Accidental Woodworker

 I think I figured out a way to saw the miters on the 'L' molding. I wish it had lit up the brain bucket when mitering the first moldings. I had to rob the wood buying kitty to buy another molding this AM. I have over 6 feet of it left for something else. I asked at Lowes and they don't sell it other than 8' lengths. I think Home Depot sells short lengths but I go mostly to Lowes.

step one

I thought of this last night while watching Person of Interest. First draw a 45° line from the frame outside toe to the inside heel at each corner.

lines up

The accuracy of this line is paramount. Before I did this I checked to make sure all four corners were dead nuts square and they were.

the way I marked

I would place the molding on the frame and pencil the underside with a pencil. The confusion then was making sure I sawed to the toe or the heel. I ended up leaving an overly generous bit of wiggle room and planed it on the shooting board until it fit.

it worked

The idea was to line up the molding's toe with the outside toe on the frame. Where the heel of the molding touched the line was where I had to saw it. I used the moldings I had sawn yesterday to check and verify this and it worked.

hmm....

Before I went to Lowes I squared up the inside chamfer. I am thinking of leaving it at the 22.5° chamfer. The 45° router bits won't be on my front porch until saturday and I was getting a impatient to finish this frame.

simple

Why didn't I think of this the first time? This was the first one I checked to ensure my method worked. I marked the heel on the molding right where it crossed the pencil line.

dead on

I used the pencil lines to sweeten up the other 3 moldings. I only needed to add one  more molding. The other 3, which I thought were dead on, weren't. I shot all three to lay dead on the 45° pencil lines.

worth its weight in gold and diamonds

I the more I use this gadget, the more I am loving it. This is made by Rob Cosman and at first I was hesitant about buying it because I had to drill a hole in the plane's cheek. I got over that because this #6 is only used to shoot angles on this jig. It is comfortable and my fingers don't ache - there really isn't a good way to grip the plane without it. The biggest helper is I don't have to worry about jamming or nicking my fingers anymore.

dry fit done

Got all four moldings fitted and all the miters look good. Before I install these moldings I will paint the picture frame first. That will be one color and the moldings will be a different color.(blue and black respectively as of now)

bone dry

After dinner last night it felt dry but it also felt cool to the touch. This AM is dry and more importantly I was able to sand it. I sanded up a small pile of dust. If the poly hadn't dried and set up properly the sandpaper wouldn't have made dust. It would gum up and make eraser piles of poly.

pic I missed yesterday

I don't use poly that much anymore but I do remember it being clear with a slight tint of yellow/orange. This is dark and pretty close to looking black.

funny looking

The finish on the pine stick is darkish and it looks like there are dirt particles in it.

no problems here

It may look dark in the can and on the stir stick but it is drying clear on the towel rack. It has a yellowish hue to it but I am looking more for this being water resistant than being clear as glass.

blue

My wife said to paint it leaving the choice of color(s) up to me. Blue is my favorite color so that will be the frame color. I am leaving the edges without paint so I can glue the molding to the frame. I don't want to use any nails/screws to secure the moldings to the frame.

underside first

I got two coats on the underside of the feet and everything will be getting 3. I have one on the underside and I have to wait 4 hours before the 2nd one goes on. I'll try to paint the frame and apply more poly to the towel rack after dinner.

accidental woodworker

My wife has a cold and insists on talking to me. I, on the other hand, am trying to exceed social distancing so she doesn't infect me. We are into day 6 and it isn't getting any better. This AM I spent the entire morning running errands for her. Being that this was Jan 1st a lot of establishments were either closed or opening later than usual. Needless to say I spent a lot of time leaving and coming back to the barn. I finally got the bread she requested for breakfast just after the lunch bell rang.

On to me now and I'm feeling better after my bounce test with the sidewalk. It doesn't hurt to inhale/exhale or cough. I don't ache anymore but I still haven't been able to sleep on my left side. Within a few seconds of trying, my shoulder starts saying hello. It doesn't hurt a lot still but I can still feel it and I can't fall sleep. Maybe another week to heal and that will happen.

8 foot long molding

To kill some time on one of the errands I went to Lowes (which opened at 0900 instead of 0600). I spent some quality time eyeballing the moldings seeking a specific profile. The first one I saw of this was only 3/4" on each outside leg. That wouldn't work for what I wanted. I did see this larger one and I almost had an involuntary bowel movement in aisle 21. $25 to walk out the door with this.

it will work

I thought of using this molding last night but I wasn't sure if Lowes sold it anymore. The pickings in the molding aisle are mighty slim. It will hide the bridle joints which I all that I really wanted the  molding to do. It extends past the bottom of the frame by about a 1/4". It won't matter because the back frame is a 1/2" thick and I'm leaving it as is.

triple points for the home team

I suck pond scum mitering this style of molding. I have a difficult time marking it and also keeping the orientation of the miters correct. All the moldings are long and all the miters are right (going in the right direction). I was feeling good that I wouldn't have to buy another 8' molding.

shouldn't have done it

This was the first molding I shot on the donkey ear jig and I blew it out. For whatever reason I didn't think I would need a backing stick. I was wrong and this molding went south on the express. I found a piece of 8/4 pine and sawed a backing stick.

not perfect

There is a thin ridge in the corner that ran the entire length of the molding. It wouldn't lie flat on the frame until I removed it.

what I chiseled off

A lot bigger than I thought and I can see why it was holding things up.

tiny chamfer

Planed a small chamfer all the way around the outside of the frame. The molding laid up tight after I chiseled the ridge but I did this for just in case.

no hold ups

I checked that all four pieces laid up tight on the frame.

for the towel rack

When I was at Lowes I was going to buy poly but I didn't. This Helmsman varnish was $26 and the other poly was $20. I found this can in the shop and it moved and sounded liquid. I gave it a try later on.

it bit me on the arse

The molding my finger is on needs to be shot for 45. The one to the right was spot on. Things went to shxt with this. I was feeling good that I had shot 3 corners at 90 and I was looking forward to finishing this up. Spoiler alert boys and girls, it didn't happen. The molding was long and I was doing ok with the first 3 times I trimmed and checked it. On the fourth one I sawed too much and made it short. I'll be heading for Lowes tomorrow for a new molding.

hmmm.....

I might as well see how this pans out. I had been thinking about planing a chamfer on the inside edge of the molding. It was easy to knock it. I thought  the toe would be too fragile and break off but it didn't.

I like this

I think the chamfer look better than the rounded edge. 

22.5° chamfer

This is a bit I used when I did formica counters many, many moons ago. I didn't have a 45° 1/4" shank router bit (ordered from Amazon) so I tried this. I like the chamfer but it is too small. I like the angle but I don't want a shallow one - 45 would look better.

varnished the feet

When I opened the can the varnish was dark. (forgot to snap pics of it). When I stirred it the stir stick was dark. There weren't any blobs of finish congealed on the bottom of the can and it didn't smell different? To err on the side of caution I applied some only on the bottom of the feet. The can said 4 hours to dry and recoat so I'll check on it after dinner.

another chamfer

When I was killing the lights I looked at this and thought of chamfering the outside edge too. So I stayed long enough to plane the chamfer. 

I like this

I like how the chamfers flows from the outside edge of the frame to the inside edge of the frame. My initial thoughts are to shellac this but my wife wants a painted frame so paint wins the brass ring.

an hour later

The varnish laid down with a slight darkness to it but an hour later it has that characteristic 'yellow' of poly. It was slightly tacky when I touched it which I considered to be good sign. If this varnish was toast due to its age (3+years?) I would expect it to be tacky and gummy. Fingers crossed for the next check.

accidental woodworker

Today I realized that I have 3 projects going in the shop at the same time. Every now and then I have two but I can't recall the last time (if ever) I've had 3. One is waiting on a finish, the oldest is waiting on parts, and the last one has run into a brick wall. Don't know what is next on the shop project hit parade but I seem to pull something out of my hat to do.

didn't count this one

This is a repair and not a project I just started. No surprises taking the clamps off.

finish problems

It isn't showing well in this pic but the finish seems to have disappeared here. It is rough to the touch and visible as a cracked, bubbly, looking mess. 

end joint

The chamfer is flush but the end grain is a teeny bit off. The opposite end grain is about the same. The top face joint is good - 99.9999% flush from one side to the other.

cleaning it up

Scraped it all - top, bottom, sides, and the back first. Followed that up with 180 grit. I wasn't expecting the finish to have deteriorated this much in such a short amount of time. It looks better after this treatment and I'm on the fence about redoing it again with shellac. The underside looks like it only one coat of shellac and I'm sure I put at least 4 on it.

lots of dings and divots

Along with dings and divots I put some dents in it with the clamps. I planed a fresh, clean, and smooth edge on it.

planing the chamfer

This is the front of the lid and I planed a new chamfer until the corners aligned again.

glued and cooking

Not much more I could do with this so I glued it up and set it aside to cook. Still haven't heard back from Amanda about a pic but I still have time.

final touch up sanding

Dug out my small finger sanders and touched up the towel rack. This is now ready for its finish. I think I'm going to use poly on it and I'm leaning towards oil vice water based. That is something I can get at Wally World still.

backside frame

Cleaned these up and planed them to the same thickness.

ain't working

I let this make me feel like I didn't have opposable thumbs for half an hour before giving up. I'm not sure if it is the pine and its squirrely grain or how I tried to use this tool. Either way the results were absolute crappola squared. I have only tried to use this beader on pine and haven't gotten anywhere with it. I'll watch the LN how to use video on this again and I'll try it on some cherry scraps.

2nd option

These are the irons for my Record 405 which is the English version of the Stanley 45. I picked an iron and didn't even get to try it out. Couldn't figure out a way to hold the molding so I could plane it.

working but.....

I used a 1/4" beading plane on the 1/4" molding blank. The grain reversed a bazillion time over a 24" length. Also found that the molding blank was tapered slightly top/bottom. Needless to say the finished molding wasn't pretty looking.

thin quirk

I like the quirk but I don't have high hopes for it surviving. I still have to plane/sand this face and that may erase the quirk.

taking a lot of calories

After planing the profile I had to sand it. I didn't get one of them to cooperate with the grain. They all tore out along their lengths. 

one extra

One headache doing this was the plane continually jammed but I managed to get the four I need plus one for an oops. Now that it is done I'm not having a warm and fuzzy with the profile. I wanted the top to be round and circular and these are smashed and misshaped. 

3/16" bead

This is the molding I planned on using on the inside of the frame. This molding is also 3/16" thick.

drove me )(^&*@$_)*%)(&Q@ nutso

The 3/16" beading plane jammed far worse than the 1/4" one. However, the 3/16" beader did a better job dealing with the grain but it was chore having to clear the jams after each stroke of the plane.

this gave me fits too

Used this slicing gauge to trim off the quirk. No matter how hard I tried the knife seemed to delight in following the grain out into La La Land.

kind of worked

Used my small tenon plane to smooth and even out the butcher job the gauge did. Ran into the same problems using the tenon plane but this time it also dug in and ripped out chunks. It also wandered off and planed into the round part of the molding.

2 so-so and 2 crappy

Can't use either the small or large moldings as both are crappola. I have done this type of molding before but this sugar pine threw a hissy fit big time.

picture frame

Planed both sides of the frame and for the most part it looks good. This stile has some depressions that popped when I planed it smooth. I will have to fill them in with putty before painting it.

mitering the back frame

On past frames I made me-steaks on sizing this frame. Instead of mitering on the inside of the layout lines I did the outside. I remembered those boo boos today and I didn't screw it up.

dry fit done

This back frame is for the glass, matting, etc. I don't like rabbeting the frame because it places the pics to close to the front face. I like the depth of the pics set into the frame I'm making.

glued and nailed

The back frame is inset a 1/4" from the edge. That is what Maria told me to do. The frame is 1/2" thick and 5/8" wide. The frame also doesn't lay flat on the wall but is proud of it with a shadow line.

waste of time and material

Planed an astragal and tried to make it work but I couldn't. I planed a chamfer on the quirk and placed that against the frame. Didn't like it that way or with it facing out. The big problem is the molding is too wide and it looks clunky on the outside of the frame. Any molding placed here needs to be on the thinner side - a 1/4" max - and there aren't a lot of profiles for a 1/4" to pick and choose from.

I will spend some time on the WWW and see if there are any offerings to be had there. I predict a road trip to Home Depot and Lowes in my not so distant future.

accidental woodworker

The next project is a familiar one, it is a picture frame. I got a pic of the grandsons from Santa so of course that necessitated making a frame for them. I made it wider than I wanted (an addition error) and that left me enough room for a 3rd pic. Hopefully Amanda has one of the both of them or one of her and her husband.

toy box lid

I was surprised that this lid hadn't broken into two boards yet. This is the lid from the toy box I made for them earlier this year (?). I think (hope) this is the last glue failure that I have to deal with from that bad gallon of glue.

center of the lid

The glue bond failed at the top but the bottom of it appears to be adhered somewhat. 

opposite end

Definitely a glue failure on the top but the bottom appears to be glued. I could open it like a book but the bottom wasn't letting go.

clean break

The two came apart cleanly with no chips or chunks missing. I had forgotten I had used biscuits on this. I think the two were what was keeping the bottom of the glue joint together. There is no evidence of glue residue on the edge of either board. There is glue residue in the biscuit slots.

changed lanes

Before I forgot to do it I swapped back to the towel rack. I wanted to get a couple of dowels pinning the feet. I sawed some cherry to 5/16" square and made some dowels.

made 6 but needed only 4

I was going to make them 1/4" but I thought that looked too big so I made them 7/32". I think that was more in scale for this use.

off set

I don't like to put dowels in line with each other. Especially so if they are in the same line of grain. That is just a split waiting to happen. I also switched the slant of them on the opposite foot.

leveling the tenon

I had to trim/saw a wee bit off the tenon on both feet. There are gaps at the bottom on both and I'm glad that I pinned both uprights to the feet.

another change

I didn't like the scale of the bin pulls to the door knob. I had two more of the knobs and I'll be using them for the drawers instead. 

door stop

I sawed 1/8" off the length and that should be sufficient wiggle room for the door to stop against. I chamfered the top edges just so it wouldn't look square-ish and clunky like a block of plain wood.

back to the lid

Paused here to think about how to best glue the lid back together. My initial thoughts were to scrape the edge, apply glue, and clamp it. However, this lid is already finished and I really don't want to have to reapply it. Another sticking point is I want it to align perfectly again. No proud allowed either on the top, bottom, or ends.

what to do with these

I couldn't pull these biscuits out. For whatever reason the glue seemed to work on them. First option I thought of was to plane them flush and make new biscuit slots. However, the center of the lid is flush here on the top and bottom. I didn't want to disturb that and possibly change that so I left them as is.

dowels on each end

The biscuit slots on the end didn't line up. I think when I did them and didn't use the same reference for both boards. Instead of using biscuits I'm going to try out my new dowel max by putting a dowel on both ends.

rubbery glue residue

The glue in the biscuit slots looks and feels like gummy bears. Usually dried glue is hard and brittle but this isn't.

dowel layout

I did good and I didn't screw up the dowel drilling. I double triple checked myself making sure all my check marks all lined up.

dry fit

Couldn't have been happier with how this came out. Both the top and bottom are flush on both faces. There is a frog hair discrepancy on the left side end. That is a minor fix that a couple of swipes with a blockplane will cure lickety split.

glued and cooking

I had to unscrew the hinges on the ends because they were exactly where I wanted the clamps to be. I added two bessey clamps on the top to off set the bottom clamps just in case.

picture frame stock

I thought of making it out of cherry but I want to paint this one. Painting cherry isn't an option but pine is ok. 

one picture frame

The far left 4 are the pic frame. Going to the right the next 4 are the offset for the back of the frame. This is for the glass, matting, etc etc. The next two piles are the stock for the beading molding that I will apply to the outside and inside edges.

bridle joints

Did the bridle joints on the tablesaw. Here I'm trimming the tenons to fit the slot mortises.

screw order came

Made a me-steak on the #6 screws. I ordered oval head instead of flat head. I got the #6 screws as back up in case the #5 screws were too small. Fingers crossed that I won't need them.

room for more

I got the length of the stiles correct but the rails are 2" longer than what I wanted. I was shooting for a 2" spacing between the pics and the inside of the frame. If I scoot the pics outboard a wee bit I can squeeze in another 5x7 in the middle. 

I left the frame rough, one face is more so than the other. If I planed it smooth I would have run the chance of them not being all the same thickness. That would have made making the bridle joints difficult. Instead I will plane it smooth after it has been glued up. 

good fit on the bridle joints

These were going together off the saw but they were on the tighter side of snug. I wanted a slip fit to avoid having the mortise walls split and break.

I'm an idiot

I couldn't leave well enough alone. I tried to move the tenon jig a frog hair over to shave a frog hair off the mortise. That didn't happen but one of the cheek off cuts filled in the brain fart perfectly. And it will all be hidden under the bead molding.

at a loss

I spent most of the day thinking about this - how and where do I put the door catch? I wanted to use magnets but the 1/2" thick door stop is too narrow and the rabbet in the door is too shallow for the magnetic cup. I did come up with a couple of ideas but I didn't like either one of them. I have plenty of time to come up with something.

accidental woodworker

Well it is 99.99% done. All the woodworking is over and it just needs a finish (or not?). I've been thinking about what finish to put on it. Would the shakers have left it unfinished? After all it is a drying rack for wet things. Some options I've been thinking of that would have been available to them are a linseed oil finish, milk paint, varnish, or linseed oil paint. Today linseed oil is a viable choice along with a oil based poly or a water based one. A paint, of any formulation, doesn't give me a warm and fuzzy. An option not available to the shakers is an epoxy based marine paint. Good thing I don't need to pick one by tomorrow.

first cross member

I lost a chip off the tenon. Other than that the fit is good (ie gap free).

ditto

I am not going to obsess about the layout lines. I don't like them on dovetails but for mortise and tenons, I can go either way. When I cleaned these up I didn't check to see if I had planed them off.

cross members done

I wonder what thickness stock the shakers would have used. 7/8" was the normal thickness back then. If I read the scale drawing correctly 3/4" was used.

marking the outside stretchers

I didn't go nutso trying to get the ends of the stretcher overhanging the cross members exactly two inches. Instead I made this end overhang exactly two inches. The other end was 2 1/16th.

setup/test piece

Used this to check the mortise. I had to reset the mortise gauge because this is 1/2" thick vice the 3/4" for everything else. I made that me-steak on the first go around on the top stretchers. 

?????

I spent a lot calories trying to figure this out and I couldn't. Initially I laid out the mortises on the left one and transferred those marks to the right one. I don't know why but I laid the left/right stretchers on the cross members to check them and the right one didn't align. So I marked the right one directly and it was about a 16th off from the left one.

last stretcher mortise

IMO the stretcher mortises came out a little better then the ones I did in the uprights. With the stretcher mortises I placed the stretchers when I was chopping the mortises so I could be in line with the chisel so I could see I was chopping plumb. On the upright mortises I chopped them with the upright at 90° to me so two of the walls I couldn't really see that I was chopping plumb.

good fit

The tenons ended up around 3/8" and they were a tight fit. I used my modelers rasp to trim them to fit the mortises.

stretcher ass'y fitted

I eyeballed this for a few but I couldn't see the mismatch between the two stretchers. They are far enough apart that the minute difference at one end can't be seen.

dry fitted

The feet haven't been done but this has a lightness and simplicity to it.

kerfs

Cut all the kerfs for the wedges on the bandsaw.

shaping the feet

Roughed them out on the bandsaw and used rasps, files, and sandpaper to smooth them out.

oldie but goodie

I bought this when I retired from the Navy in 1994. It was something I had to have and I did use it a lot for the first few years. But as I got into more hand tool work this got used less and less. I can't recall the last time I used it. Broke it out today to clean up the pesky curves - wasn't getting the results I wanted with rasps.

cherry wedges

I think pine wedges are too soft to do any good especially so in these. They are small, both in width and depth. I had some cherry scraps on the tablesaw so I used them to make the wedges.

glued, wedged, and cooking

I let this cook for an hour while I turned my attention back to the cherry cupboard.

done

Chiseled and planed all the tenons/wedges flush. Sanded the arris off all the parts including the feet. Sanded the whole up to 220 grit. The woodworking was done on this.

One last thing I'm still thinking about doing is pinning the uprights in the feet. I have some cherry scraps that I can make a couple of cherry dowels from. I didn't wedge the uprights and I think pinning them can't hurt.

cherry tile frame rail

This is the one I drilled through the rail. I glued in some cherry and it doesn't look too bad as is. However, with the finish applied they will pop. I am going to use the black paint and 'draw' in some gum pockets covering the boo boos.

changing to a knob

I don't like the idea of cutting the screws down and epoxying them in place for the snap catch. I had a couple of oil rubbed bronze knobs to replace the snap catch.

hmm.....

I'm going to have to eyeball this for a few days. The knob and the pulls match in color and initially these don't look out of place together. I have plenty of time to make up my mind about it.

accidental woodworker

 Had a productive day in the shop. It has been a while since I done a AM and PM session. Today I broke that cycle and it felt good. I lost track of time I was so absorbed into working on the towel rack. I should be done with the woodworking on it tomorrow. Of course that is dependent upon whether or not I go me-steak free. But I think it is doable even if I brain fart.

door stop detail

I got two scraps clamped holding the door flush at the front. I marked the inside face of the door on the cabinet side for the door stop.

cupboard latch

I marked the center line of the height but I didn't like the look of the latch centered. Instead I am going to position it so the bottom edge of the latch is on the center line.

rabbet laid out

The rabbet is 1/2" square and an inch wider than the width of the door stop.

not working

I used the dozuki to make the stop cuts but its kerf is narrower than the thickness of this card scraper. I was hitting it hard but it was hardly moving down. Gave up and I chiseled it all out.

rabbet is done

Pleased with how well this came out. The rabbet is clean and crisp in all directions.

door stop fits

The thickness of the stop is a few frog hairs shy of the rabbet. I am going to reduce the length of it a 1/8" or so. I think the fit is too tight there and some wiggle room closing the door is needed.

me thinks I brain farted

The two front screws for the latch don't have much meat to screw into. That was an unexpected hiccup that really screws up the cupboard latch. My first thoughts on a work around is to clip the two screws and put them in with epoxy. I set this aside for now while I think of some way to make it work.

looks pretty good

My concern with this stock was it bowing like pretzels. There is some of it at the far end but I think I'm ok. I can cut off most if not all of it when I size them.

get to reuse them

The feet look good. The bottom joint line on one is slightly opened but it is the bottom and won't be seen.

hmm......

I had to do a lot of serious butt scratching trying to figure out the length of the top two stretchers. Spoiler alert I didn't get it correct. However, this is the first time I have ever made something using a scale drawing.

did it directly

This is the top stretcher assembly. The short cross members are 2" in from each end. The short cross members are mortised into the two outside uprights. I thought I got it right but refer to the above paragraph.

layout time

I laid out all the mortise and tenons for the towel rack. I did them all in pencil and I then came back and knifed them.

RIP

This is the 3rd time this marking gauge has broken. I was tightening the screw and I got a unsettling feeling and the head broke in two. I have already glued the head back together before and I am not doing it again. It looks like it broke on the same fault line again. It sucks because I really liked this boxwood gauge. I'll have to start looking for another one. I'll keep this one for parts.

practice

I thought the tenons didn't have a shoulder. The drawing doesn't show it and the measured length of the tenons is a inch. I am taking an 1/8" off of each cheek.

feet

I was thinking ahead on this and decided to do the feet mortises first. The mortise should be done before I saw the tenons. The foot mortise is 2" deep.

oops

Wasn't paying attention when I laid out the top stretcher ass'y. It is a 1/2" thick and I did the layout as if it was 3/4" thick. The width of the mortise is a 1/2" and the same as the thickness of the stretchers.

new cross members

I swapped out the 1/2" thick cross members for 3/4" ones. Problem solved and no one will be the wiser.

drilling first

Drilled two undersized holes from each end first. Chiseled out the waste and I was done.

good fit on the first one

I had to tap the upright home into the mortise with a mallet. I'm not sure if this tenon gets wedged - the drawing doesn't show that. I don't think it is necessary because it is 2" long. It has plenty of glue surface.

ditto for the 2nd one

I had to seat this tenon with a mallet too. It is a good feeling getting such a good fit between the two.

bottom of the foot

I was feeling good about doing these mortises and tenons. I still have to saw the legs and that will bring the bottom of the tenon flush with the bottom of the foot. It is looking like I could put wedges in the tenons.

uprights done

Both of them are square to the tops of the feet. It was on to the through mortises on the uprights for the two cross rails.

cross rails done

I am already liking this more than the first one I made. This is light and it isn't as tippy as that one.

good fitting tenons

These are the best fitting and looking through mortises I have ever done. The tenons fit without any gaps all around.

ditto for the opposite side

I usually do good for some and have one or two hiccups. Not this time boys and girls - all four fit good with no gaps.

did it wrong

The cross members are ok but the stretchers aren't. The mortises for them are off by a couple of inches. I could move the mortise layout but the originally layout lines would be visible still.

a new ass'y

I sawed out two new stretchers and used one of the original stretchers to get two new cross members.

hmm.....

Took a time out to figure this out. I don't want to make another ass'y if I can avoid that. The problem is I have to align the mortises in the cross members with the mortises in the stretchers. It came down to an order of operation.

cross members first

This is what I should have done the first go around. Do the mortises for the cross members and then layout the mortises for the two stretchers based on that. I'll do that in the AM tomorrow.

stretcher layout

Once the cross members are done I can lay the stretchers on them and mark their mortises. No measuring needed - it is a direct layout with little opportunity for errors.

I checked on the delivery of the hinges and it says I'll be getting them sometime between Jan 3rd and 7th. The first email said the delivery date was the 3rd. Fingers crossed on it coming then.

accidental woodworker

I got as far as I could with the cherry cupboard today. I had a bad hiccup that I had to deal with it but I survived. Short story - the new part will be here on Jan 3rd, fingers crossed on that. I started a new project but I really wanted to do the school house desk. I don't have the wood for that but I did for the project I picked out. I'm thinking now that maybe I should use 2x construction lumber to make a prototype first. That way I can see if Amanda wants one (or two) for Miles or Leo.

not twisted

The carcass isn't twisted either on the front or the back. It would have been a nightmare trying to 'untwist' it.

yikes

The twist is horrible on the door. It is almost two lines high which is about a 1/4". Since the door is a few frog hairs thicker than 7/8" I decided to try and plane the twist out. (these are Lee Valley winding sticks and each line represents a 1/8")

much better

I didn't plane out all the twist but I did plane over half of it away. That reduced how proud it was at the top right by over half of what it was yesterday.

barely clearing

When I did the hinges yesterday I had put two strips of veneer on the bottom. Today it is a frog hair above the bottom shelf. It is not rubbing but there is barely a sliver of light under the door.

hadn't planned on this

I didn't think the hinges would be in the way of me planing this rail. I whacked the ball on the hinges and it is now hanging on by a thread.

still viable

I broke off the piece and flattened the leaf on my small anvil. I ordered a new pair of hinges and I'll be getting them by the 3rd of Jan. Until then this hinge as is will work until the new ones come.

not perfect but acceptable

I had penciled on the door where it was proud and I planed almost down to them. The door is proud about a strong 16th and I can live with that. I could plane more (plenty of meat on the door still) but I don't want to fall victim to '....one more stroke.....'.

planing the bottom rail

I planed 6 strokes off the bottom rail. I could have done more but I don't want a wide margin at the bottom. I would have left the tight one but the bottom rail might move and cause the door to jam shut.

happy with this

The gap at the bottom is the thickness of two pieces of paper. The margin on the latch side is the widest with the top and hinge sides about the same. 

moving the door stop

I can't go with the stop at the bottom. I thought of just putting a small block at the bottom right inside and that is kind of acceptable but not giving me a warm and fuzzy. This has been pushed over into the '....I'll think a wee bit more.....' before I decide.

possibility

This occurred to me while I was playing with the stop at the bottom or the top. Instead I could put a 6" stop centered where the the cupboard latch will live. That would just need a stopped 6" rabbet on the inside right edge of the door. I am liking this option better than the stop at the bottom or top. 

the next project

I made a shaker towel/laundry rack several years ago.  That one had 5 stretchers on the top whereas this one has two. What attracts me to this is the wedged tenon construction and the size of the individual parts. I don't need it and the wife has already expressed zero interest in it. That means one of my sisters will must likely end up with it.

main frame parts

Two rails and two stiles make up the main frame. All of the parts for this are 1" wide with most 3/4" thick and a couple at 1/2" thick.

the feet

The plan is a scale drawing and the feet took me a while to figure out. They are 1 1/2" thick and 12" long. I am gluing up two 3/4" boards to achieve the thickness but I am making the feet 2" longer. On the other rack I made it had short feet and it made it too tippy.

foot pattern

I made a half pattern for the foot out of 1/4" plywood.

foot pattern penciled on one face

I am going to glue and screw these together. The pattern shows me where I can use screws.

glued and cooking

This glue up came out better than expected. I got a consistent squeeze out all around on each leg. 

relaxing

I am not expecting any stupid wood tricks from this but to eliminate that I'll let this sticker until the AM.

sharpening time

Spokeshaves are a hand tool that I still haven't mastered. I have time to play with them and I'm starting at ground zero. This iron has some reflected light on the toe so I need to sharpen this one again. The other three are questionable so I'll sharpen them again too. The blue record spokeshave has a rounded sole and the others are all flat.

I can do better

Starting with flattening the sole. I had already done this but after a few strokes on the coarse diamond stone I saw that I could do a better job. This is after using my coarsest  stone - the scratch pattern is consistent and covers most of the sole now.

30 minutes later

Shiny as a freshly sharpened iron. I think I'll also strip and repaint this one.

hmm.....

I did these several years ago and I'll be redoing all three of them. The rounded sole one will be a challenge.

Preston spokeshave

I have a lot of spokeshaves and this Preston is the only one that flash rusts on me. It has never gotten any worse than what you see here. I will try to shine this sole up better and maybe that will help with preventing it from rusting.

I have a Lee Valley honing guide for doing spokeshave irons. I'll dig it out tomorrow and give it a try. If it doesn't work out I'll have to do them free hand with the Paul Sellers spokeshave iron jig.

accidental woodworker

 I was feeling pretty good today. The boo boos I got from my bounce test with the sidewalk last week have subsided a great deal. I don't have any pain in my knee, elbow, and chest anymore. The shoulder is lingering but it isn't saying hello constantly. However, I still can't sleep on it and I have sleep on my back or the right side.

I thought today I would get a full day in the shop but it didn't happen boys and girls. My lower back has been acting up for the past few days. When I wake up at night it is hard to fall back to sleep because it aches. And it doesn't matter if I am laying on my back or right side. The lower back pain has been continuing to say hello to me throughout the day. If I sit and do nothing, I don't feel it. It was ramping up in the AM session and I finally said No Mas and cut it short. I killed the lights in the shop a half hour before lunch time.

swapped out

I had some brass FH #5 screws to swap out the oval head screws. Blacksmith bolt confirmed my order but I don't know when I'm getting it. Until then the brass screws will fill in for them.

still fits

The margins I have around the door look to be what I had a few days ago. I am prepared to plane the door to fit if need be. I marked the position of the top hinge and that will be done first.

oops

Before I did the top hinge I turned back to this. I had forgot to drill the pilot holes for the replacement stile. I first drilled for the holes in this rail that already had them. I drilled straight through it out to the other side. I will fill in the holes because I don't want to make another rail. I will if the 'fill' job doesn't look good.

this is genius

Paul Sellers on the clothes wardrobe project set the top hinge on the doors first. Once that was done and then marked and did the bottom hinge. I did the same for this and what a difference. I have always marked both hinges at the same time and and chopped both of the hinge mortises at the same time. No more will that be the SOP in Ralphie's workshop.

what a difference

Having the first hinge done makes the marking of the 2nd hinge so much easier and precise. Both hinges are attached to the cupboard side with one screw each and the door didn't close. The top right corner is proud and the door won't fully close. Took it out and planed the latch side a couple of runs and checked it again.

hmm.....

Got the door to fit better, it wasn't hanging at one spot anymore. Now the problem was it was a wee bit tight along the entire latch side. Along with it being hinge bound slightly. Took it off again and did some more planing.

fixed the hinge bound

I put veneer in the cupboard mortises because they are less likely to be seen. The hinge barrel covers it pretty good. The hinge bound was gone but the door wasn't closing smoothly. The leading edge of the door was hitting the edge of the cupboard but I could push it and close the door. I took it off again and I planed a slight angle (about 2°) on the doors edge.

better

The door is opening and closing ok. There is still something amiss and it isn't the leading edge. It still felt like it was hinge bound a wee bit.

catching still

My first plane run I did at 90 and the door opening/closing improved but it was still hanging up briefly. I used my low angle block plane and planed a slight back bevel on the door. I planed a few strokes and checked it. Kept at it until the door opened and closed freely with no hang ups.

see the sliver of light?

When I used to hang entry doors I would plane a 5° bevel on the latch side. On this cupboard door I didn't bevel the entire edge - only did about a 1/4" wide chamfer. That was all that was needed to allow the arc swing of the door to clear the cupboard side edge.

not good

This is where I am getting some more hinge bound action. I took the door off again for the gazillionth time and planed the corner a wee bit. I didn't the whole length because it was only tight here at the bottom rail.

sneak peek

I looked at this both with the top/bottom molding on and off. I like the look of it with the moldings. The moldings do something for it that I can't put into words. It is kind of like trying to explain why I like the color blue.

about a 32nd

This is all that was needed to free the door. It now closes into the opening freely without hesitation. Nothing is holding it back or hanging it up now.

this sucks

The door has warped/twisted some. It is flush with the cupboard edge at the bottom and almost an 1/8" proud here at the top right.

door stop?

I need a door stop because I'm using a cupboard latch. This is the secondary position for the cupboard now.

my first choice

I can't put a vertical stop here because there isn't any room for it. The front of the shelf is about a 1/8" away from the door when it is closed. The stop is a 1/2" thick and 5/8" wide. I just thought of a possible solution. I could plane a rabbet on the back side of the door that would go over a vertical door stop. Hmm...., something to dream about tonight.

the door fix?????

I don't want to make another door. After eyeballing it for while I think this might work. I don't think having the door being proud looks good. Instead I can have the bottom left corner slightly inset into the opening which kinda makes the latch side of the door flush - ish with the cupboard edge. I'll further evaluate and play with it in the AM.

accidental woodworker

 Got less than an hour in the shop today. Spent most of it running around visiting some people I knew and a few I didn't. Did the relatives in the AM and Diane's dead people friends in the PM. I was surprised by how empty the roads were. It was like a ghost town especially in the afternoon. Another xmas has come and gone and this one didn't feel like christmas to me. I think seeing xmas decorations 2 weeks before halloween killed the spirit of it for me.

interesting

This is the only woodworking tool that Santa brought me this year. I didn't know that Veritas made something like this. I will definitely try it out sometime before this week is out.

hmm......

The hinges have changed. I reordered the same hinges I bought previously and this is what I got. The other hinges have 3 screws per leaf while this one has two. Not a deal breaker but I prefer the 3 screw per leaf hinges.

I had to straighten out this mortise because the hinge was cocked. The top was away from the door by almost a 1/8" while it was tight at the bottom. It took longer to fix it than I thought it would. Got a bit confused with where to remove some wood but once I got that figured out things went smoothly there after. The balls are now both the same distance from the door.

2nd hmm.....

The screws for the hinges are oval head. That is a stupid choice for butt hinges.

why it is stupid

The hinge leaves can't come together and seat parallel. The oval heads protrude above the leaves and stop that. So I am dead in the water again with this cupboard. I ordered some black oxide slotted flat head screws from Blacksmithbolt but I don't know when I'll get them. I will fit and hang the door with the current oval head screws and swap them out when the order comes in.

accidental woodworker

 It is going to be a partially white xmas this year. There is some snow on the ground from the snowfall a couple of days ago. It snowed briefly today before lunchtime but it didn't amount to anything. It was a light dusting that disappeared from the roads soon after it stopped. Still an improvement over the past several years of no snow on the 25th.

I waited patiently

This hung out resting on the kitchen radiator for almost 24hrs. Time to see how well the glue cooked.

feels secure

I only applied glue to the triangular ends of the patch. The piece in between them has no glue.

flushed

A quick glance and it probably won't be seen. I planed the patch flush on the top and the front face. I don't have a before pic but there were two nasty looking chunks missing that are now filled in.

almost there

I sawed and chiseled out the piece between the 'triangles'. All that was left was to square off the ends of the mortise. 

took a few dance steps

Good, snug, gap free fit. The patch isn't as obtrusive as I thought it was going to be. The ball tips on the ends of the hinge hide a lot of the patches. 

marked

I fiddled a bit with the top and bottom moldings but I got them. I made a tic mark at the ends and one at the front middle. I penciled these very light and they should erase completely with a little alcohol.

I was hoping to get the hinges done today but it didn't happen. It doesn't look like it is going to happen on xmas day neither. My wife accepted a few invites and we have a few visitations to make xmas eve and xmas day. 

accidental woodworker

 Today's temp was a shocker to me this AM. Single digit - it was 9°F (-13C) at 0600. It zoomed up to 30°F (-1C)at 1500. It was like a heat wave. The forecast has it warming up into double digits by friday but they will be below 32F (0C). Winter has certainly started a lot differently then past years.

cornbread and sausage stuffing

Spent a chunk of the AM making this for xmas day dinner. I made the same for thanksgiving - I like this way better than traditional bread stuffing. I added cranberries to it because they go so well with cornbread.

prepping

I initially had the angles at 45° but changed them to a shallower one. I did this so the glue would have more of a long grain bond.

glued and cooking

The shop temp was 55°F (13C) which I think is too cold for glue to set up properly. I brought this upstairs and I set it by the kitchen radiator. I'll leave it there until tomorrow.

chamfering the frame

Before I shot the chamfers I rough sawed the angle on the frame.

next to last one

I planed them just removing the pencil line.

sigh *twice*

I did the chamfer on the wrong side of the last one. I had labeled the waste with an X and I promptly ignored it.

got lucky

I had stock left over from cutting out the frame parts and I got one more from it. At first I was going to make 4 new frame parts but settled on just doing this one. I was concerned about making an exact match for it.

success

I was worrying for nothing. This one had a better fit in the half laps. Just had to chamfer the ends and this was done.

deja vu it ain't

I had a mind meld with a rock because I did the chamfers wrong on the second one. I looked and verified where the X was and placed it down on the shooting board instead of placing it facing up. I had enough stock to get a 3rd frame part which I did.

finally got it right

For the third one I rough sawed the chamfers first. This way I would have a visual on what end to plane. I didn't saw the 2nd one because I'm an idiot. I told myself that I wouldn't or couldn't make the same me-steak again. I was wrong, again.

mostly for practice

Most of the time when I plane stock across the face I end up with it being tapered. I planed all the stock for the next boxes I am going to make using the dozuki to saw the dovetails. I did ok on keeping them parallel to each other. I didn't measure them, I just eyeballed them all.

done

I think this wood is pine and I was expecting it to come out a lot lighter than it did. In the end it won't matter. I took extra strokes to see if it would lighten up but nada. What I wanted to do (flatten the faces) came out good.

top molding

I was fussing with the molding trying to get an equal overhang on the sides. I think I finally got it and I marked it with a pencil. I will attach the molding to the cabinet with black oxide, oval head screws. I will wait and do that after the door has been installed/fitted to the opening. I'll do the same dance steps for the bottom molding.

accidental woodworker

When I rolled out of the rack this AM the temp was 12F (-11C). These temps are here for the next couple of days too. I went out to the grocery store and it was unbearably freezing cold, especially so when the wind blew. Besides the weather being so cold my fall injuries were talking up a storm. I didn't feel anything sleeping - never woke once because of them. However, my shoulder and chest were achy and sore all day. It was like the slight remission I had yesterday never happened. Oh well it looks like a few more days with it shaking hands with me.

shop temp at 0745

It dropped 2 more degrees to 55F (13C). I got nothing done in the shop today because I spent less than 30 minutes in it.

not a match

This was what I had wanted to get done today. I searched the shitcan for any cherry off cuts to match this but came up dry. I'm sure that I had put any I might have had out with the garbage last week.

using this

This is the closest scrap I could find that is a color/grain match.  This was it for today. I spent the rest of the day doing house chores and watching Person of Interest. I'll deal with the cold shop tomorrow.

accidental woodworker

Feeling like I'm on the mend. My shoulder didn't hurt and the chest felt much better. It didn't protest and say hello every time I coughed. It didn't start to hurt until late in the afternoon reaching and extending my left arm. In spite of that I still only did an AM session again.

brass oval head screws

Used brads to lay out the positions of the screws - two for each frame leg. I wanted to use black oxide oval head screws but I didn't have any small sizes. I will use black oxide oval head screws to secure the moldings. I could order some from Blacksmith bolt and I may do that.

fits still

And there is about a 16th of wiggle room. I marked the ends of the rails and stiles because I am going to plane the ends at a 45 so the toes will be flush with the door.

sigh

I knew I had broke this screw off. At least it is brass and shouldn't be too hard to remove.

not enough

I tried 3 different size vise grips, 3 different types of slip joint pliers, and nada. There wasn't enough sticking up to grip and turn the screw back out.

got it

This is a screw extractor for #8 wood screws. FYI, it works for #4 screws too.

wood plug

This is what it extracted. A wood plug with part of the screw in it. It left behind a 1/4" hole that I glued a dowel in.

almost there

Started with a 5/16" dowel and ran it through this until the 1/4" hole.

back together

No hiccups this time. The stiles and rails are all screwed down tight to the panel. I didn't tighten the screws fully - I'll do that when I do the frame for the last time.

a little off center

It doesn't matter because it will never be seen.

fitting the door

The door fit the opening with a 32nd on the latch side and at the top of the door. I think I'll need more wiggle room than that. I left the latch side as is and I sawed the top opening it up to a 16th. If I need anymore wiggle room I'll deal with it after I get the hinges installed.

door hinge mortises

Took my time and they came out pretty good. My only concern is that I might have made the mortises too deep. I can compensate for that by making the cabinet hinge mortises not as deep.

real big sigh

The chip missing on the left I had super glued and sprayed accelerator on. It didn't work and I lost the chip. The right side crumbled as I was chopping the mortise. Both of these will be visible when the hinges are installed. I'll have to put in a couple of dutchman to fill them in.

accidental woodworker

 As I'm typing this the snow is coming down. There is about an inch and it is covering the roads. Don't know when it will stop but it had no effect on my shop time today. I only managed to do a slow AM session of about 2 1/2 hours. I was hurting before I went to the shop. My chest and shoulder didn't feel good at all and I thought I was getting over it. Yesterday I didn't feel 1/2 as bad as I did today.

The odd thing is while I was in the shop the shoulder didn't bother me. My chest did - turning and reaching for things set it off. It continued to ache and make me feel like crap all day long. After lunch I stayed at my desk and read and listened to You Tube history lectures.

got it done

This took me a while to get done. Chopping the notches or using the router wasn't the problem. Picking the shelf up and moving it around hurt a lot, especially so my chest.

made them bigger

This shelf fits the opening with less wiggle room than the 2nd one I made. I needed to make the shelf pin notches a wee bit wider to fit over the shelf pin inserts.

tile frame

Used the dozuki to saw the walls for the half laps.

yikes

This is the only one that split on me. Wasn't expecting it neither because I started it chiseling at an upward angle. This split came below that. Finished chiseling the half lap, glued it, and set it aside to cook.

sneak peek

I have about a 16th gap all around. Not sure if that is sufficient for expansion/contraction but I'm sure I'll find it out.

an oops

The frame parts are 5/8" x 1/2". The half lap should have been done on the 1/2" thickness. I got it right on one but not the other. 

wow

It might have been a bit of serendipity mixing up the half laps. I like the vertical stiles proud of the horizontal rails. I was going to plane the stiles to match the rails but I'm leaving this as is.

tomorrow

With the frame on the door as it is above, the split in this part will be facing down. I plan on screwing the frame to the door panel. No glue and I don't have to fret about cleaning up any glue squeeze out.

Preston Oveloe

I got this today from Timeless Tools and Treasures. 'Oveloe' is what is stamped on the underside of the right handle. It isn't how I spelled it and I had to go to the shop and see what was stamped on it.

well used

This spokeshave has a lot of mileage on it. The right and left soles both show signs of a lot of use. The iron profiles don't match each other or the plane soles. The japanning is spotty and will need to be stripped and painted. 

Preston herd

It would seem that I have started a collection of Preston spokeshaves. The top one is a chamfer one with the next one being a flat sole spokeshave. The 3rd and 4th ones I just added. I have to mix up some rust treatment stuff but I will have to dig up the formula first.

No PM session again and I doubt I'll get one in for a while. So far I am managing the AM session so I'll take it one day at a time.

accidental woodworker

 I have now clocked 70 years on this third rock from the sun. How many more I will tick off is the great unknown. I plan on keeping up the way I have been going for the past few for as long as I can. Definitely have slowed some and even more since my bounce test on wednesday. I should be back to my normal pace by next weekend? I don't heal as quick as I used to.

shelf resting on the pins

Got the front pin shelf notches done correctly. At the lowest position there is about 6" below the shelf and there is about the same with the shelf in the top most position.

patched

Probably didn't need to fill in the me-steak notches but I did anyways. I didn't go nutso trying to match it for color and grain. I sawed the dutchmen from the first piece of cherry scrap I grabbed.

tile for this cupboard

This tile looks awesome against the cherry wood IMO. I was in slo mo for the entire AM session. I spent over 4 hours in the shop and accomplished little. I could move without pain - no real hiccups sawing, chiseling, or planing. However, when I exhaled forcibly a few times my ribs said hello. I can't wait to finish this and get some shellac on it.

sucks to forget

I forgot that I had already made a shelf for the cupboard. I found it when I was going through the cherry looking for stock to get the frame for the tile.

using it

The grain and color of the first shelf matches the bottom of the cupboard because they came from the same board. I doubt anyone will pick up on that but I can't wait to see the grain swirls pop with some shellac.

hardware came

I was surprised that the hinges and the snap catch came today. Tracking said it was coming tomorrow. That is when I'll try to get the door hung and swinging.

first shelf

The chamfer was ok on the front edge but I had to go in on the top face about a 1/4" more to match the chamfers on the moldings.

quit here

Transferred the shelf pin notches and killed the lights after that. I spent the afternoon with my wife celebrating my birthday. We went to lunch at IHOP and then did some shopping. When we got back to the barn I didn't go to the shop. Instead I sat at my desk and iced my shoulder and took a couple of Tylenol. 

I watched all the episodes of Castle which I liked a lot but I didn't much care for the final episode. I would watch more of them if there were any. I'm now watching season one of 'Person of Interest'. I don't remember this series at all but then again I never watched much series TV shows.

accidental woodworker

While on my post lunch stroll I tripped on something on the sidewalk and bounced off it. I fell on my left knee, shoulder, and I hit my head on the curb. Lucky for me there was no traffic coming because I ended up face down in the road. I am one day away from turning 70 and I was playing the bounce test with the sidewalk.

I cut the stroll short and headed back to the barn. I hurt a little but it was manageable. That changed as the day wore on. My shoulder hurts a lot and movement isn't easy but the knee doesn't hurt. I must have hit my ribs on the left side too because that area aches. It doesn't hurt to breathe but I can feel it as I move about. 

Needless to say there was no PM session and I vegged out at my desk. I don't know if I'll be up to working in the shop tomorrow. I'll play that tune by ear.

AM session work

Planed all the miters flush on both faces. These miters are strong and I couldn't pull it apart. I tried with all my strength to break them by pulling on the short legs. 

heels are off

The toes come to a point and the heels don't matter. They are on the inside and won't be visible. I am not going to obsess about this. The short legs are a few frog hairs wider in width then the long front piece.

planing chamfers

No hiccups getting the chamfers done on the moldings and the shelf. 

shelf pin notches

Sawed the notches like I was doing half blinds. I laid the front notches wrong and I had to fill them in. I'll redo them when...? Used the dozuki and it worked better then my western saw because its kerf is a lot thinner than my western saw kerfs. 

My hardware is coming but I still don't know when. The company says it has shipped but the tracking link says nothing. It doesn't matter much if I can't get to the shop and work.

accidental woodworker

After walking in below freezing temps lately, today's stroll in 60F (15C) was real nice. But my day started with an urology appointment at the VA. I'm having surgery on the prostate next summer-ish. My bladder is retaining too much so I have an ultrasound and a cystoscopy scheduled for feb 26, 2025. Based on what those tests reveal determines the direction surgery will take. 

Of course being me I had to ask a bazillion questions of the doc. She was very patient with me and answered them fully leaving no gaps. There are 3 options for the surgery with two being performed at the Providence VA and the third in Boston. Fingers crossed that it will be one of the first two. Either way it is a one day procedure with me being sent home with a Foley catheter for 3 days. Not looking forward to it but I have no other options.

ugly looking

I can push down on the left end of the drill bit to tip it to take it out now. I'll be revisiting this to sand the semi circle smooth. And to glue back on the end that popped off.

practice time

Before I commit to the real cherry I made a couple of practice runs with scraps of cherry. Glad I did because I brain farted twice. I was rushing and I didn't align my check marks on the cherry with the check marks on the Dowel Max.

last two practice pieces

Shot these miters to match the ones I'll do for real next.

another check point

Checking to ensure that the dowels will be seated in the meat of the heel. The dowels are 1 1/2" long.

check mark in the 'done right' column

After I got this glued up I think I should have used 3 dowels. I didn't because the recommendation for 2" wide stock was 2 dowels. But there was room for a 3rd one.

1"

I should have had about 3/4" inch sticking above. 

made a me-steak

I measured the length for the drill stop collar a 1/4" short. Fixed that and drilled the holes to the correct depth.

had an oops moment

I thought I had aligned all the check marks but I didn't. Depending upon if you are a half full or half empty type of guy, I either had the jig or the piece of cherry 180 out.

flush

I pinched the toes shut with my fingers. I then dry clamped it and the miter closed up tight. Happy with how this came out and especially how easy it is to use this jig. You (meaning me) just have to pay attention to the check marks. And to double, triple check that the nuts don't loosen between drilling.

hmm.....

This explains the flush being off. It was flush on one face but the opposite one was off. They weren't the same width (didn't matter to the flushing) and the thickness was off a few frog hairs.

the home team wins in OT

First one done. The miters closed up nicely with hand pressure with the top surfaces being flush. One down and one to go.

which profile to pick?

Since this cupboard is rectilinear top to bottom and side to side I think a bullnose would look out of place. I plan on overhanging the moldings at the front and sides by 3/4". I think an asymmetrical chamfer will look nice (about a 1/2" in on the flat and a 1/4" down the edge vertically).

ditto

I feel better now that both of the mitered moldings are reinforced. 

glued and cooking

It was easy peasy clamping these. Nothing moved, shifted, groaned, or otherwise complained. If I had used biscuits it would have moved on me. I'll let these cook until the AM.

5 coats

After this one I put on two more. I didn't like how the inside of the box felt and looked. Around the bottom inside edges it looked like the shellac had pooled in a couple of spots. I scraped and sanded it until that evidence disappeared. I think it will need at least one more coat on the insides. The outside feels smooth every where I checked it.

doing a comparison

The measurements I got with the calipers matched what the box has. I want the 6mm tenons and they are in transit to me.

I spent some quality time searching for 6mm Festool tenons and the 8mm ones match the measurements of the Kreg 8mm. I couldn't get a match between Festool and the Kreg on the 6mm ones. There are a lot of sizes with the Festool tenons too. I'll have wait and see what the Kreg sizes are.

need a shelf

I wanted to use the board on the far right - it has some sapwood on the leading edge. I couldn't get a decent grain/color match to it with another board. Instead I used the two in the middle for the shelf.

dry fit

I wasn't trying to do it, but I ended up with a spring joint. Probably could have used one clamp but I didn't want to chance it going south on me.

fill in the time project

This pile in the shitcan was the 1/4" stock that used to be the drawer sides/bottoms on the vanity I rehabbed for my wife. I was able to split it basically by just looking at it. It was shame because the shortest width was almost 11". 

four solid pieces

Out of that pile these were the only ones I couldn't split anymore. I put them aside and I'll find a use for them?

to close to call

I was hoping to use it for the bottom for a box. This might be wide enough but I would like more wiggle room in the width.

two upcoming dozuki boxes

There were four drawers in the vanity and this is what I got from it. After I sawed off all the defects, holes, and splits/cracks this is what I have for two boxes. I am going to saw the dovetails again with the dozuki and see how well I do on these compared to the first box I did.

accidental woodworker

I thought today I would be at a loss for doing anything. I was kind of dead in the water with the cupboard and nothing was on the horizon for the next project. I got a ton of little things done and I almost worked through lunch. I started the day working on the dozuki box and finished up the PM session with the cherry cupboard. All and all it was a productive day.

I behaved

I came back to the shop last night and I resisted the urge to play with this. I left it clamped until the AM session rolled around.

happy to see this

Used this scrap to check the cup on this long side. Very happy to say that there was only a teeny weeny sliver of light under it. And the gaps at the half pins closed up a lot too.

a 16th off

I wasn't expecting this to be this close. The four corners were another surprise as they were all square.

changed my mind on this

Because the box was square I decided to finish it. A bottom is up coming along with 3-4 coats of shellac.

no twist top or bottom

this corner was high

I ran the 5 1/2 around the bottom edge 5-6 times planing it smooth and even.

glued and cooking

I left the bottom over long and I trimmed it close on the bandsaw.

cherry cupboard drawers

I didn't like the proud of the drawers and I couldn't ignore it. I planed, scraped, and sanded them until they were flush.

one down, one to go

It was a little odd to me that the top right corner of the left drawer and the the top left corner of the right drawer were proud. 

done

Felt much better about the drawers now. It took a while doing some careful work to flush them. IMO it was well worth the calories expended.

Leo's dresser

I dumped some scraps in the shit can and looked over at Leo's dresser. Realized that I hadn't labeled the drawers. I pulled them out one a time and used my letter punch to label them. The drawers aren't interchangeable and were fitted for their respective openings.

overkill ?

A couple of the knobs were loose. I took off all the knobs and applied a dab of blue lock tite to them. I have never done this before so I don't know if it will work or not.

hmm......

Leo is 6 years old and how long will these stop hinges last with him? I would give odds that they would break/snap off the first day. Decided to put chain stays on both lids.

needed help

This wood is wenge and it like trying to screw into stone. I made a pilot hole with an awl and nada. I couldn't get the screw to start and thread. The gimlets worked for making a better pilot hole and no hiccups setting the screws then.

done

This chain stay isn't the strongest and I doubt it will last for the long haul. Fingers crossed that it will be longer than 24hrs.

last 3

None of these knobs were loose but I put lock tite on them too.

shelf pin time

There isn't much that I could do on the cupboard. I was going to do this after I had applied the shellac but I did it now.

finally

This was the 4th depth stop I made before I got it right. I paid attention this time and put it in the box with the pins when I was done with it.

wow

Ten years old already. I've been making these boxes for a long time.

prepping the dozuki box

I planed the pins/tails flush and then sanded it starting with 80 going up to 220.

and then there was one

I had 3 cans of different types of shellac. I poured two of them into the 3rd one. Used that mixture on the dozuki box.

smoothing the top edge

No lid on this box. I planed the top edge to remove the saw marks on it.

not too orange

One can was gossamer and another was blonde. The last one I didn't label but it was dark. The mixture wasn't as orange as I thought it would be.

top and bottom moldings

Sawn to width and rough length. Still undecided on the edge profile. I am leaning in the direction of a simple chamfer but I am also liking the idea of a bull nose. I have plenty of time to flip a coin for the winner.

door stop

Using this offcut from the moldings for a door stop. Another decision is where to place it? The top, side, or the bottom? Or maybe all three?

miter shooting plane

The iron is sharp but I honed it because I was going to shoot the molding miters next. This was my first time shooting miters in a hardwood. Up to now I have only shot pine miters on this jig.

RML shavings

Equal width and length - right, middle, and left shavings. Ready to shoot cherry miters.

sawing miters

None of the miters I sawed was 45°. Some were close but still no cigar. I also didn't saw a single edge square to the face.

3 coats, inside and outside

This will be done today. I'm calling it done after 4th coat.

thin and wispy shavings

I was a bit apprehensive about shooting these miters. Would I be lucky and not get squirrely grain. Would I be able to plane the whole miter in one continuous motion? I had no hiccups planing any of the miters. I got a nice consistent pile of wispy like shavings on each one.

rough and planed miters

The top one is sawn and the bottom planed. That one is as smooth as glass.

square

It was square both on the inside and outside.

unexpected hiccup

I am thinking of using my new Dowel Max to reinforce the miters. However the long molding is slightly thicker then the side moldings. I knifed the difference and it was about a 32nd I had to plane away.

almost ready

The long front moldings are shot to length but the sides are long. I will saw them to length after they are installed.

took longer than I thought it would

Got my little sliver telling me I'm down to thickness.

dead flush

If I do use the Dowel Max these moldings need to be the same thickness. 

accidental woodworker

 Today was experiment day which involved using my dozuki saw. I recently got two replacement blades from Woodcraft and I made a dovetailed box with it. As I have said before I bought a dozuki saw to do dovetails but called it defective. I really wasn't expecting any problems with it back then. My skills at sawing, way back then even with western saws, was atrocious. I simple didn't have a basic sawing skill set to use it with half way decent results. Fast forward to today and the dozuki and I sawed a dovetailed box together.

tail boards

I don't need another box but on the off chance I decided to try and make a serviceable shop box. I had two pieces of scrap pine that I got the 4 sides from. I wanted to use this vise but lately my back doesn't like bending over to do sawing in this vise.

broke out the Moxon

This will be a first for me - sawing dovetails in a Moxon with a dozuki. I had some thoughts floating in the back of my head that the pull stroke would play havoc with me - it didn't. I hardly noticed/felt/sensed sawing on the pull stroke. It actually helped with starting the saw cut on the knife line.

comparable to my western saw cuts

About the only thing I could say that was different is the kerf of the dozuki. It is noticeably thinner than both of my western dovetail saws. It took me a couple tails before I felt comfortable sawing across the top. The vertical down cuts weren't a problem and I dealt with them as I would have with my western dovetail saw.

pit stop

The wood I was using was New Zealand pine I got from Lowes and my chisels were a tad on the dull side. I stopped to sharpen the 3 chisels I needed to do the chiseling. The 1/4" chisel will no longer fit in my Lie Nielsen honing guide. This is the Veritas version of the LN honing guide. The 1/4" chisel fits in it with some wiggle room.

the problem

Where the 1/4" chisel blade flares out at the handle end was the hold up. On the LN chisel the jaws were tightening on this and the chisel was loose in the guide. It was also not being held at 25°. If this chisel gets any shorter I will have to do it free hand.

tails

I'm happy with the tails. Other than dealing with the thinner kerf, the tails look exactly like what I get with my western saws.

pin saw cuts

These saw cuts were harder to do for me. I had to concentrate more doing the vertical cuts. The first couple were my training wheels and by the last set I was sawing them as fast as I do with a western saw. The important thing is I sawed plumb and on the pencil lines.

backside

Happy with this. The backside saw cuts are on the pencil lines and plumb too.

first corner dry fitted

It went together off the saw and I didn't have to shave any pins. However, the fit is loose - not sloppy loose - but looser than my last dovetails done with a western saw. I think the glue will swell and tighten the tails and pins.

I have a box

The other 3 corners were tighter than the first one. The thin kerf of the saw I think caused these hiccups. If I use the dozuki again I'll have to keep that in mind. 

I got a gap at the half pin. I didn't chisel a knife wall before sawing the half pins. Instead I used the knife line to start the saw cut in. Part of the gap is caused by this long side being cupped.

needed some help

I had to clamp both ends of the cupped long side to close up the gaps in the half pins and flatten it. I'm not sure how well it will hold because the cup is about a 16th across the width at the middle. I'll leave this clamped until the AM. Fingers crossed it doesn't spring back on me.

this surprised me

I wasn't expecting to have the inside gap free. I thought sawing dovetails with the dozuki that I would have gaps not only on the tails/pins but on the inside too.

ditto

Gap free insides on the other two corners. This sawing experiment came out much better than I thought it would. I was anticipating looking at crappy. loose dovetails and seeing improvement with subsequent ones. One take away with this (IMO) is that my sawing skills have definitely improved from the time I first tried a dozuki (14-15 years ago?).

One hiccup with the clamping of the box is that it isn't square. I used a 4" square and checked the four corners. Two were square and two weren't but not by a lot. Either way the wind blows for a test box that will end up a shop box it is ok

accidental woodworker

Well boys and girls I have gone dead in the water with the cherry cupboard again. I was checking my hinges and pulls and I have the correct drawer pulls but I am missing the hinges. I have two sets of them but they both have the wrong finish. I also found that I don't have a snap catch neither with a black oxide finish. I got hinges and a snap catch on order. It wasn't too bad because both were on sale. No idea when I'll get them but hopefully it'll be before xmas.

side by side comparison

The two drawers on the left were the first ones I made for the cherry cupboard. The right ones are the 2nd ones out of the gate. The top left one I tried making a different drawer slip. I made with a rabbet so the bottom laid on it flush - no side slip showing above it. Not too sure that I like it. I don't mind the slips showing. The right drawers I made the slips differently too. On these I didn't the notch the back end to go under and past the back.

sides

The top ones look off IMO. I screwed up the tail layout at the back. I had to cut them off and attach the back in a rabbet. Glued and nailed it and that is what demotes it. The bottom ones I did ok on. I figured out how to do the tail layout - I like this look much better than the nailed one.

the first drawers

The left drawer is acceptable but the right one sucks pond scum. I couldn't get past the gap on the sides especially the left side. Which will shift to the right if I move the drawer to the left.

happy face on

I took my time with fitting the 2nd ones. I forced myself to take only two shavings and then check the fit. After checking the fit I would go upstairs and then come back down to the shop and repeat. It paid off because I got (IMO) an excellent fit. I fought the urge to take one more swipe a bazillion times. 

I had some concerns that the right drawer would be a nightmare to fit because the right side is out of square. I imagined that the side would jam and bind in nutso mode on me. That didn't happen and the fitting of both drawers was uneventful.

first drawer - the bottoms

The drawer on the left has no slips showing in the interior. I glued strips to the bottom inside 360 and I glued the plywood bottom on top of them. The drawer on the right has full width drawer slips that are notched to go under the back. Both drawers are different lengths because the right one I had to saw the messed up tails off. I decided to make the left one as long in length as I could.

2nd set of drawers

The slips on these are flush with the back. I didn't notch them. The bottom is captured in a groove at the front and nailed at the rear to the bottom of the back. So there isn't much stress on the slips. I think this is the way I'll do slips from this point on. 

drawer stops

I initially installed the stops with a couple of drops of super glue. After checking the stops working, I put 3 nails in each one.

hmm.....

One corner on each drawer is a wee bit proud. Not sure how I'll address this hiccup. I can see it but my wife didn't pick up on it. Now that I'm dead in the water on this I have the time to eyeball it and figure something out.

drawer pulls

I thought that these might be too big for these drawers. After seeing them I don't think that they are. I lost one of the screws for it. I hunted for it but I couldn't find it. I ordered some black oxide screws from Blacksmithbolt dot com. 

sigh

The right size hinge - barrel tips and 2" but the wrong finish. There wasn't a finish type on the package. I'm pretty sure that I ordered oil rubbed bronze. It is a black finish that is hard to distinguish between it and a black oxide finish.

don't like it

I have two of these catches along with two sets of matching H style hinges. I don't like the look of this for the cherry cupboard. I'll have to wait until the the order comes in whenever.

going bye-bye

My wife was scrambling trying to come up with a present for her sister. This is going to New York as her xmas present. Before it goes I will check the drawers opening and closing ok. I had to fuss with the drawers this summer because they wouldn't open.

tomorrow

All the drawers are working easily. I waxed the bottom and sides of each drawer with bees wax. I then cleaned it with Simple Green because it had a lot of dust on it. It will be dry and ready for Howards Feed 'n Wax in the AM.

my PM session work

The one thing I dislike about the xmas season - wrapping presents. All my shopping is done and I am just waiting on one book I bought for Miles. It is supposed to be coming this week on wednesday. Spoiler alert - I got everything here wrapped and under the tree by 1530.

accidental woodworker