snow piles and I don't trust the drivers to pass me. Especially so when there are two cars coming from opposite directions. I don't think the snow will be melting much due to the cold temps forecasted neither.

$28.09

This is the haul from Koszela lumber. The two boards on the left are 1" thick, 8 inches wide, and each one is 5 feet long. I was flabbergasted with the price - these two alone I figured would be $10-15 each. I think I have enough stock for the dresser now.

 slow going

I am not planing these to thickness yet. Instead I am establishing a reference edge and face. I will let these sticker and I'll thickness all of it maybe tomorrow.

 sides

I will have to glue the sides up to get the width I want - 11-12 inches. I will leave the sides as thick as I can. I am still thinking about the thickness of the top which I will have to glue up also.

I stopped planing the stock for the drawers and bearers to get the sides glued up and cooking. I might have to allow it to sicker an extra day or two because this stock was stored outdoors at Koszela's.

 best I can do

I would rather have the sides and top as one board but this was the widest pine that Koszela had. The glue ups are coming from the same board so the color and grain should be better than using a foreign board glue up.

2nd side

I planed one face flat to help with the glue up. After gluing these up I brought them upstairs to cook. The shop temp has dropped a couple of degrees down to 57F (14C).

 top

I like this thickness for the sides but IMO it is a little over the top for a miniature dresser. I'll thin this down to 7/8" first and eyeball that. If I don't like that look I'll plane another 1/8" off.

drawers and bearers

It takes a surprisingly large amount of stock to make drawers. I know I have a sufficient amount for the bearers but I am not so sure about the drawers. On the widest boards I can only get two drawer parts from each of them. After eyeballing what I had I think I'm short two boards for the drawers.

 last board

I have more than enough with this one board to give up what I'll need.

 more drawer stock

This stock will only work for the two smaller drawers. The widest board of the four is only 4 1/2" wide. The widest drawer I'm making is 4 1/2" to 5". I'll have to make sure that I get the widest drawer parts first from the stock on the shitcan.

I'm going to try and return the shop after dinner and expend some brain power and figure out what I need. I have a lot of 1/4" plywood for the bottoms so once I get the drawer stock sorted out I can start building.

accidental woodworker

new project......

Tue, 02/11/2025 - 3:32am

 Didn't get around to the new project until late in the PM session. I ran errands in the AM and I had to make a bank run right after lunch. Of course everyone that resides on this third rock from the sun had banking business then too. How well, I don't bank that often and it gave me time to think about the upcoming project.

couldn't shake it

I had a dream about a cleat on the bottom of the vice board splitting itself and also the board. It would be so much easier (and less of a PITA) for the vice jaws to clamp on the cleat over trying to position it between the jaws. This was the longest scrap I could find in the shop - I think it is too small in width and length.

 douglas fir scrap

I cut this out of a scrap 2x4 and planed the four faces square to each other. 

 almost there

The end to end is a 16th shy of snug as are the long sides. I didn't see the need to go nutso and get a piston fit, which I originally tried for. I penciled the outline of the cleat instead of knifing it and I chiseled it out on that line.

 knot

Chiseling and trying to get the router to bite on this knot was like trying to carve a rock with a plastic knife. I concentrated on getting the area to the left of it flat and to depth.

 done

I used threaded inserts to attach the cleat. This way I can remove it to use it on the workbench top.

 onboard storage

Two more threaded inserts and I shouldn't lose it. I hadn't planned for it to be here. I was going to put it on the outside long grain face. It is below the rods and the moving back vice jaw. It also doesn't interfere with moving the back jaw forwards or backwards.

oldie but goodie

This one of six chisels that I bought as a set over 30 years ago. I used them for over twenty years before I knew that they were metric. They got demoted when I got a set of Ashley Isles bench chisels. I used it today to chop the cleat mortise.

Yikes

I almost cut all the way through the back fence. I wasn't paying attention and I almost sawed it in two. Time for a pit stop to fix this because although it is still one piece, it is a bit floppy feeling.

 first choice

This was left over after I sawed the cleat out of it. I left the ends as is because if I cut them off I don't think it would have been thick/strong enough to span the saw cut.

 better option

I saw this scrap of poplar in the wood pile and I liked it much more than the first choice. That one I was going to glue on whereas this one I screwed on - no glue. That way if I do brain fart and saw it in two, I can screw on another one.

new project

Decided to make a new miniature dresser to stow all the Miller Dowels. I don't have a hole for it but I'll deal with that after it is done. I am using the pine I got from Koszela lumber. I am going to dimension all the stock by hand. It has been a long time since I have done a project entirely by hand.

 major parts

Sides, top, and bearer rails. The one board in the foreground will give up two drawer fronts. Not sure on the thicknesses of the various parts other than the drawers and the bearers - those will be about a 1/2" thick. 

hmm....

Maybe I should have thought this through a wee bit more. This is one of the sides and it is cupped. The darkish spot is the hollow and this is after planing it straight across at 90 for 5 minutes. This was exactly 3/4" thick when I started and I don't think it is going to be 3/4" thick when I'm done planing both faces.

 15 minutes

It is easy going but it took a few calories to get here. It was 1510 and I killed the lights here. I'll pick this back up in the AM.

I measured the outside edges and I'm already below 3/4". I'll have to make a run to Koszela lumber to get some more pine. This stock here can be used for the drawers and there shouldn't be any waste. I can adjust the size of the dresser up/down to minimize waste.

accidental woodworker

more snow......

Mon, 02/10/2025 - 3:25am

 took over an hour
The storm blew its way through the northeast and left a 4" blanket of snow behind. It was a little wet and heavy to shovel - called heart attack snow here about. I shoveled the driveway and the front/sidewalk in one go. I had planned on doing 3/4 of the driveway, resting and having a coffee, and then finishing it up. Instead I just kept at it until it was all done. 

Paid the price for shoveling because after lunch my back starting singing arias. I tried to work in the shop but standing felt uncomfortable. Sitting was tolerable as long as I leaned forward. Fingers crossed I didn't swap my foot aches/pains for the back.

done

I like how well the bearers work holding the panel in place. I think on the next I'll swap them around. As is the short ones butt into the long ones. I'll swap them so the long ones butt into the short ones. That way the short ones will equal the shoulder to shoulder length of the stiles.

So far the dominos seemed to be doing their job. There are no gaps were the rails and stiles butt into each other. Only time will tell how they fare over the long haul but for now they look good.

 twisted

If I am going to clamp this to the workbench, it can't be twisted. It would also be helpful to remove it before I run it through the lunchbox planer.

I used the 5 1/2 to do that and it worked. Yesterday I planed this face with the #4 and it didn't work. Got tons of tear out using it. The only headache I had with the 5 1/2 were planing the 3 knots on this face. I didn't go nutso on it and I got it flat, straight, and twist free. I am forgoing thinning the thickness now.

 hmm.....

Did some serious butt scratching along with my best goofy looks and I still am clueless about these holes for screws. This is the sliding part of the vice and I don't see why you would screw this down and immobilize it?

 road test

This is the main way I envision using this vice. It is up higher than the workbench face vice (don't have to bend over as far) and the stock is level. 

impressed

I was mildly surprised by how well this vice gripped and secured this board. There was absolutely no movement in the vice, board, or the stock. Even with it sticking out as far as it is it didn't move and the sawing was smooth and vibration free.

worked

Planed the long grain edge without any problems. I doubt that this would be feasible to use on any stock longer than 12". 

I put this same board in the vice vertically to plane the end grain with the same plane. (forgot to snap pics of it) I knew this wouldn't work but I had to satisfy my curiosity. However, it did work with a piece that only stuck up above the jaws about a 1/2". I was impressed again with how tightly the vice clamped on it. The plane dug in and skipped across the end grain but it or anything else didn't move at all.

 open capacity

It is a couple of frog hairs more than 6" but I don't see myself using it to clamp anything that wide in it. I thought about attaching a thin board on the other face that I could then have the face vice clamp on but nixed it. I wouldn't be able to use on the workbench top. The way it is now I can put it in the vice or on the workbench. 

Said No Mas here and killed the lights. Headed back upstairs to get ready for the super bowl. I predict the Eagles are too hungry and will win the super bowl LIX.

accidental woodworker

sunny and warm.....

Sun, 02/09/2025 - 3:53am

 For the past couple of days I haven't felt any pain or discomfort from my left foot. I did a lot of walking today and again, nada. I'm going to try to resume my strolling post lunch on monday. However, Mother Nature might throw a monkey wrench into my plans. There is a storm coming eastward which will dump more snow than the total dropped last winter. I will deal with it as it comes or doesn't.

sacrificial fence

This is an off cut from the maple kitchen stool. Squared one edge and ripped it to size on the tablesaw.

 new toy

I got this vice from Lee Valley in a moment of weakness. I needed to boost my order for free shipping and this did it for me.

 thought it was plastic

The vice gets screwed down to a board and then it gets clamped to the workbench. I thought they parts where the screws would go was plastic. It is harder then plastic but I doesn't feel like 'real' metal - I think it is powdered metal that is extruded.

 hmm......

Me thinks I underestimated the required size of the mini dowel compartments. These are oak and I still had more left in the bag.

 3 more underestimations

The Cherry 1x and 2x dowels are 40 each. The birch dowels in the long thin compartment are over 40 by 25. It would appear that this is a wee bit too small. I'll be making another one. If I do, it will be a miniature dresser. I have made 3 full size ones and 4 miniature ones so far. 

ready to check it

I screwed the sacrificial fence to the sled - no glue. I am sure that I will have to replace sometime in the future.

 first cut

The cross cut fuzzy wuzzies are a lot better looking that what I get with a handsaw or the tablesaw. However it wasn't square. It was about 2° off 90.

 2nd cut

Cocked one end of the test piece but it still was out of square. It was closer to square but still not 90°.

 shouldn't have done it....

I put 6 screws in the sacrificial fence. Instead of doing that I should have used only two screws. One screw at one end and at the other end, a screw in an elongated slot. That way I could have made adjustments to the fence so it could saw off at 90°. I did that this time around.

 test #5

Not closing the angle enough and I was at the limit of the adjustment of the fence. I would double this number before I tried something else.

 confusing

I started to mark the direction I needed the fence to be moved to get the cut to be 90°. I screwed myself a couple of times because I had to flip the test piece and I moved the fence in the wrong direction. Marking it helped but I was still not closing up the angle. 

I don't want this to be an off the saw dead nuts 90° to be immediately used in a project. I just want it to be as close to 90° as I can get it and maintain my sanity and keep my blood pressure from exploding.

 closer

I got the angle to less than one degree but it then seesawed in the opposite direction.

yikes

The reference edge and the reference face is twisted. I had previously checked the edge and face were 90° to each other with a square. Where I checked it (4 spots) indicated dead on 90°.

 dead nuts 90°

I tossed the maple fence and replaced it with a pine one about a 1/2" square. I butted it against the back stiffener and nailed it to the sled. First check was dead nuts on 90°.

back to the vice

Got confused with the screw holes because I missed some. There are two holes in the front fixed vice face that I missed. Those two and two more on the back fixed stop are what I'll use to screw it to a board.

 potential use

This is one way/use I have in mind for this vice. There have been numerable times I wanted to place stock at 90° somehow in the workbench vice.

passed

This is one way I will use this bandsaw sled - to do quick cross cuts. This is a douglas fir 2x4 that I am using as the 'board' for the vice.

 too wide for one 2x4

The vice fits ok on one 2x4 but the screw holes on the back end stop are too close to the edges. Both 2x4s had been thinned down from 3 1/2 to 3 inches.

 glued and cooking

This is too thick and I'll thin the thickness down. I won't be doing that by hand because douglas fir is a nightmare to hand plane. I'll run it through the lunchbox planer when I plane the cherry.

90° stop hinges

I don't know what I'll use this box for. I don't need it but it is almost done so I'll finish it and put it in the boneyard.

 they work

I was going to use butt hinges but the screws would have poked out on the lid. With the stop hinges I don't need a lid stay.

all six

The tops of all six of the splines on this side of the box disappeared. There is a reward out for recovering them.

 first of three

Not a fan of orange colored shellac but I want to use up what I have left.

it wasn't wonky

I planed this face and it went pretty good. I didn't have any tear out or squirrely grain to deal with. 

 little bit of twist

I wasn't going to check this but after the bandsaw fence bite on the arse I did. The twist was just a little and I planed it off easily. Again with no tear out anywhere which surprised me a lot.

y
 wonky side

This reacted exactly like I expected it to. I tore out a chunk of wood on my first pass on the glue line about the middle of the board. No matter which direction I tried to plane, I got tear out. Along with knots, squirrely, reversing grain makes planing douglas fir (IMO) a royal PITA.

 last check

I had a hump (expected) to plane away. I don't need to sticker this because it has been in the boneyard for more than 8-9 years. It should be done moving by now but I'll keep an eye on before I run it through the lunchbox planer.

 2nd use
Cleaned and squared up both ends bandsawing off an 1/8". Killed the lights and headed upstairs.

accidental woodworker

Miller dowel box and more et al........

Sat, 02/08/2025 - 3:31am

 What a crazy weather day. Yesterday the forecast said cold and cloudy - no sunshine. Well boys and girls the sun came out mid morning and shone bright and warm for the rest of the day. Tomorrow's forecast is calling for partly cloudy/sunny skies with temps at/around freezing with snow in the PM. Mother Nature ain't done with winter yet.

 ready to go

I had it on the radiator but when I checked it the metal corners were so hot I couldn't touch them. I took it off the radiator and sat it in front of it. 

 McMaster-Carr order came

This piece of brass was $32. I hope it works because I'm running out of ideas and $$$.

 two bags of the same

I'm an idiot - I ordered two bags of 5/16" spacers. Each bag has 25 so you do the math on that. I thought I had ordered one 1/4" and one 5/16". However, this works in my favor because I like using the 5-16 spacers and 5/16 machine screws over the smaller 1/4-20 size. 

 5/16" x 2" FH

This is what I will use for the pivot on the rear legs. I wanted black oxide but I can't find any in this length so I will paint the head (and what screw is exposed) with black enamel paint.

aha...

Kreg domino on top and the chinese Amazon one on the bottom. There is almost an 1/8" difference between the two.

duh...

When I drilled these yesterday I did it with the drill in low speed. Lots of torque but the bit is made for speed. Switched to the high speed drilling mode and it was a huge improvement. It was zippity do da and knocked out the last few mortises in no time. Also didn't have any headaches clamping the stock - the drilling didn't move/shift them as I did the mortising.

 dry fit

Dead nuts square on the inside and outside. There is slight overhang on the sides and front.

it worked

Another tidbit with the Amazon dominos besides them being longer, is they are slightly thinner than the Kreg ones. It didn't seem to matter on the dry fit but I'm not sure how much it would swell with glue applied to it?

 panel insert

I got a snug, gap free fit 360. I hadn't thought this all the way through. The original intent was to try out the dominos and see how well they worked. Now I have to come up with a way to secure the panel on the inside of the lid.

 being a pack rack pays off

I had a boatload of 1/4" square small length scraps of pine. The panel is a frog hair less than an 1/8" and the lid thickness is 5/8". 5/8 - 1/8 = 1/2 divided by 2 is a 1/4". Sometimes you get lucky more than once a week.

sigh

I consider this an acceptable gap (almost). I should have laid this out with the actual divider but instead I measured/laid it out with a rule. When I glue on the bottom I intend to glue the dividers to it. Neither of these dividers will move after that.

 a win for the home team

The top and bottom were both twist free.

too loose

I made these splines months ago and then they were tight. I had to flatten them with a hammer but today they are barely staying put. Made some new ones on the bandsaw.

 glued and cooking

Got this done just before lunch. Since it is friday that means fish 'n chips which I indulged in at Johnny's Chalet. He also had beef stew on special but I only saw that as I was paying my tab. I would like to try that because I like beef stew almost as much as I do fish 'n chips.

 cooking

Got all the bearers for the top glued in place and cooking. After lunch I didn't have any problems finishing the lid.

 sawed and sanded

One gap out of 12. I saw it while installing the splines. I whacked it with my mallet and it giggled at me. I couldn't get it close and I couldn't hit it and remove it neither. I'll fill it in with putty. I will slap 3-4 coats of the gossamer shellac before that goes south on me.

 bottom cooking

If I get ambitious I will return the shop after dinner and remove the clamps.

 bandsaw cut off sled

I had made one of these last year, used it for a while, and I don't remember what happened to it. I found it to a be handy helper so I am making a new, improved version. This one has a longer miter slot runner and a wider and longer sled platform.

 repurposing the old lid

I tried to fit this back on the box but the tongue on the right side was gone. I couldn't slide it in to check the fit of lid stop. I might be able to make another sliding lid out of this. 

 lid is ready for finish

Flushed the corners with the #3 and then sanded it smooth on both sides. While doing this I was thinking about how I would hinge it. I have butt hinges or 90° stop hinges. I'll flip a coin for that tomorrow.

 glued and screwed

I glued it first (forgot to snap a pic of that) and after 30 minutes I put 4 screws into the miter slot runner from the sled. 

What the pic would have shown was the left side of the sled up against the fence with a bazillion cans of paint, finish, and solvents applying pressure on the glue joint.

 stiffener

This sled only has one runner so it can easily get wonky if you don't handle it properly. The worse that can happen is it will break into two. For this sled I don't intend to saw all the way through it. This piece of maple is too stiffen the back edge and keep the sled in one piece. The plan is to put another fence in front of the stiffener that will be cut in two by the bandsaw. If needed I will make a second cut off sled with the left side flush with the bandsaw blade. This sled will be on both sides of the bandsaw blade providing support. It may or may not work but I'll find out as I use it.

accidental woodworker

Miller Dowel box et al.......

Fri, 02/07/2025 - 3:47am

 Snowed again today and dumped about an inch or so. That was in the morning and after lunch it turned to rain. The temp was 4 degrees above freezing but overnight (depending on who you check) it will be 5 degrees above freezing. So all the slush that is all over won't be ice. However, the temps are forecasted to drop into the low 20's F for several days. Could be lots of fun driving this weekend.

behaved

The Miller Dowel box stock was still flat and twist free. It is ready to dimension.

 ready for a finish

The box lid is a frog hair off snug and the lid is staying put upside down.

going to 5/8"

Just my opinion, but I think a box of this size at 3/4" thick will look clunky and oversized for its intended purpose.

 last one

I wish all the stock I have to dimension would be as easy as this pine. I got the 3 boards planed down to a shade under 5/8".

 done

The three of these took about 30 minutes to knock out. The goal was to get the box glued and cooking before 1500 rolled around.

 the way it should be?

Still don't know how this sat with the original lid. Makes sense to me that I would have done this so it would be in this position (of course with the lid on).

 laid out

I used the 1/8" thick pine scrap to scribe the angle on the sides of this. Another line across the top connecting them and I sawed it off.

 kind of got it

Got the angles to mate (and gap free too). I would have to redo the top of this bigger to have it seated on the block on the side of the box. It looks better than it did yesterday and I am going to leave it as is for now.

 where it lives

The one coat of Clancy's I got on the lid looks good as is. It doesn't look like a shellac finish but it doesn't have the raw look of wood neither. Still undecided about putting shellac on it.

 Miller Dowel box

The thin width boards are for the lid. Hadn't picked the joinery for the carcass yet. The only two choices are dovetails or miters.

miters won the coin toss

Penciled the miters on the ends and I rough sawed them. That will make shooting them on the miter jig easier and quicker.

 labeled

Glad I had marked the bottom and the inside. It is far to easy for me to wander out into La La Land and saw a miter going in the wrong direction.

miters shot

I shot these until the toes agreed and were flush. I picked miters because I have to chop some dadoes in the sides for the dowel compartments. Saner to do that with a mitered box vice a dovetailed one.

 checking myself

Ensuring that my dadoes are spaced correctly for 3 compartments. The mini dowels are about 1 5/8" in length and the compartments are about 2 1/8". That should be sufficient for the dowels and for my fingers to grab them.

 first two knifed

I am using 1/4" solid wood for the dividers. I have a 1/4" chisel and a 1/4" router iron. I knifed the walls of the dadoes off the stock. Fingers crossed that the chisel/router will fit.

ready to chop them

I made a me-steak with the layout. The the top of the stopped dadoes is facing the bottom. Not really a big deal but I reference everything for any box I make off the bottom. For this box I switched the top and bottom.

 checking before chopping

I put the box together and checked that the dadoes were where they were supposed to be. 

 came a day early

There isn't any other tools needed to finish the kitchen stool/ladders on order.

 hmmm.....

I have two other FMAG forstner bits and they have solid outside rims. This is a borax bit that has some lines on the outside rim to assist with cutting the outside wall. This bit can be used at a higher speed and it will still leave a beautiful hole behind.

awesome

FMAG forstner bits leave an incredibly smooth walled and dead flat bottom. This is doug fir which doesn't like being drilled. This hole is new born baby butt smooth anywhere you touch it. IMO it worth the few extra $$$ to own one.

 loose fit

I knew this was going to happen. The hole is dead nuts on 1 1/8" but the dowel is slightly undersized. I have had this maple dowel for several years. It has shrunk a tad but it is still round. It hasn't gone oval after sitting all these years. I will have to use screws to secure this - glue only (even epoxy) won't be up to the task.

 tried it out

This is a chisel chopping platform I made last week and today I tried it out. Overall I liked using it, especially in this instance, with one end butted against the left side stop.

 two done

One of the dadoes was too tight and I couldn't use the 1/4" or router iron to get the depth. I had to use the 1/8" chisel but I didn't have a warm and fuzzy on the depth matching the others. Of the seven dadoes I chopped, two of them I couldn't use the 1/4" chisel or router on.

 self supporting

The right one is self supporting and the left one is too loose. Found out here that the 1/4" stock I was using wasn't all a 1/4" thick. I didn't use the same board to layout the dadoes.

 first big dado

Self supporting too. These are stopped dadoes and once the bottom is on they will be locked in place. So if they are a wee bit loose it won't make any difference.

 split

I didn't see this until I was checking the fit of this half lap. Didn't make any difference because I sawed the half lap width too wide. I made a replacement one.

 hmmm.....

This isn't what my quick drawing of this looked like. The right side horizontal one should have gone over to the 3 compartments on the left. This will still work and if my OCD doesn't go into hyper drive, I can live with it.

 sometimes it is ok to brain fart

Having a 'hole' to put the Miller drill bits in was solved. I put the drill bits in this thin rectangular compartment along with dowels.

Just thought of something as I was typing this. The minis come in 4 flavors as do the 1x dowels. I should have made the box with 4 compartments for each. Or maybe a miniature dresser with 3 drawers with four compartments in each one.

 another hmmm......

This is a little tight for my fingers. In hindsight I should have made the compartment wall on the right the same height as the dividers. I'm liking the thought of a Miller Dowel dresser more and more. I brought this upstairs and set it by the kitchen radiator to cook until the AM.

 nope

I'm pretty sure that it isn't supposed to look like this. Decided to use the Kreg jig and domino the lid together. Had all sorts of issues with it that I was not expecting. The stock moved on me and I had to be creative with clamping it. Had a problem with the depth of the mortise that I couldn't figure out neither.

 yikes

When I last used this (road testing it) I had this problem but I thought I had figured that out. I don't think these dominos are the Kreg ones so I'll have to compare them to ones I got from Amazon. 

Stopped here for the day because I was getting a bit frustrated and pissed off that this wasn't working for me. I'll jump back into in the AM and hopefully straighten it out and end up with a lid.

accidental woodworker

getting colder again......

Thu, 02/06/2025 - 3:27am

 I looked at the weather forecast for the rest of this week and next. It ain't looking good for the home team. It is going to snow, or be a snow to wintry mix, or be cloudy for the next ten days. I don't think I'll be using the lunchbox planer in the driveway for a couple of weeks yet.

Placed my order with McMaster-Carr after lunch. I bought a 12" piece of 1/8" thick brass, 2" wide. I will try that for the maple kitchen stool/ladder and evaluate how that looks and works. After all the maple one is the prototype to work the kinks out with. I should have it tomorrow or friday.

I had to.....

The lid fit was kind a snug but I couldn't open it with the thumb catch. To open/slide the lid off I had to push off from the back. If the lid was flush with the top I wouldn't have been able to open it at all. This is too tight and come summer and expansion time it could swell and slam it shut. 

 plenty

I eyeballed the groove from the front and looking at it from the back as it slid in. I had more than enough room side to side. In fact I had a wee bit too much. I didn't plane anything off the outside edges. I took wispy shavings off the tops of the rabbets only. Planed off two and checked the fit. Kept at it that way until I could open the lid with the thumb catch.

 doesn't fit

I made this to keep the lid from sliding off as I picked it up out of the drawer I keep it in. The toe (of the top piece) should be flush and aligned with the lid top.

 hmm....

What I don't know for sure is how this fit with the original lid. This doesn't look right. I think it should sitting atop the block on the front side. I'll leave it as is for now and come up with a game plan for a fix or a new one.

using Clancy's

I put one coat (recommends only one) on the lid both sides. The next step is to leave it as is or put on shellac. Another nail biter decision to make.

 banding the box

I used super glue to put the banding on. I started with the bottom and the banding cooperated. I was able to get red at all the corners but they weren't even. 

 don't like it

I'm ok with the banding being atop the feet and not inset. However, after getting it on the bottom it looks odd. Checking it at the top didn't improve it at all IMO. I like the banding but I don't have a warm and fuzzy with the look. Not much I can think of to improve so I'll have to live with it.

 the ring box

I don't know what these are called (keepers?) but they allow the lid to align with the bottom. I have used them before and I like this better then using hinges on the back. Still haven't found some different ring holder pads things. Everyone of them I have seen is made in China and I don't want to use any of that crap again. Maybe I should ask my sister to sew up some velvet tubes? I might get them in a year or two knowing her.

 dry fit

They extend a little over 1/8" which should be enough.

 it fits (dry)

I got a good fit all around because the lid went on and came off and back on and off several times with out the keeper things coming undone.

 not improving

I kept eyeballing this while working on the ring box and I came to an understanding. I should have inset the banding so it was flush and not proud. I think I could have accepted that look. Or maybe I should have used walnut as that would have matched what I used on the lid.

nope

I thought of using the keeper things on this lid too but nixed it. I would have to fill in these holes but they would stand out. Thought of using the banding to hide them but that was just another bad idea.

 need a box

I have been keeping the Miller Dowels in plastic bins. I don't have a bin for the 2x dowels and I also don't have a 2x drill bit. Time to get all of the dowels and drill bits in one spot.

 using this design

I was going to make a sliding lid box but I wasn't liking that idea.  I like the compartment box better. 3 compartments for the mini dowels and two each for the larger 1x and 2x dowels. I know I have a lot of thin pine somewhere in the shop for the compartment walls.

prepping the stock

Two long sides and the ends. This board was flat but I am going to thin it down to 1/2 to 5/8 inches thick. The first step is to flatten one face and square an edge to that. 

This stock is wider than needed for the box (3" high). The off cuts from the box I'll use to make the lid.

 no twist

Two boards had none and the third a little. I have a reference face and edge ready to go.

 stickered

I doubt that this pine will move at all but it will remove any doubts come the AM.

 didn't forget

The weather and making the prototype is working in its favor. I randomly checked one board and it was still flat and twist free. It is looking like it might be march before I run these through the lunchbox planer.

accidental woodworker

stool/ladder et al.......

Wed, 02/05/2025 - 3:27am

 Spent some time last night getting the McMaster-Carr order together. Spoiler alert - I didn't order anything. I found a problem with the aluminum tubing I got. It is hardened which explains why a file barely touched it. I looked into annealing it but that is something beyond what I can do in my shop. This is the reason why I didn't place the order. I am now entertaining about ditching using metal as a the stop and switching to wood. Plenty of time to pick one. I would swap to brass but it is too expensive.

tread

This is the bottom of the bottom tread. I planed it smooth but a lot of this crap on the edge is still visible. On a brighter note it is on the bottom and at the back

almost

I planed the right side of both treads until they seated in the dadoes. The fit is still snug and I didn't drink any of the 'one more swipe' kool aid.

 front legs

Routed all the dadoes removing the depth knife lines. After that I planed both faces of the front legs smooth. No more planer ripples.

checking the angles

I have both of the angles on the bottom front/rear legs flush on the workbench. The treads are parallel to the workbench top and the bottom angles don't have gaps. The top angle of the rear legs is a wee bit off. The toe is slightly proud of the front leg. I think I'm going to be ok because I plan to detail the top of the rear legs similar to what I did for the front ones.

 front view

I'm glad that I didn't make this larger. It is going to be heavy as is - 7/8" thick maple. I nixed putting in another tread but I am thinking of putting a tray or some kind of a tray/platform below the grab dowel and above the top tread. That is going to be a bit tricky to flesh out.

 pretty good

The top is toed in a 16th over the bottom of the rear legs. I thought it was going to be worse than that. The top of the front legs is toed in 1/8" more than the bottom. Still not that bad and I fully expect the rear stretcher and x brace to keep the rear legs parallel top to bottom. The front will have the treads and the grab dowel at the top.

inside or outside?

I thought I had determined this already from the drawing but now I'm confused. I think the rear legs should be on the outside of the front legs. It wouldn't collapse as much as it would done this way.

 calling it done (again)

Rubbed Howards feed 'n wax on both sides and buffed it off. I get to store it until March when my wife is bringing it back to North Carolina.

 sigh

This is going to be the 3rd(?) time I am gluing this drawer divider in place. I used epoxy this time. I applied it to the first 2-3". Fingers crossed that this will be the last time.

 trying it

I tried gluing the tongues back on both sides of the lid. The batter in the box is a small, long triangular piece that broke off at the back.

 questionable

The clamps look like a monkey put them on. I didn't have a warm and fuzzy with this after I did it. But it was one down and one more to go.

 the other tongue

That darkish line in this is the first break. This recent break is too close to the first one. This one also (clean break) would mate back together at an angle. It was a PITA just fitting it dry and trying to get a clamp on it. After eyeballing this I decided the best path to take was to make a new lid.

 new lid

I don't know what kind of pine this is but I do know it isn't Eastern White Pine. It will be more adequate for a sliding lid.

it wasn't flat

A cup on one face and a hump on the other. Started the flattening with the cup side. The white spots are where the plane was taking shavings. The darker spot in the middle is where it is hollow. Kept at this going straight across until I made full length shavings from side to side.

 no twist

Got lucky that I didn't have to deal with any twist. I repeated this for the hump side flattening it just like I did the other face. I didn't plane the hump face parallel to the first face. I planed it flat, smooth and called it done. I just needed the bottom face to be flat and straight for making the rabbets.

fussing with the rabbets

My goal was to keep the rabbet tongues as thick as I could. So I took my time planing and checking until I got the rabbets just right.

 fitted

It is a frog hair too snug. I left it as is because I can open and close it. I find planing something like this tricky. Which part do I plane to make it smoother and easier? Having made a bazillion of these sliding lid boxes I can tell you that you can go from snug to rattle can loose with one shaving. And you don't get to say 'aw shxt'.

planing the chamfer

I plane my chamfers down to the tops of the rabbets. 

astragals

Astragals differ from beads in that they have fillets on either side of the center bead. This is the same size astragal that I used on the original lid.

 chamfer on the back

The lid is proud of the top of the box on the sides and the back. I will chamfer the back but it is tricky to do. There is a good possibility that the plane will blow out the beads.

 done

I chamfered the front of the box before I planed the astragals. Got no blowout or tears here. I got lucky with the back too - no blowouts or tears.

 done

The original lid and the replacement one. The only difference in the two is the new lid doesn't have a finish and the rabbets aren't as wide. Them being shorter in width should make them a wee bit stronger.

the back chamfer

Penciled a line to guide my chamfering.

 done

This pine end grain looks a sponge. However, after sanding the pores closed up and the end grain looked even and smooth.

 done

This took maybe an hour to knock out. I'm debating whether or not to put a finish on it. I have some shellac left but I'm thinking maybe I should wait until summer and wait to see if this expands and do the finish then. Another choice would be to rub in a wax finish. That is something I have wanted to try but haven't yet.

accidental woodworker

kitchen stool/ladder pt VI(?)........

Tue, 02/04/2025 - 3:39am

 what to my wondering eyes......

On mondays I go out for breakfast. This is what I saw when I opened the blinds this morning before leaving the house. Came as a total surprise seeing 2+ inches everywhere. Breakfast was delayed a few minutes, shoveling and cleaning snow off the truck. This reminds me of a winter a few years back where there was a lot of snowfall in the last 6 weeks of winter. Is it going to happen again?

 grab bar spot

I got a little confused thinking that I had to also transfer these marks to the rear legs. After looking at the full scale drawing I saw that it wasn't so.

 settled the top detail

Sawed the tops of the front legs flush and I'm leaving it as is. I will round over where my fingers are pointing along with the top back edge. I won't go nutso on any of them - just a simple, soft round over will do.

much better

The shellac on the ends is reflecting light now. I could have done a better job sanding the end grain smooth but I am leaving them as is. I don't want to shorten the lid R/L anymore than what it is currently. I go the last coat of shellac on it today and tomorrow I'll do the Howards trick.

 thinking ahead....

To my take on this the bottom front leg angle is more important then the rear bottom angle. Both are important but the front is the reference. That leg puts the treads parallel to the floor. The back angle sets the splay and where the top angle falls on the front leg stop. I may have to adjust the rear angle and hopefully if I do, it will only have to be that one.

getting a look see

The full scale drawing is kind of useless now because the rear legs are shorter in the length. The angles are the same with the rear leg further down on the front leg. The pivot point on the full scale drawing is about 4-5 inches higher than where it will be on the rear leg.

I plan on securing the front/rear legs with a 5/16-18 flat head machine screw. I will also put a bushing in the two legs so the screw doesn't rub and chew up the wood. I already looked on McMaster-Carr and they have them. I'll buy them when I place the order for the aluminum rectangular tubing.

 tread layout

The tops of the treads will be 7 and 14 inches high respectively. As of now I am only putting in two of them. There is plenty of room for a third one and I'll make that call after I see two of them.

 double quadruple triple checking myself

I have in the past done the layout and dadoes wrong. They not only have to be mirror images of each other but have the correct orientation with respect to the angles on the legs. And I have to account for the front too.

planing maple.....

What a difference 20+ years of learning/experience makes. The last time I tried working maple it was a nightmare. In the interim I have gained some skills among them learning how to sharpen my plane irons. Back then I had no idea of a burr and how important that is. Other than dealing with some squirrely grain reversals, this maple is basically no different planing than its cherry sibling or the pine I normally use.

love and hate this

This is a good miter gauge and certainly heads above the stock miter gauge that came with this saw. It holds 90° like it is cast in stone but once you move it off 90°and return to it, it goes off in La La Land. I used this to saw some of the angles on the legs and when I set it back to 90°, it was off about a degree.

It is relatively easy to set it back to 90° but I find it a PITA that I have to do that. I have tried to use a square against the gauge and the saw blade but that doesn't work due the grippy strip I have on the face of the miter gauge. Instead I saw a scrap (at least 6" wide) at 90° until it reads square when checked with my Starrett 18" combo square. It took me about 15 minutes to dial it back in to 90°.

 Yikes!

This fell off the workbench when I was routing the dadoes for the treads. The tongue for the rabbet on both sides broke off. The left side is worse than the right. It is also the second time I have broken the right tongue off. After a quick look see I don't think it will be an easy fix of just gluing them back on. It is looking more like I will be making a new lid.

 2 down, 2 to go

I had planned on sawing the walls of these but I chopped all four of them. I purposely undercut the width. I want these to be a tight fit for the treads. I wanted to use #12 black oxide, 2" flat head screws but Blacksmithbolt doesn't have any. He has 12 in stock but you need to order 25 as the minimum. FYI you can't do that. I'll have to call him and see how that shakes out.

 these are tight

Got the tight fit I wanted, in fact it is a wee bit too tight but I can sneak up on the tight fit with a hand plane.

a close up on how tight

I'm about a 32nd too wide. But it is far easier to remove then to add and I'll get my tight fit.

 the left side treads

Did better on the fit. These are maybe a frog hair over snug (and self supporting).

 almost fully seated

When I pulled the treads out and checked for bruising there was hardly any to see. Not sure if it because of the hardness of the maple or the fit being just right.

 right side

This is as far as I tried to seat the right side. There was evidence of bruising on these.

 hmm.....

I can still see my depth line on both sides of the legs. I will have to revisit this and rout a few more frog hairs off the dadoes.

I'm kind of at a stand still with this now. I need the 5-16 screws, and bushings before I can go any further with this build. It looks like I'll be making my McMaster order sooner than later.

accidental woodworker

turned cold again......

Mon, 02/03/2025 - 3:45am

It was frigid this AM when I had to go out. The temp was 13F (-11C) with a breeze blowing. That made it feel a whole lot colder. My truck seat never warmed up and I thought I had gotten frostbite on my butt cheeks. Tomorrow morning the temp is going to be 30 degrees warmer. BTW, when is ground hog day? (FYI its Feb 2nd)

I don't think I'm losing my mind. I checked/read my blog post from monday and I'm sure now that the DVD didn't come monday. However, I'm still clueless as to how it got where I found it. My wife told me she wouldn't have put my mail there. I don't think the cat did it (without being bribed with treats) so that leaves the bogey man?

 where I found it saturday

 what it looked like monday

No DVD there now. I didn't empty the bookshelf until tuesday so there is no way the DVD was there on monday. Replaced one mystery with another one.

 no road trip

Forgot I had a maple board left over. This would save me a round trip.

 sigh....

It isn't long enough. There are several splits on this end along with the knot. If I wouldn't have an angled cut on this end I would welcome the knot. I think it looks interesting. Would look even better filled in with black epoxy.

glad I checked

Laid it on the full scale drawing and it looked like I could just squeeze it out. The knot will go bye-bye when I saw the angle at the top. I just had to ensure that I laid it out and sawed that angle correctly.

 not straight

The ends were touching the straight edge but there was a big hollow between them. Used the scrub plane to knock the ends down first. Took a few extra dance steps but I got it flat and straight end to end.

double, triple checked myself

Laid out the angle and checked myself again a bazillion times. I ensured that I had the bottom angle aligned with the full scale drawing and I then penciled the angle at the top. I sawed this one by hand. The bottom one I did on the tablesaw.

 second leg angle

Did the same dance steps for the second one. I have had angle orientations bite me on the arse (and draw blood) too many times. The full scale drawing was a lifesaver for this.

 flushing the top ends

Started with the first leg after I had rough sawn both. I smoothed and squared the first leg and used that to knife the angle on the second leg.

 blowout

I don't understand why I blew this out but regardless I will have to deal with it. I had planned on rounding the point where the two angles met. I'm not sure that it will remove all of it though.

 knifing the 2nd leg angle

Sawed this angle by hand, leaving the pencil and knife lines.

 the bottom one

The reference I'm using for this build is the bottom of the legs. I have about an 1/8 to plane off the 2nd leg.

 ganged

The top ends aren't even but that won't be a problem. Planed the two angles and checked them for square. It isn't carved in stone that these two angles have to be dead nuts equal. They both stand alone so being a few degree seconds off isn't a big deal.

 top end detail

This doesn't agree with the full scale drawing. On the drawing this 2" diameter circle falls on the front angle and back edge. Played around it with and got the touch points with a 2nd circle over lapping the first.

 1 1/8 dowel hole

Still haven't received the 1 1/8" forstner bit. I extended the centerline of it and the circle above so I could transfer them to the leg.

 blah

I am not liking this round over look at all. I think it looks crappy and odd looking. I am going to do something different - this is now officially shitcanned.

 before I forgot it again

I had said this was done but after bringing it upstairs I didn't like the coverage. The ends didn't look like they had a shiny coat of shellac. I'll keep putting shellac on the ends until it is. After that I will rub it down with 4-0 steel wool and Howards feed 'n wax.

 center punch

I marked the center of the mortise for the dowel rod. This punch leaves a fairly deep dimple that would take a lot of planing to remove. I should be safe in not losing them.

 hmm.....

The ends are tight but there is a hollow between them. Not sure if it is worth it to plane - nothing is married to or off of it. I probably will in the AM because this where I killed the lights for today.

accidental woodworker

found it.....

Sun, 02/02/2025 - 3:28am

 Spent the AM running down the DVD. The local post office sent me the mail depot on Strawberry Fields rd. I talked first to the clerk working the counter and then I got to speak to a supervisor. He told he had spoken with the carrier and he would look into where it got delivered. Moot point because I found it while eating my lunch.

The DVD was on the TV table I had made back in the late 1990's. How it got there I am completely clueless. I don't remember who checked the mail on monday nor do I remember receiving any mail on that day. All I can recall from monday is I had pancakes for breakfast that day. I hope I don't have anymore surprises like this in the coming days. It sucks to get old and become forgetful.

 1/2" oak plywood

This was the 3rd option and it is too tall. I want the book to be enclosed so that it doesn't get covered in dust from the shop. I cut this down 3/4" and it still wouldn't work.

 4th option

The lid for the box above couldn't be hinged because it would be up against the side. From there I thought of using a slanted lid. But it was also too wide (R/L) and would have kept the saw till door from being opened. The open shelf idea is also too wide. On to option 5.

 nixed the shelf/box ideas

I couldn't think of way to work around or go with the restrictions putting the book on the side of the saw till. I did find some space on the 2x3 that I have my 5' pipe clamps on. Nixed that too due it would be open - no option there to have a lidded box. Shelved this for the time being and I put the book in the first cabinet behind the workbench.

front leg

The ripple marks planed off without any hiccups. However, the leg was twisted a healthy amount. I didn't even need the sticks to tell me, I could see it.

 3/4"

I planed the twist in thirds and the far end kicked my butt. It took a lot of calories getting the first third untwisted. I went from a strong 7/8" thick to a frog hair proud of 3/4". I'll have to evaluate what is next because I will have to plane this board to get the other face parallel. I might have to make another road trip to Koszela lumber for more soft maple.

 front legs

This isn't too bad now that I have planed the twist off on the right one. They are now laying up pretty much tight end to end. I can see the far top end is scalloped from where I planed the twist off. Some of it will be removed when I detail that end but not all of it. 

This was the output for today. After lunch I conked out and napped at my desk for two hours. When I finally woke up I went to the shop and killed the lights. I'll get back to the legs on the kitchen ladder/stool in the AM.

accidental woodworker

sigh......

Sat, 02/01/2025 - 3:22am

 Today was swimming along so nicely until about 1500. I had gone to lunch with my wife and then went on to Barnes and Noble bookstore. Made a few more stops before we headed back to the barn. That is when my day turned to liquid fecal matter that floated up above my armpits.  A big sigh.......

I had ordered a DVD from Lie Nielsen last week and it was delivered this past monday at 1341 according to the USPS. However, the delivery was not made to my mailbox. Did the address that got it turn it in or (gasp!) bring it to my house? Nay, nay moose breath, that didn't happen.

I am sad, angry, pissed off, but mostly feeling sick to my stomach that I will have to wade through the cesspool of bureaucratic BS dealing with the USPS to fix this. The total $$$ of the DVD was $45 and I will fight for it. I am sure it is going to consume a lot of calories and weeks before it is resolved. And it might not be in my favor.

 AM session

Oops. I sawed the top angle of the rear leg 3/4" short. I thought I was doing it so it would have been 3/4" long. This is a prototype so it isn't going to stop the sun from rising in the east tomorrow. The angle at the bottom matched the full scale drawing spot on. 

 from one I got two

I sawed the box in two on the table saw. The smaller one is practically useless but I can use it to put parts in it for projects.

happy face on

This box not only is a place to stow something, it keeps the bigger box from moving around in the drawer.

 flushing the sides and ends

I glued solid pine bottoms on both boxes. After that I brought them upstairs and put them on the kitchen radiator to cook for an hour. After flushing them I sanded the four sides and top with 120. That is all the boxes are getting for a 'finish'.

 ready to rock and roll

This was an efficient way to make two boxes. I hadn't planned on doing that but did it because one small end had split in two while planing the miter. I super glued it back together and I sawed the box apart on that fault line. That is what determined the two sizes.

 wee bit of a bow

I am not too concerned about this. One, the top of the rear legs will be bolted to the front legs. Secondly, there will be an X brace close to the top of the rear legs. When I install that I will ensure that the two legs are parallel and straight, end to end. That should remove it and keep them straight/parallel.

 1 1/8"

I thought I had a 1 1/8" forstner bit but I don't. I searched for one but then I remembered that I had used a rasp to make a 1" hole 1 1/8". I ordered a FMag forstner today and I should have it time to use on the prototype. IMO FMag forstner bits are phenomenal. They are cleanest, easiest drilling forstner bits I have used. Well worth the few extra $$$ they cost over cheap chinese made ones.

 from Barnes and Noble

My wife and I spent well over an hour here and I was a bit disappointed in the woodworking sections. There were only 5 woodworking magazines for sale and the books on woodworking occupied maybe 18" of shelf space. However, I did find and buy this gem of a reference book.

why I bought it

This is the first page I opened the book up to. I have never seen any specs or references for threaded inserts before. 99% of the ones I have bought over the years didn't come with any specs for them. This is some handy info to have at your finger tips.

 crammed full in all ten chapters

All the info in this book is for the woodworker. There is just what is needed to be known. There is no minutiae to glaze your eyes over or put you to sleep. I read the whole chapter on the math and it was all understandable to me. And I am no math whiz but if I wanted to make a dexagon (or decagon), a ten sided object, it has a pic of it and the required angles. Simple, understandable, and easy to put into practice.

 its new home

Of course I'll have to make a holder/box of some kind to keep this in. This is an updated, modern version of the LAP shop reference book.

wasn't quite 1500

Decided to work up a quick sketch of the holder/box for the new book.

stopped rabbet

Did this with a slitting gauge and a chisel. Surprised at how easy it was but mostly how well it came out.

 not wide enough

Sliced a new line with the gauge and chiseled it out. Left with a clean, square rabbet.

 flush

This came out as expected. The rabbet won't be seen nor the top of the side too. This end will be up against the side the saw till. But this plan has already by superseded by change 2, alteration 1.b, sub level 3E.2-PL. The new one will be a box with a lid to keep all the shop crappola out it and off the book.

accidental woodworker

aimless day......

Fri, 01/31/2025 - 3:39am

I got all discombobulated with the work plan I had today. I had checked the weather forecast and I thought today was going have rain all day. I was wrong and tomorrow (friday) is the rainy day. Because of that brain fart I took my time getting to the shop. Today was sunny but cold and I could have done the lunchbox planing on the cherry and maple. Sometimes it is good to take a break and stop to smell the saw dust.

 1/4-20 insert driver

This driver engages in the mating part in the head of the insert. It works well and I haven't had one hiccup using it. The downside - it will only drive inserts made specifically for this driver.

new driver - it is a 1/4-20 driver

I said yesterday this was a 5/16 driver but it isn't. This insert driver engages the internal threads of the insert. This one will work on any 1/4-20 threaded insert. Of the two I think this one is a better to have.

 I have two to choose from

The right one is beefier and I know it works. I haven't had the need to use a threaded insert for a while. I'll keep this one at the head of the line and I will keep an eye out for getting the same style for my other threaded inserts.


 from Lee Valley

I have #1, #2, and #3 square drivers for both of these Yankee screwdrivers. The right one also has a flat tip screwdriver. Two of these drivers are slightly magnetic. Does that mean that they aren't hardened? Just my MO but an unhardened drive is useless and will strip out almost immediately.

 a must

I sawed the aluminum tubing getting what I wanted from it. These glasses are shatter proof and seal around both eyes. Sawing aluminum throws a ton of little slivers of aluminum all over.

 had an oops

I can get two pieces out of this one 12" long stop. I realized after I had sawn off the unwanted pieces I could have gotten 4 of them out of it. Oh well I can order another one while I work on the first one.

 this should work

I ended up with a 'L' shape with one leg wider than the other. The back leg will butt up against the long leg. This is a 1/8" thick and it should be more the sufficient to act as a stop - the plan has it being 6" long and the rear leg will be about 4 3/4" to 5" long bearing against it.

 hmm......

I left a wee bit on both legs. I thought I would be able to easily file this soft aluminum without any problems. I tried 4 different files and I removed hardly anything with them. I was expecting the aluminum to file away to nothing and quickly. Neither of those happened. I'll have to drop back and punt on removing the proud.

 prepping the maple stock

I sawed all the boards to rough width leaving them a strong 16th over.

 back stretcher

This will keep the rear legs parallel and from spreading apart at the bottom. The top will be held in check due to the rear legs being bolted to the front legs.

 insurance

I am also going to put a 'X' brace on the back up close to the top of the rear legs. With the lower stretcher it should help keep the legs parallel and from spreading. The stock for this is 1/2" thick. I am also doing this because I like the look of a 'X' brace.

The thickness of the maple stock is 7/8" which surprised me. It looked to be 3/4" but I wasn't expecting 7/8". 

 time to fix this

I keep meaning to do this and today was the time to do it. The right outside end tends to drop below the surface of the benchtop. That can be annoying when I am chiseling stock there.

not going nutso

I was surprised to see that I had two biscuits already here. I added one more at each end and another to left of the right end one.

 almost done

I am happy with the fit and it being flush with the benchtop. I added a 5/16" spax screw lower down between the two bolts. I got lucky with having one (wanted two) in my collection of screws and things.

 a day of surprises

The cherry dowels came in and I found out something about these dowels. I thought the mini dowels were '1x'. I am going to have to find a new hole to keep the dowels in now. I don't have room in their current location for all of the dowels.

These are kind of expensive too I just realized. The 1x and 2x are about 65-70 cents apiece. The mini ones are cheaper but I don't know by how much. So far after using these for several years I predominately use the minis the most followed by the 1x. Can't recall ever using the 2x ones.

banding came in

As I was typing this and looking at the pic I saw that I have 3 different types of banding. The 1/8" wide inlays are two different designs. I may not have enough of it to do what I want again.

 close enough

These two are different but you have to eyeball the two closely to see it. I don't intend to 'inlay' either one of these. I plan to simply glue them to the box.

 where I got it

He has a lot of bandings/inlay for sale. I looked into how to make this - read and watched a lot of You Tube videos - decided it wasn't for me. I'll write a check and thank whoever I buy it from.

 gap

This has been bugging me every since made these drawers and filled them up. I've been meaning to make a small open box to fit in this hole. 

 gave me fits

The box has mitered corners and I'll strengthen it by gluing a 1/8" plywood bottom on it. The ends are 1 5/8" wide and I didn't have any hiccups shooting the miters. I thought due to the box size I would. 

The miters also drank up a gallon of glue. I sized the miters twice before applying glue for a third time and clamping it up. Because the ends were short I had to overlap the corner braces. That made squaring the box a bit of a PITA but I finally managed to get the diagonals within a 32nd.

no hiccups

My last memories of planing maple still give me nightmares. It was a horrible experience which led me to forsake using maple for anything. The #80 made some fluffy shavings but it didn't remove the planer ripple entirely. The #3 ate 'em up like a kid eating candy.

I started out slow advancing the iron until it just was barely making a shaving. Kept at that until I felt comfortable making shavings end to end with it. The #3 behaved and it removed all the planer ripple marks and left the board flat, smooth, and shiny looking. I am going to try and use planes to smooth all the stock and leave it as close to 7/8" thick as I can.

 rear leg top angle

Refining the angle and I was slowly creeping up on it. I want this angle to bear its entire length up against the stop on the front leg. I stopped doing that here and I'll pick it back up in the AM.

 bottom ones are done

These might need to be refined based on how well the top one fits against the stop. 

accidental woodworker

kitchen stool/ladder........

Thu, 01/30/2025 - 3:27am

 Made a road trip to Koszela lumber this AM. I found the cherry and while waiting my turn I found a pile of maple for a good price so I bought some. Decided then and there to make a maple prototype because I have never made anything out of maple before. I have tried using maple a couple of times many, many, many moons ago but they all ended with me having a pile of maple kindling. But I have a good feeling about giving maple a reprieve. I'll see what shakes out in the next couple of days.

 happy with this

I have two coats of shellac on this after sanding and scraping the shelf. There was a rather ugly looking patch above my finger but shellac is a wonderful finish. It has blended and smoothed it out and made it disappear.

Last night I went back to the shop and got another coat on the bottom. Before I left for Koszela lumber I put another coat on the entire bookshelf.

happy face on

All of the cherry is straight and flat still. None of them did any stupid wood tricks overnight. 

 $100.24

One 4/4 cherry board 7" wide by 4' long and three maple boards planed to 13/16" and averaging about 5 1/2" wide by 8' long. Had them cut off at 3' on each board so I could get them all inside the truck cab with me.

 calling it done

I'm nixing putting poly or oil on the shelf. I got four more coats of shellac on it and that is sufficient. I'll bring it upstairs and let it cure for a couple of days before I put the books back in it.

 disappointed in this

I am not a happy camper with the cherry dowels. I fussed over them for a while trying to get a match between the two for color and grain. The one on the left pops out with the right one being shy and unnoticeable. The walnut ones look good and the they should lighten as time goes on. Especially so the left side which gets the morning sun. The right side gets partial afternoon sun.

right side

This side isn't as bad as the left but still not ideal IMO. In hindsight maybe I should have used walnut 2x dowels instead cherry.

trying it

This was $7 at Koszela lumber and I bought one. I am not optimistic that I'll get to use the whole bottle. Usually the nozzle clogs shut on me or the contents harden into stone.

 $6 at Wally World(?)

This is what I usually buy in super glue. One of these has a clogged nozzle and the other has a ton of crusty, dried glue smothering it. Seemed a bargain to me to get a bazillion more ounces for a dollar more.

 from yesterday

These are two pieces I got from the board from hell yesterday. I checked both for twist and they still had some. The good news is they looked like they didn't grow more of it. Before I flattened the new cherry board, I removed the twist from these two.

 kicking my butt

Before this check I had removed the twist. The sticks were barely a frog hair off parallel from each other. However, the helicopter test failed. On the opposite diagonal, the stick laid flat. On this diagonal it is spinning - there is a hump but it also tells me that the board was still twisted. Went back to the twist sticks and planed the frog hair difference off and the diagonals agreed after that.

The second board was easier to do than the first one. It behaved and I got the twist sticks dead nuts parallel before passing the helicopter check.

front leg

Traversed the board at a slant R to L and L to R, then straight across followed up by planing it straight across end to end with the #6. After that I smoothed the board with the 5 1/2 and checked it for twist.

 did it in thirds

Boards over 30" in length I will check for twist in multiple positions. This board is 41" long and I checked and planed twist out every 14". There was twist at the first third and almost nothing at the other two spots.

I used to only check for twist between the two ends of the boards. That has bit me on the arse too many times. I also inevitably will have a hump in the middle of the board. I have mistaken planing that away with removing twist. Doing the twist check in multiple spots has gotten flatter and straight boards for me.

reference face done

The board is pristine and dead nuts flat. There are undulations still but for running it through the lunchbox it is more than adequate. I left the board wider than needed. After it is planed to thickness and the leg cut out the off cut will be used for a X brace on the back legs.

opposite face

I did this on all the boards. This one is cupped on this face and I knocked down the wing high points and then I went across the width end to end because I had the time to do it. I'll sticker this and let it get any stupid wood tricks out of its system.

 cherry kitchen stool/ladder stock

The top boards are the stretcher and X brace. From Left to Right, the front legs, treads, and rear legs. Still not used to how little wood this project is taking.

prepping the maple

Breaking the maple down into the parts needed was batting first.

 maple kitchen stool/ladder stock

This is already planed to thickness but I intend to run it all through the lunchbox to clean up the planer ripple marks in every single board. I planed one edge square to a reference face.

 stickered

Depending upon the weather but mostly how this behaves will determine when I run all the stock through the lunchbox planer. Today would have been a good day for it because the temp got up to 50F (10C). That almost felt a heat wave after the bitter cold of the past weeks. The weather sucks because there is nothing by cloudy skies and rain in the forecast for the next 10 days. If I have to wait that will at least give the stock a chance to acclimate to the shop.

 cherry

I will have to find a hole for the maple to sticker in the boneyard tomorrow. I can't leave it on the tablesaw.

 presents for me

The bottom one is from McMaster-Carr and that is the one I want the most.

aluminum tubing

This is 1/8" thick walled rectangular aluminum tubing. The other choices were brass, bronze, various steels, and cast iron. Aluminum was the cheapest and I can cut it on the tablesaw. The plan is to use this as a stop for the rear legs.

 Lee Valley haul

All I wanted from them was the two magnets for the 5/8" door catches. But in order to get free shipping I had to raise the order up $50. Bought a couple of heavy duty hinges and some square drive bits for my Yankee screwdriver.

 insert driver

If I remember this is for a 5/16" internal thread, threaded inset. This one works differently then my other insert drivers. 

 for chair making

On my bucket list is to make at least one chair. I have the patterns for a Chris Schwarz chair that is patiently waiting for me. Lee Valley says this is for drilling pilot holes for chair spindles/tenons. It came with imperial and metric bushings for drill bits.

I'll have to think of something to amuse myself with tomorrow because it is supposed rain all day long off and on. 

accidental woodworker

started the new project.....

Wed, 01/29/2025 - 3:14am

I didn't go on walk about after lunch today. After a couple of days of the foot feeling much better it was acting up. It doesn't hurt like it did at its peak but it is still uncomfortable walking. I wouldn't have made it out of the driveway before I had to turn around back to the barn. I'll give it another week and see how it shakes out then.

yikes

This looks like total crappola. I had brought it up to the kitchen yesterday after I had glued in the dowels to cook. Those looked ok and this should spruce up after a coat of shellac.

flushed the dowels

I sawed them first with the flush cut saw and that left only a frog hair or two for the chisel to attack.

thinking on this

I didn't like the lines in the finish from the books. I am considering one of these two for the shelf top. The rest of the bookshelf will be shellac.

considered and shit canned

I briefly entertained making a prototype out these 2x4s. I would lose too much on the width due to squaring up the rounded edges.

 going with cherry

Decided to make the kitchen ladder out of cherry because I didn't feel like going to Lowes to buy over priced poplar or red oak. I can get the treads from the two pieces on the shit can and the tall, thin board will give up one short and long leg.

 had to back track

I had two thin width cherry boards that I thought I get all four legs from. I was wrong. I can get two short and one long or two long ones. I tried stretching them but that was a bust. I'll have to make a road trip to Koszela Lumber in the AM.

double, triple checking myself

I laid the boards on the full scale drawing and it confirmed that I can't get all four legs from this. I thought about shortening the ladder but I like the height of this one. I had another cherry board that was 10" wide that I sawed out a piece for the last leg.

 the go, no go

If I didn't have to cut off splits at the end I would have had enough to get the four legs. The short ones would have been a 1/4" to 3/8" shorter than the drawing.

two long legs

I got lucky with the cherry I have to work with. It is flat sawn but the grain runs fairly straight and parallel to outside edges. It is rough sawn and I'm shooting to plane it out to 7/8" thick. In this rough state it is over an inch thick.

not much wood needed

The ladder needs only a few pieces of cherry. Four legs, two treads, one stretcher, and a dowel. I'm using a 1 1/8" diameter one because I have several of them on hand.

prep time

I will flatten one face, get it straight and twist free. I will thickness them with the lunchbox planer.

hiccup time
 

This board was throwing a hissy fit. There was hump around the middle - the straight edge was spinning like a helicopter rotor. Took a lot of calories to remove it. These are the legs and they not only have to be twist free, but straight end to end.

problem children

To make things easier for myself I sawed the 10" wide board in half. It will be quicker to flatten them as two thin boards vice a wide one.

 straight as a dog's hind leg

I put a 4 foot straight edge on the flat portion of the leg to gauge how much the far end is screwing me. I set this one aside and flattened the other one first. It dipped a wee bit but not as much as this one. 

problem board

I removed a lot of wood straightening out the dog leg end on this board. I don't think I will get my 7/8" finished thickness. Some of this tear out will be sawn off but not 100%. I may have to put a dutchman in here.

this is bad news

I was criss crossing here and it didn't matter because I still tore out chunks of cherry both ways. I was still trying to flatten this and I was thinking I could put this down at the bottom of the leg. Plus the lunchbox planer might remove some of it and I could fill it in with putty.

ten minute pit stop

Had to do this by hand. I only sharpen this iron on the 3 stones, no stropping.

camber guide

I made this to camber the iron based on a radius recommended by Paul Sellers. I think it is 7 1/2" but I'm not sure. I didn't know that I had saved it. This is the only cambered iron I have. It is for the #6 which I only use for flattening stock.

 what has to disappear

The other side looks to be about the same amount I had to plane. I did that and the ends were in line but in between them was a hollow. I dropped a ton of calories removing that but eventually I got it straight (according the 4' straight edge) end to end.

 dog leg gone

This was just the start of the nightmare of trying to flatten the 2nd board. The opposite is cupped upwards and all I was trying to do was to get this side flat-ish, flip it and straighten out the side with the hump. That never happened because I never got even reasonably close to getting this side anywhere near flat.

got fooled

Got this face flat-ish but not twist free. I see sawed back and forth trying to remove the twist. One end would twist but the opposite one didn't. I tried doing it in halves, thirds, and quarters and the twist was having a field day screwing with me.

 coffee break

I checked the board before the coffee break and I was one line off flat. When I came back down to the shop ten minutes later I was 3 lines off flat. Called No Mas here. There must be a lot of tension in this board and it is going to continue to go nutso on me.

 cut it in half

I stickered these two along with the other boards. I expect these two be pretzels in the AM. Fingers crossed the other boards don't do any stupid tricks on me.

 looking better

I got two coats on it and a lot of the ugliness is gone. There is still a hint of it here and there so I will definitely need to slather on more shellac.

 O1 annealed tool steel bar stock

I got this from McMaster-Carr. The plan is to cut off a piece, bend a foot, and I'll have a router plane iron. I haven't thought the plan through all the way yet. I'll use heat to bend it to form the foot. Not sure how I'll flatten the foot into a triangle shape for the cutting edge. I bought annealed stock so I can harden it after I make the iron (if I can).

I had ordered something for the kitchen ladder too but it didn't come in this order. That is coming tomorrow according to McMaster-Carr and UPS.

accidental woodworker

new project......

Tue, 01/28/2025 - 3:44am

The left foot is still hurting a wee bit. It is lingering and being a PITA. In spite of that I have gotten 4 days in the shop with AM and PM sessions. Feels good to be on my feet in the shop and not molding my A-cheeks to a chair cushion. I'm going to try walking tomorrow after lunch. I will see how long I can go before the foot starts acting up, if it does. Fingers and toes crossed that I can do my whole walk about without any pain or tripping.

 hmm....

I have had this inlay banding for a bazillion years and it occurred to me I could use it on this box. I was thinking of running one above the feet and another one flush with the top of the (bottom) box.

another option

I think this is a dyed veneer that I could cut into strips and place it between the legs or on top of it? Nixed it because I didn't think I could cut out the strips evenly.

 I like this look

However, it isn't going to work because I don't have enough of it. I don't have enough to go around the box just at the top and bottom neither. So I went back to where I bought this and there wasn't any to be had. So I bought a different set of inlays - one a 1/4" wide and another set of 1/8" wide. Both have the same pattern just different widths. Went this way because I bought all the 1/4" wide that was available. So I will put the 1/8" at the top and the 1/4" above the legs.

 sigh

This end is opened up a wee bit too - only about a 1/4" or so. This is a partial long grain to an end grain connection. I think that I didn't get a sufficient amount of glue on the long grain part of the shelf.

 closed up

I clamped the shelf at the front and back and the gap closed up easily and without any whimpering. I will use the Miller Dowels to 'nail' the shelf to the ends.

 sometimes you get lucky

I was just going to layout for the dowels in each end but I had some 2x cherry Miller dowels. 

 I didn't know I had them

I have four that I need to secure the shelf with a few left overs.

 checking myself

Making sure that I didn't drill the hole too deep for the dowel. I have done that before due to not paying attention. I did good on these four.

 ready to glue in

Before I glued in the dowels I clamped the ends fully seating the shelf in the dadoes in the ends.

 checking the other ones

This a walnut and maple bookshelf. I made this one after the cherry one. It is basically the same except I raised the shelf upwards on this one. That allowed me to utilize the space underneath it. I have 5 other of these (all pine), 3 that I use and  none of them had any gaps between the shelf and the ends.

 1x Miller dowel

The back slat on the bottom right one is loose - the glue bond broke. I will put two Miller Dowels into each end of both slats.

 flushing the 2x dowels

The paper raises the saw up just enough so that it doesn't scratch the finish.

 first use

Tried my new flush chisel to trim the proud 2x dowels.

 didn't work

The new chisel was sharp enough and was effortlessly trimming the proud. What killed it was it was flexing. Initially it was flushing trim but as I progressed through sweeping the chisel across the dowel it was riding up. I could feel the chisel flexing as I used it. Maybe a wider width chisel would work better at this than this 1/2" wide one.

 might as well

Decided to clean and smooth out the old finish. I am going to only do the surfaces that show after books are in it.

hmmm.....

I can see lines going across the shelf that the books made. Some of them span the entire width. Cleaning and smoothing them out proved to be a PITA. I had to use a card scraper to remove them.

had an oops here

There is a dutchman here but I don't remember why I did it. At least it is at the back where it isn't seen.

 second dutchman

This one I remember doing. There was a big pocket of pitch/gum here. 

not waiting

Rather then wait for the cherry dowels to come I will use walnut. I don't mind mixing the woods and I think the walnut will provide a nice contrast.

 ready for the dowels

I couldn't get the bottom right slat to fully seat and close the gap. I'm sure that has to do with the larger 2x dowels already cooked and fixing the shelf/ends in place.

 my nemesis

I'm sure it is laughing at me but once a book is here it will be muffled.

y

The back slats are angled and aren't parallel to the back edge. The bottom edge of each slat at is about 3/16" further away from the back edge then the top edge. It was little tricky to layout and I double, tripled checked myself three times. I didn't have any blowouts - the slats are only a 1/2" thick.

 new project

This is something I have only done once before. I am doing a full scale drawing of it. This is a folding, two step ladder. I have made a couple of kitchen step stools/ladders and this one is a little different. This one will collapse to a depth of about  4" and will have a grab bar at the top to hold on to. 

 done

The drawing is only a side view. I don't need a frontal or a back one to make this. The side view gives all the critical angles.

 

 small scale model

I made model legs because I wanted to check/confirm my angles and eyeball how the splay of the legs looked. The angles appear to be spot on and I like the amount of the splay. Seeing something 3D tells me more than a drawing can.

 potential hiccup?

The front leg will fold inside of the back leg. The top of the back leg will pivot and the heel of the angle might bind as it pivots down to close up.

 pivot point secured

It was easier to find the center of the two legs then I thought. Secured the two with a 8-32 screw and nut. With this setup the back leg pivoted without binding or rubbing the board on the stop on the front leg.

There will be a stop of some kind here. There won't be anything else to stop the back leg when opening up the ladder. The top front angle will bear against the stop and hold the back leg in place. More importantly it will keep the back leg from moving once it hits the stop. I have a few ideas for the stop but nothing concrete yet.

 rounded it a wee bit

In the above pic the 'problem' corner cleared the stop but barely. I knocked it down with a rasp removing the hard edge of it. Ready to build once I get the wood for it.

tung oil box

This is still not dry. With the lid closed, upon opening it, it sticks. The finish doesn't feel tacky anywhere though. I have the box 2 feet away from a radiator to help it cure but it has been a couple weeks. I'll keep an eye on it and keep checking it.

accidental woodworker

cherry cupboard is done........

Mon, 01/27/2025 - 3:32am

It was ooh and aah time this AM. The tile had set up overnight and it was secure and not moving. This is only the 3rd cherry project that I can remember making. The first was a cherry clock I made about 35 years ago. The second was a shelf that I finally put up on a wall in the bedroom. That only took about 4-5 years to get done. The 3rd cherry project is this cupboard.

I have mostly worked in pine through the years I think for two reasons. The first was pine is cheaper than hardwoods. The second one is my skill level. While it has improved I was of the opinion that it was not good enough to risk butchering a pile of nice hardwoods. That changed with the completion of this cupboard. I think I have now finally arrived at the point where my skill over rides my apprehension about messing up using hardwood. 

 this surprised me

This is a steep angle but the magnets are still holding the door shut. Tipped another 10° the magnets let go and the door opened. I have zero doubt about the magnets being able to keep the door closed with the cupboard hanging on a wall.

 first glamour pic

I am not a photographer, nor do I want to be one. I'm woodworker who snaps pics of things I make. I have read about how to photograph projects and reduce background distractions. I even tried it a couple of times and decided it wasn't worth the calorie count for me. I really like how the purple colors of the tile play against the cherry. 

 interior shot

Adjustable shelf with five positions. The entire cupboard is made from solid cherry except for the back. That is an MDF panel with cherry veneer on both faces.

 drawers

The drawers will hold a lot of stuff. Cherry fronts with pine sides and back and drawer slips. The bottom is 1/4" plywood with what looks to me like pine on the up face. If I make another one of these I will cut down the height of the drawers and increase the space behind the door.

 side pic

Most all the cherry I used is flat sawn. For the door stiles and rails I tried to use rift sawn or as close to it as I could.

the back

Left the back end of the drawer opening, open. I did that because of the size restriction I could buy for the cherry back panel. On the second one of these I'll enclose it with a cherry panel. Still haven't fixed the boo-boo caused by the nail in the lower left corner.

 as a comparison

This was the prototype cupboard I did first in pine. I changed a couple of the dimensions (width about the same/depth & height increased) and hinge/knob details. Other than that it is the sibling I used to learn some tricks for doing the cherry one.

interior shot

Adjustable shelves which I think are a must unless the cupboard is purposefully built for specific storage items. The back is the same as the cherry one - the drawer opening at the back is open too.

I might change the moldings if or when I make a 2nd one. My wife got confused with the moldings and couldn't see initially what was the top and what was the bottom (the drawers weren't in it then). She also loves it which is a rarity with her. She is actively looking for a spot to hang it.

 forgot a 4th one

Saw this while I was typing this blog post. I made a cherry table book shelf. I have made a bazillion of these mostly in pine. I also made one of walnut and maple but I think that one is in the boneyard somewhere.

 the other end

The windows are getting the full morning sun - they sit about 10 degrees off dead east to the north. I saw a problem with this end. The dado is opening up at the end. I could put a letter opener into it about an inch and a half. I'll have to bring it to the shop and reglue it. Or better than that, screws or miller dowels.

accidental woodworker

PS ordered 1x and 2x cherry miller dowels from Taylor Toolworks - both were on sale.

...and I wait again.....

Sun, 01/26/2025 - 3:43am

 I thought today I would be posting the glamour shots of the cherry cupboard. It didn't happen boys and girls. I think I'm done working on it but I have to wait (24hrs) for the tile on the door to cook. I got that done and I'm going to clean up and finish a few other projects I started and stopped. Haven't picked what is next in the queue to occupy my limited attention span.

 door magnet and cup

It felt solid this AM. I resisted the urge to check it before I hit the rack last night. I had to give the epoxy time to cook upstairs where it was warmer than the shop.

 it is pulling

The door closed and stayed that way. More importantly the door magnet and cup didn't get sucked out and pulled onto to the inside carcass magnet. The attraction between the two magnets is pulling the two together at about this point. It is a strong bond but not too bad to pull the door open against.

 nope

I titled the carcass forward and the door stayed closed. I wasn't sure if the two magnets would be strong enough to keep the door shut. Not sure if it will pass this same test with the tile glued on. I'll try that tomorrow.

happy with this

I like the low profile of this door catch. I thought of painting the magnet black but I'm leaving it as is. 

 yikes

This was the first nail I tried to drive home on the back. It didn't go well for me. The first two nails bent with the second one giving me fits trying to pull it out. I had to drill a pilot hole for this and all the other nails. I wasn't expecting the cherry to throw such a hissy fit with driving brads into it. I will touch up the area around the nail with shellac.

road trip upcoming

I thought I had some gorilla construction adhesive left but I must of tossed it in the shitcan. I almost went to Lowes to buy another one when I remembered ACE is a two minute drive away. Picked up a tube there to glue the tile to the panel.

 feet for the box

I had to spend a few calories evening out the feet - the angles were off. I didn't try to get all four to be within +/- two atoms, just the two front ones and the two back ones.

 not exciting me much

After gluing these on I wasn't getting a complete warm and fuzzy with them. They looked bland on the box although it didn't rock at all. I think they need something else to unify their placement on the box. I'll think about it over night.

I saw a pic of a kitchen step ladder that I got an itch to make. I spent over an hour trying to find some ladder hardware. What I found wasn't inspiring in the least. It also looked they like the two spreaders were the same. I think they should be mirror images of each other - a left and right hand version. I have the cheapest ones I could find in a basket while I decide whether or not to buy them.

accidental woodworker

cherry cupboard penultimate edition.......

Sat, 01/25/2025 - 3:30am

 It seems I'm not alone with bone chilling temps. Every blog I read I see that there are people worse off than I am. I have seen temps down into the minus single digits F. This weather is here to stay in my part of the universe for at least ten more days due to the extended forecast. It may be freezing cold but we haven't seen much in the way of the white stuff. We have at around 10 more weeks for a white blanket to be dropped.

 white as a sheet

I had to plane the chamfer and the front edge to remove a lot of dings, dents, and other causalities inflicted on it by Miles and Leo. Eventually it will mellow out and match the rest of the lid. In the interim I will leave it in the sun as much as I can.

still not done

I got the OS loaded yesterday and configured all the computer settings I wanted. I had play around pushing a lot of buttons because I had forgotten how to do a couple of them - like shutting off the time out. This AM I got Firefox, YouTube, and my mail set up. Of course I spent/wasted a lot of time hunting down where I hid the passwords for them.

 it is a Stanley #52

I'll be rehabbing this one now that I have the iron headache straightened out. I had already flattened the sole so all I have to do is strip and paint it.

 touched up

These are two Preston spokeshaves that I have in the grandson's toolchests. I checked the irons, touched them quickly, and road tested them.

no problems

The handles on the Preston spokeshaves weren't so awkward feeling today. They still are larger than the Stanley or Record ones but they didn't feel funny today. Made shavings easily with both of the them.  The bottom one has a flat sole and the top one a convex one.

 Stanley #2

This is in the grandson's toolchest. I gave it to them because of the size of it. I think is sized just right for young, smaller hands. Works just as well as its larger siblings.

 nope

In spite of now being able to set it up correctly I couldn't get it sharpen this iron. It kept slipping and shifting while using it. I cranked down on the screws and made promises to it but to no avail. As soon I bore down and applied even a little bit of pressure, the iron would slip. I had this same problem with the LV honing jig for chisels and plane irons. I sharpened this one by hand.

 working as it should

Rounded over the edge and also made some full width face shavings. After sharpening the irons it was like I never had any headaches at all with these.

 Preston chamfer spokeshave

Took a detour and starting playing around with the Preston chamfer spokeshave. No problems making chamfers, with or against the grain, and both pulling or pushing it.

 they aren't even

Did something wrong to get this to come out as is. I think it was because I didn't use the same guide fence as my reference when making the chamfer on both sides.

 even

The pic shows the chamfers to be a little skewed but they aren't. The ends are a bit wonky due to that is where the spokeshave first engages the wood. It will take some practice to eliminate that hiccup. I used the same fence as my reference when planing it on both sides. 

within a frog hair

I wasn't trying to do this - it came out this way based on how far apart I had set the two fences. There is a thin flat sliver where the two toes come together.

 smallest chamfer

This is the smallest chamfer I could make with it. I don't know how to adjust this for a specific chamfer - so far it has been me just moving the fences in/out from the center. I will keep playing with it because I want to be able to do asymmetrical chamfers, ie, where the two faces of the fences aren't equidistant on the edge. 

 done

I put 5 coats on it because 3 didn't look good to my eye. I rubbed it down with Howards feed 'n wax and 4-0 steel wool. This will live next to the boxes of shelf pins and cups.

 done

I lost two screws but I have plenty of extras. I brought this upstairs and put it in a corner in the bedroom - it will get the afternoon sun everyday it shines.

 cup or a plate

Decided to use the smaller catch. The larger 5/8" is way too big. It would be like squirrel hunting with a bazooka. The magnetic attraction of a 5/8" is way too strong. With the smaller one I have a choice of using the cup with a second magnet or the plate and one magnet.

the winner

I am going with a magnet in the catch and one in the cup. That should be sufficient to attract and hold the door shut.

wee bit awkward

I am slapping myself on the back for leaving the back of this off. It was a borderline postal PITA starting this screw.

 I was due for a fuzzy pic

Gimlets to the rescue again. This is the smallest gimlet I have and it is the perfect size for pilot holes for a #4 screw.

 2nd attempt

I screwed up the first attempt - I didn't set it back from the edge to account for the door. Instead I set it flush with the edge. Set it back and drilled another pilot hole and this one wasn't far enough from the edge (no I didn't measure, I eyeballed it). I tried to file it because I needed to push it back about a 16th. That didn't work.

 3 times was the charm

Had to drill a 3rd pilot hole and that one worked. The catch has about a 1/8" wiggle room to shift it in/out. I got lucky that the 3rd hole covered the 2nd hole. The first hole is not covered and is left for everyone to see.

 hmm.....

The cup is a 1/2" OD and the plate is a 3/8" OD. The 1/2" one is too close to the edge.

 barely

There is a sliver of wood missing on the edge right where this hole would be. If it wasn't missing I would attempt to drill the hole. Instead I'm going to move the center downward a wee bit.

flush

It took a while to do this. I would drill some and check. I used a fortsner bit and I didn't have a drill stop to help me out. 

 another broken screw

I tried it out and it worked and didn't work. The magnet sits in the cup proud of the door so I had to drill the depth for the cup down a few more frog hairs. Of course the ^*@%)*@_)#%(&@*$_@)%*@Q*)_#@*_ screw broke off.  I couldn't get it out but I was able to push it out of the way with a nail punch.

 fingers crossed

I might have made it a few frog hairs too deep (maybe). I'm hoping that the two magnets will still be close enough to be able to attract each other.

it worked

Well it kind of worked. The door did close and the attraction and pull was sufficient. However, the magnet in the cup got sucked out and stuck to the magnet in catch. I would super glue the cup and magnet but I nixed that. I have used superglue with these magnets and plates/cups before and it didn't work. Initially it works and secures the magnets/cups/plates but eventually the bond fails. I used 5 minute marine epoxy because that is the only 5min stuff I had.

failed

I waited 15 minutes and tried to shut the door. The magnets attracted and pulled the door shut. When I opened it the cup and magnet from door were stuck to door catch magnet. I put the magnet and cup back in its hole and brought it upstairs to cook where it is warm. I'll wait until the AM before I check it again.

accidental woodworker

warmed up some.......

Fri, 01/24/2025 - 3:46am

 The temp was a balmy 16F (-9C) this AM. When I went grocery shopping this AM it wasn't that bad. The wind wasn't blowing which made it seem like it was warmer than what it was. The next 10 days at night will have average temps in the low 20's. 

it's toast again

This version of Linux Mint I got is buggy. Problems with the audio and funny business with updates along with occasional freezes. Yesterday it went off into Linux La La Land and this AM it was still there. Didn't want to do it but I blew in a clean, buggy Linux OS again.

tight

After one coat the lid opening/closing is tight. I wasn't expecting it to be this snug after just one application. 

 came yesterday

Bought a set of 4 for $8. One was selling for $15.

 fixing the lid

Sanded the top and outside edges of the rabbets. Kept at until the lid slid in/out with ease.

fixed (?)

Sanded the rabbets until the lid fell off when the box went almost vertical. Not only do I have to account for the shellac but the expansion of the lid come summer.

 not worth it

Another cheaply made chinese product. It is goat hair (supposedly) but it is poorly made. A lot of the hairs got deposited on the box and the toy box lid. It isn't as full (thick) as the 1" brush I have used for over 5-6 years.

 so far so good

I had one minor glitch with the first install and I had to start again. I forgot to pick erase and format the hard drive before loading the OS.

 acting up too

It is looking like the Windows laptop is jealous of the attention I'm giving to the Linux computer. The mouse isn't working like it should. When I click on something, nothing happens. The computer froze on me and I couldn't even shut it down. After 3 fits and starts it was working but I was still experiencing a lot of wait time after a mouse click.

while Linux loads

This is a Paul Sellers jig for sharpening spokeshave irons. I had 5 spokeshaves to sharpen.

sharp cures all

Got a burr on the back, a shiny bevel, stropped it, and did a road test. It was like I had never had any problems with a spokeshave before. I was able to make shavings pushing and pulling it. Problem solved? Time will tell.

 first time

Doing a round over was hiccup free and spokeshaving a whole width face was a first for me. No problems making shavings pushing or pulling. I tried it on both faces and got shavings equally so on both.

 2nd on

I don't know the number of this Stanley spokeshave. This one doesn't have an adjustable iron. I set the iron with a hammer. Rounded over the end hiccup free. 2 for 2 so far.

 3rd spokeshave

#3 making shavings and it seems that I didn't sharpen the irons properly. I don't remember how or when I did them the first time. Got a burr and that is probably what I didn't get on the first go around. 

 round bottom sole

I didn't feel any difference in this one over the ones I used before it. The only thing I had to do with it was tip it backwards more so then them.

ditto

This is a round bottom soled Record. Other than that it is identical to the one above. No problems making shavings with this one.

 Preston spokeshave iron

This one wasn't working for me. It was clogging after taking 1-2 shavings. The iron is sharp because it is easily chamfering this pine.

 it was a senior moment

I had the iron in backwards which explains why it was clogging. This Preston spokeshave has the tightest mouth of all of my spokeshaves. This felt a little awkward to use - the handles are larger than the other spokeshaves. I'm sure that I will get use it with time.

 Preston spokeshave sole

This is a flat soled spokeshave and you can see how tight the mouth is. The iron in this can't be adjusted laterally neither. The adjusting nut advances the iron straight down. The Preston iron is also unique and there aren't any to be had in the wild. I searched for months and never even got the slightest hint of one.

 came after lunch

These are the only two sizes that Lee Valley offers. I think the 5/8" one is too big for the cherry cupboard door. The smaller one isn't giving a warm and fuzzy it is up to the task.

 wrong cups

I have a boatload of these super strong magnets and cups. I had ordered the wrong size cups for the small one but I had plenty of them.

 don't have any

I ordered the wrong size magnets for this and I don't have any in my stash. However, I did get lucky and I was able to add them to an order I had placed with Lee Valley just before lunch. Should have the magnets for this next week?

 the smaller one

The magnet in this is only 3/8" diameter. The attraction is stronger if you use the cup. I still don't think this is strong enough to keep the cherry door closed. I might feel better about that if the cherry was 3/4" vice 7/8" thick and there wasn't a 8x8 tile glued to the panel. Looks like another delay upcoming.

 new tool

There have been more than a few instances where I could have used a chisel like this. Finally bit the bullet and bought the 1/2" one - couldn't afford to buy the set. It is with regret I'm buying this too because I had 3 dog leg japanese chisels that I sold about 12 years ago. I didn't know how to sharpen then and I couldn't sharpen them so I sold them.  This 1/2" chisel is PM-V11 which I didn't know as I thought I had bought the O1 version.

  foot long

I got this so I can flush tenons and mortises and anything else of interest. This will satisfy my curiosity about PM-V11 tool steel too. It supposedly holds an edge for a long time?

 when I found out

If I need another one of these I'll just have to buy the chisel end. The handle unscrews and can be used for all the chisels in the set.

 big difference

The one on the left is thicker and fuller than the chinese one on the right. It is floppy and it doesn't drink up as much shellac as the left one can. I think I'll be buying the $15 dollar one now. The right doesn't leave brush marks but it doesn't feel right using it to lay down shellac.

 hmmm........

The iron was shifting in the Paul Sellers jig when I remembered I had this. I tried using it before on a spokeshave but it didn't work out for me.

 read the instructions this time

The shiny spots are from the first and only time I tried using this. After reading the instructions I realized what I had done wrong. I'll be trying it out tomorrow on the last two spokeshaves I have left to sharpen.

accidental woodworker

Pages