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For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulders: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God.  You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

And they said, “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary?”

And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.  And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. 

 

I pray for you to have a blessed Christmas with loved ones and that you are celebrating the Incarnation, through whom we can be reconciled with The Creator.

 

squeezed in one more

This is a teeny table for my desktop computer. It is now the last project of 2025. The top is bowed a wee bit but I was able to clamp it flat to the base when I glued it up.

hmm.....

The shelf I flattened yesterday did have stupid wooden tricks still up its sleeve. This end of the board cupped across the width again. The opposite end is flat - ish. The center of the tree is about 4" in from the far end of the board. That is what is causing the cupping.

still cupped

I had planed the hump on the underside of the board first. It made that flat but did nada to top side. Took it back to the bench and planed directly across the board just on the right end. Stopped once I got full width shavings.

sigh

When planed the molded edge again, I got some tear out along the top edge of it. Used the small record plane to remove it. I had to do it at a slight angle but you can't see it unless you eyeball it up close and personal.

looks better

The top shelf is the one I flattened. From six feet away it looks flat to the eye. It still has a wee bet of cup - there is light under a straight edge but it isn't too bad. I'll evaluate it again tomorrow.

computer table banding

Nailed on the banding using butt joinery. The nails didn't pull the bandings tight to the edge so I had to use clamps.

door astragal

Thought about this and decided to glue the astragal on before applying any shellac to the door. I clamped a board spaced 3/4" from the door's edge. That was to keep the astragal from shifting when I clamped it. I covered it with wax paper because these clamp pads will mar and leave their imprint on the shellac.

getting there

First coat on the carcass. I have four coats on the base and I will apply more shellac to the base as I do the carcass.

almost done

 3 coats on the base and I'm calling it done. With any luck I'll be able to get 3 coats on the top before tomorrow.

the fix

The tapered filler is visible but only up close. Standing directly in front I couldn't see this.

smaller fix

The bottom left corner tapered filler is smaller. This one disappeared even more than the top right one.

accidental woodworker 

The distinction in greetings often differentiates American from our UK English. One continent generally says a, “Merry Christmas,” and in the other it’s more likely to be “Happy Christmas.” Having lived in the USA as a ‘resident alien’ with rights to live and work, pay taxes to two revenue services, be that HMRC (His Majesty’s...

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Not to interrupt your holiday preparations, but just a quick post to let you know that Pete Galbert has just published his full schedule for 2026 at Peter Galbert Workshops. It’s a great lineup of classes with Peter Galbert, Peter … Continue reading →

 The end is in sight now.  The only woodworking step left that I can think of is gluing the glazing bars in the rabbets. Shellac went on today. It is going to take a while to get the shellac on this bookcase. The doors are going to take the longest followed by the bookcase. The shelves will be easy but they will hog a lot of real estate while they get the finish applied. It is going take a couple of days to get it done.

hmm.....

I was sanding this when I noticed the ends were wonky looking. I shot the ends on the shooting jigs just enough to clean them up and get them back to square.

almost an 1/8"

This shelf cupped on me. I could see it no matter where I stood to eyeball it.

test pieces

I applied shellac on the face and edge. From how it flowed and its liquidity, I would guess the cut was around 2lb. 

flattening the shelf

I didn't go nutso on this. I basically flattened it by eye. I was only going to do the top face but I could see the hump on the opposite face. I planed most of the hump away - stopped when it looked good to my eye with it in place.

done

Smoothed both sides with the #3 and called it done.

looks flat

There is still a wee bit of a cup but to my eye it looks flat. I'll check it again in the AM to see if the shelf has any stupid wood tricks up its sleeve.

two coats

About 15 minutes after the first coat I put on the 2nd one. First coat dried and the 2nd one laid down over it without any hiccups. I was happy with whatever pound cut I had mixed.

ouch

Went to the House of Glass and got my 8 pieces of glass. $59 and change to walk out the door. Glad that I don't have anymore frames I can use for doors.

nailed it

The glazing bars weren't too thick. With the glass installed the bars were flush with the door. If they hadn't been flush I would have planed them flush after the glue had set.

last re-mix

I transferred shellac from the full can into the empty one until they were roughly the same level. I started first with a cup and 1/4 of alcohol to see how it laid down.

first coat

The 1 1/4 cups of alcohol were ok. The first coat laid down about the same as the two test pieces. I now have  4 quart cans (mostly full) of shellac. I shouldn't have to mix any for quite a while. 4 cans should be more than enough for 6 months.

hmm.....

I like this putty a lot. It is a good color match for pine and it is easy to apply. I got a tube of it when I stopped at the paint store to get my empty quart cans.

first coat

The plan is to do the bottom and back first - 4 coats. After that I'll do the rest of the bookcase. Along with this I am also doing the door astragal at the same time.

the true last project

Making a raised platform for the computer. This should help with how much dust gets sucked up into the the computer.  The base is 1/2" plywood with poplar legs and pine rails. I used dowels to connect/secure the legs to the rails.

I will glue the plywood to the base and cover the plywood edges with pine bandings. That will happen in the AM.

door astragal

This has 4 coats of the final mix of the screwed up shellac. Coverage is good and it is shiny. I am happy with the shellac and how this looks. I'm calling it done.

blurry pic of my computer

The computer is running a little better than before. One fan is still making an occasional noise. It is not constant but comes and goes. The fans I ordered are coming from England and they shipped with delivery scheduled for Jan 5th. Until then I'm going to leave the side panel off.

accidental woodworker 

 I was asked by a friend who runs a commercial diving company, if our company could help in making new fenders for Oddesundbroen. 

He said that the job was so unorthodox, that he immediately thought that we would be the right ones to do it. The thing is that the fenders are made out of wood, and since the base pillar of the bridge is round, the fenders had to be sawed out to a 15 foot radius, and they had to be made out of 10" thick azobe / ekki (tropical hardwood).

There were also some smaller parts that needed to be mounted, but they were just made from straight pieces, so they weren't equally challenging.

The first step was to make a template so I had something that I could use for marking out the fenders. 
The template was then placed on top of the azobe planks 10 " x 20" x 10feet

The newly purchased Mafell ZSE330K was originally purchased with this specific project in mind, and performed brilliantly. 
Given that the wood was so thick and hard, I found out that by attaching an elastic securing strap to the saw and to the end of the wood, it would help by giving a fixed pull, so I didn't have to push quite as hard to saw the curve. Every now and then I would reposition the elastic strap another 8" to make it smooth.

When all the pieces were made, I helped installing it at the bridge.
The entire project had been a little delayed due to the delivery of the wood as far as I have understood, so we were challenged by having to do the actual mounting in November which is not the optimal month for outdoor working in marine environments.

The diving company had deployed a working barge, a small work dinghy and a work boat for the job. The barge had a small tool storage shed/ workshop onboard, and a hydraulic crane plus a generator.
The work boat would tow the barge out to the bridge, and we would secure it to the bridge pillar and get to work. 
The waves, heavy current and tide were all factors that we tried to work around. Some days the wind and waves would make it impossible to work safely, and then we'd try to do some preparing in the small harbour, and other days we just had to cancel it all.

We had completed the hinged bridge pillar part of the project, but the abutment pillar still had to be re-fendered. I had helped in removing a lot of the old wood fenders on that, and the old rubber fenders as well.
Sadly, the weather turned so bad in the end of November, that I was unable to see the project completed since I had to return to sea and my regular job. 

All in all a very challenging and satisfying project to have worked on.

Going through my pictures, I can see that I forgot to take any of the newly installed curved fenders.

2 down, 6 to go

Things were going slowly today. Yesterday I got a pain in my shoulders and it hasn't gone away but it has diminished a wee bit. Doing the glazing bars wasn't stressful and while doing it I didn't feel the pain in my shoulders. When I am idle I definitely can feel it. Better to keep busy.

done

I like the repetition of this work. Rough saw the miters, shoot the miters until it fits, then move on to the next glazing bar. There is satisfaction to the rhythm of the work 

hmm......

I gotta fix these divots. The doors should look good from either side and this would stick out like a neon light.

one down, one to go

With all the glazing bars I made I couldn't find one that matched the color of the door.

glued and cooking

Time to go fill the pie hole. I finished this after lunch.

made a command decision

I have been eyeballing the backstop for a couple days and something kept nagging me about it. Dawned on me this morning that it was too high.

much better

This is what this should be. Small, unobtrusive, almost like it isn't there. I like this look. Just high enough to stop things from falling off at the back but also like you have to look twice to see it was even there.

glued and cooking

Glue only, no screws or nails. The only woodworking left is the two shelves. I think that is it.

boo boos fixed

Planed them flush and you can see them. They don't stand up and slap you, but they are noticeable if you look.

shelves are next

The shelves final width is 9 1/2". Kicking myself for not gluing up stock to get a wider width. However, this would still work for 60% of the books I have. 

my favorite molding plane

I have been molding this profile on all the shelves I've made in the past 2 years. It is a Preston plane and the profile is an ogee?

done

I had to trim both shelves to fit the opening. The front to back was slightly out of square. It was wider at the front tapering in towards the back. I planed a small taper (a strong 32nd) on each end. No problems with the shelves fitting in any of the positions. I chopped four mortises on the bottom of each shelf for the shelf pins.

hmm....

The shellac on these two sticks is thick. Way thicker than what I see after one coat with my normal mix. I had gone out before lunch to the grocery store intending to stop at the Dollar Store to get measuring cups but I forgot to do it. Went and got a red set just before quitting time.

need one more can

I took half of the contents of one of the shellac cans and filled the empty one. After that I put a cup of alcohol into both cans. I'll repeat the same for the other shellac can. The paint store they should have quart cans in stock on monday. I guess-ta-mate that I have roughly a 2lb cut now in these two cans. I'll be trying it out on some scrap to check that out.

accidental woodworking 

 Last night my desktop computer finally gave up the ship and sank. The intake fans were noisy, the CMOS battery voltage was low, and the knife in the heart was the keyboard stopped working. Since the desktop isn't heavy enough to be a boat anchor, I now had a big ass paper weight.

dust bunnies

See the pile of dust bunnies above the light spot? This was just one of several inside the computer. All told I think I sucked up about 9 pounds.

yikes

The silver and copper thing is the CPU cooler. The black thing in front of it is where the intake fans are. I wasn't expecting to see this much and it is mostly my fault because I have only cleaned out the computer once in the last 4-5 years.

hmm....

The outlet side was clogged shut - very little air was moving through the grill. There are two fans there. One blows air across the CPU cooler and the other blows air across the memory sticks. There is no fan on the CPU cooler.

took a while

A search on line said there was a fan on the CPU cooler. It ain't so boys and girls. The fins on this were full of dust bunnies too.  I got the board clean after 30 minutes of brushing and vacuuming.

silent

Both fans are working with no noise coming from either one. Neither one wobbled and both seemed to spinning freely.

CMOS battery

These button batteries last for a long time in computers. This battery is common and I got a replacement at CVS.

the noise maker

One of the fans started to make noise and this was the cause. This explains why I heard the noise off and on. I thought it was the bearings in the fan being toast.

I got two replacement fans on order for $19 each. I got them from Amazon and they had the same fan for a low of $19 all the way up to $59. Same maker, same specs, so why the discrepancy in the pricing? I should have them the week after xmas. I'll limp along with what I have for now.

sigh

This is where I found out the top keyboard was toast. I changed the batteries first and nada. My spare board worked. The computer booted up and loaded with no problems. Home page came up and YouTube worked perfectly. Other than one of the fans making a little noise all was well again in Disneyland.

battery leaked

Changed the batteries again and nada again. I saw this and said ok, problem found? Cleaned it and tried the batteries again. Keyboard working again. This is something I check frequently, usually once a month. I also check my flashlights for battery leaking. I've lost 3 of them in the past few years.

back to the bookcase

Started finishing up last bits of woodworking. Glued and nailed the quarter round to the base starting with the right short side.

done

The left side short quarter round was last. It took 6 plane the miters and checking before it fit. I am happy with miters, all four corners are gap free.

hmm.....

Sneak peek at the astragal. I like that it doesn't stick out or over power the simplicity of the doors. 

huh....

This I don't understand. I had already trimmed and leveled the tops of the doors. The first time it was the left one and now the right one is a wee bit high.

last thing for today

Just before this I had nailed the cove molding in the top back. I glued toothpicks in the screw holes. I had put in and taken the doors off so many times the holes were enlarged and the screws weren't biting anymore. I am going to try and wait before I put the doors on for the final time.

Didn't get as much done on the bookcase that I thought I would. Getting my desktop computer back up and running again ate up a lot more time than I expected. One of the last things to do is to glue on the back stop on the top of the bookcase.

came today

If memory serves me still, Stanley was called the Rule and Level company in the 1850's. I was a history major until I switched to business. I like reading the histories/biographies of companies and people. This author also wrote a book on Stanley planes which I have in my library.

eye opener

I got this book a few years back and it blew me away. I had assumed that rules were just inch scales etc. I was wrong, so very wrong. I couldn't believe how many different types of rules were made. Each industry had their own needs that went beyond simple measuring rules. It was eye opening and interesting. I've read and skimmed through it several times since I first bought it. 

accidental woodworker

My advocacy for high-demand hand tool woodworking doesn’t preclude machining wood: it never has nor will. I don’t own or use power machines like chopsaws, power planers, tablesaws, mortisers, spindle moulders (shapers USA), their smaller cousins, power routers and such like that, and that’s from both personal choice and my advocacy for the art and...

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It's taken a long time, but we finally have a shop open at www.jonbayescarving.co.uk. There will be carving for sale, and the main access point to courses on there.

Taster courses; try before you commit. Pop in to the shop and sample our wares!

The shop should become more populated in the coming weeks.

I am the delighted recipient of Mrs. Barn’s foodie-ism.  She loves cooking as much as I love puttering in the shop.  One of the benefits of this relationship is that I come down the hill for lunch and supper every day and there is a wholesome real-live meal awaiting me.  She makes all our butter, yoghurt (our breakfast of choice for many years) and ice cream from scratch, as she does with almost everything else we eat.  No wonder my matchmaking sister told me 45 years ago, “I’ve got just the girl for you!”

In recent years as an attempt to reduce our carb and white flour/wheat intake she has been making sourdough bread from einkorn she grinds herself.  Admittedly she parcels it out like I was a junkie, maybe a slice or two a week.  When we went lower-carb years ago I gave up sodas and fruit drinks cold turkey with no problem, Same for wheat pasta and other starches as she has found excellent alternatives (I actually prefer quinoa to rice and pureed cauliflower is almost equal to mashed potatoes).  But bread?  That was way tougher as I had been eating a whole loaf of grocery store bread every week and still love it.

She has compiled a recipe repertoire that I think she should turn into a cookbook (especially the wheat-free treats and sugar-free desserts, but she doesn’t think anybody would be interested.  Sigh.)

Anyway, this video made me think of all this.  I found it fascinating, she found it old news.

sigh.....

This is my main computer that lives besides my desk. It is a Dell T3500 which means it is obsolete. Lately the fans have been acting up. I've lost 60% of my hearing and this AM I could hear the fans laboring while I was in the bathroom with the door partially closed. Time to pony up and fix it.

After searching on line for a while I found out that there are 2 fans in the computer. One on the CPU cooler and two intake fans. I have always hated Dell computers because they purposely make replacing any parts almost impossible. You either buy from them or you have a big ass paper weight. Fans are available still on eBay and I'll have to open the computer up and see which fans are acting up. I have a laptop I can use in the interim. Tomorrow, maybe because it has been almost 20 years since I've played computer tech.

door stop

Found 4 of these buried in the black hole and I am using one as the top door stop. I think I had made these a few years ago when I rehabbed a bead molding plane.

marking

I hung the doors, closed them, and marked the backside of the stop molding.

hmm....distracted

I could have sworn that I had a gap here yesterday. I'll add some veneer in the carcass mortises to increase it.

going slowly

I clamped boards from the back holding the door stop where I had marked it. Taped it in place and checked it with the doors closed. Both doors when up against the stop, were flush on the front.

glued and cooking

I double, triple checked the door stop was on the layout lines on the back of it. I won't have any chances to adjust once the glue has set. Fingers crossed that all will be well in Disneyland tomorrow. Just glue to secure this, no nails or screws.

door astragal

Glued the two parts together. I'll hold off gluing it to the right hand door until the last moment.

quarter round molding

The short right one is fitted. The other three are over length. Once I get the right one glued and nailed, I will secure the two long ones followed by the short left one.

door astragal

This is ready to be glued on. I sawed 45's on the ends and then sanded them started with 100 grit ending with 220.

gap filled

This is the back and I could have let it go but I couldn't. Glued in a piece of veneer.

securing the back

I clamped two boards so I could push the back up against them. This allowed me to secure the back with screws and Miller dowels while ensuring the back was flush.

top

Used five 1 1/2" screws to secure the top.  No glue, just screws. The top stop will hide the screws. 

Miller dowels

Both sides got 5 Miller dowels each. The bottom is free floating. No screws, nails, or Miller dowels for it. I didn't want to unscrew the base to get Miller dowels or screws into the bottom.

no gap

Back frame assembly is in and secure and the light leak I know I had yesterday is gone. I'm still going to put the cove molding here but now it will hide pencil marks I didn't bother to remove. I'll glue and pin nail it in place.

another gap

I can't believe I hadn't noticed and addressed this hiccup already. Same treatment as the back - I glued in a piece of veneer.

glazing bars

I went nutso on this and made double what I needed. Used up most of the waste and off cuts from the bookcase build.

one done

These glazing bars are on the thin side. They aren't thick enough to nail through. I will glue them in place with hide glue. I did one just to check the depth and to ensure that I can fit a pane of glass in the rabbets along with the glazing bars.

I'll survive the brain fart

 A couple of days after my mixing hiccup, both cans are liquid still. No clumps of undissolved shellac in either one. The right can I shook before opening it and the right I didn't shake first.

it is thick

I usually mix a 1.5 to 2 pound cut and the shellac on these stir sticks is pretty thick. Much more so than what I see with my usual mix. I plan to transfer half of each of these two cans into another one. I'll then add alcohol until it looks and feels like my usual mix ratio.

look what I found

I had an empty quart can all along. I had seen this on the cabinet but I assumed it had shellac in it. I was wrong. Tomorrow I'll go to the dollar store and buy a cheap set of measuring cups so I can transfer from the full-ish cans to the empty one. 

accidental woodworker 

done

Got the 2nd attempt on fitting the back panel done. Got the first 3 sides fitted and the last one was a cake walk. This pic was snapped with me standing about 6-7 feet away.

this will work

On the back side there isn't a gap but in the interior there is a tiny sliver of light visible along the top edge. This cove molding is small, unobtrusive and blocks the light.

reusing the mistake

I needed stock for the door astragal and I used this boo boo. I sawed it into four pieces and used one to get the door astragal.

thin or thick

The thicker one is 3/8" thick and it was my first choice for the base. The thinner one is about 3/16".

my hinges

This is an unswaged hinge. There is a healthy space between the leaves when they are parallel.

hinges flat against each other

With swaged hinges the two leaves lay flat against each other when they are closed. Makes it a bit harder to mortise. Hope this helps Frank.

left one done

I chiseled the hinge mortises a little deeper and then evened the four of them with the router.

won't close

I closed the gaps between the hinges and the side of the carcass. But the doors won't close - the right one over hangs the left one about 1/8". This is the uncertainty I have with these hinges. I wasn't sure how deep to make the mortises so I did a little and checked it. Wash, rinse, and repeat until done.

I made another chisel/router run making them a wee bit deeper. That along with planing the latch side of the right door, the doors closed and opened. I got the gap to a 16th. I can make it wider if necessary because I can hide it with the door astragal.

hmm....

This is the right side door and the hinge margin is zero. It is closing ok but I like having some daylight between the door edge and the carcass.

insurance

I put a #4 screw in the ends of the muntins. Probably didn't need it but it is giving me a warm and fuzzy. Muntins are usually mortised into the stiles and rails.

changing lanes

The door astragal on the left is history. The base under the 1/2 round is 1 3/4" wide and it would eat up too much real estate and not leave sufficient room for the knobs. The right base is 1 1/2" but I couldn't find a smaller 1/2 round for it. I found a scrap of pine 3/4" wide by 3/8" thick.

back to thick or thin

I don't like the 3/8" thick base for the astragal. I think it is too heavy looking for the doors. I am going with the thinner base - the size of it doesn't overwhelm the scale of the doors.

sneak peek

Looking like what I envisioned it to be. There isn't much left to do woodworking wise. I'll have to get the glass for the doors and that should be the last thing I have to order/wait for.

fixed

The top of the left door was about a 16th higher than the right. Marked it and then planed it to the line.

door astragal

Rounded over the outside edges on both pieces and sanded them smooth. I'm holding off gluing the two of them together for now. Once I have it cut to length, I will saw the ends at a 45.

the ends

I think leaving the ends at a 45 (which I can saw, plane, and sand) it a better choice than trying to round over the end grain ends.

better

Got a gap now. Before it was a little bit hinge bound at the bottom. Something I hadn't noticed before. I had to add a shim in the carcass side mortise to get this gap.

hmm.....

The shelf width will about 9 1/4". I was shooting for something at 10" or more. Maybe I should have glued up to get wider stock.

accidental woodworker

For the last several months I’ve been prevented from getting into a rhythm in the shop due to a host of wonderful family happenings, sometimes even going for weeks without darkening its doors.  When I do get into the shop I spend a lot of time cleaning, organizing, and tuning up the shop itself.  That really does not require really getting in the flow, I can just spend a few minutes here or there moving nd throwing away. In fact I’m trying to impose a better order and functionality of several shop spaces.

One of the unintended pleasures of the undertaking has been the rediscovery of items I did not even remember I had, at least until I put my hands and eyes on them.  Such is the case with this 3″ x 3″ print, taken with a tiny Kodak Instamatic pocket camera fifty years ago.  This piece was one of the “kits” delivered to the Schindler’s shop in the back of a Mercedes station wagon.  Taking pictures of my projects was simply not part of my operating system back then, but this tulipwood and rosewood marquetry secretaire bore a royal inventory stamped, probably from about 1700.  Along with the other “kits” I worked on around this time, including a pair of bureaus by Riesener, a switch was turned for me that has directed part of my life to this very day.

And I did not even remember this image until I found it while going through a box of ancient stuff.  Heck, I haven’t even thrown away all my papers from college.  My college career lasted from 1972 to 1985, so…

 A friend of Gustav asked if we could make a dedicated cabinet for ribbons that are won/awarded at equestrian events. If you participate in a lot of events, you eventually end up with a bunch of those. She wanted it around 55" x 35" and preferably in light oak if possible.

I normally don't have any oak in stock for building furniture of, but I once got a great tip from Ty Stange: Buy old oak furniture and reuse the materials. 
In the late 70'ies and beginning of the 80'ies, there were some Danish furniture factories that made some good honest oak furniture, but the design is really not something that strikes a chord today. I found a cabinet with stained glass doors at a thrift shop, and paid 27 US$ for it. That was solid oak, furniture grade, and enough to build the entire cabinet from.

After some stock processing, to reduce the thickness, I dovetailed the corners of the main frame. A face frame was made using half lap joints in order to make it a fast build. 
I glued on some strips to help making a rabbet for the back to be glued onto, and that worked pretty good. Due to the original size of the back, I had to glue some reinforcement strips to cover where the back was joined.

The doors were also made using half laps in the corners, and after the glue had dried, I routed a rabbet for the glass to fit into.

The glass was something that I had leftover from the greenhouse, and I could reuse the hinges and pulls from the original cabinet.

A couple of strips with holes in where glued to the sides. I weaved some 1/8" braided line through all the holes, to give something for the ribbons to be attached to.

Finally two magnetic closing mechanisms were mounted, and the cabinet was complete.

I didn't go all wild with sanding, since it will be placed in a stable, but all in all i am happy with the result. 

 

fitting the back panel assembly

I laid the pattern on the back, adjusting it until it looked ok and I marked where I had to remove and where I had to add. I had to add fillers on two opposite edges.

haircut day

It still surprises me with how much dark hair I still have on the roof. I have some distinguished gray at the temples but the rest of the rest is black. It is winter so I cut my hair to a 1/4", the other 3 seasons I mow it down to a 1/8".

ready to plane

Fillers cooked and I laid the pattern on the back and penciled its outline onto the it.

sigh

 One side of the coin has the back fitted. It is a snug fit with no large gaps, a few teeny slivers. On the other side this is a boo boo. This side should be facing into the interior.

the brain fart

I hadn't thought this all the way through. The pattern fits the back perfectly but the rub is I penciled the the pattern the wrong way. I should have penciled the pattern on the back of the panel assembly.

fitting the back

I was oblivious to this  being wrong at this point. All my OCD attention was focused on fitting this. Started by getting the bottom first, then the right side, followed by the top, and finally the left side. 

found out my boo boo

This is the unfinished side of the plywood panels. It doesn't look that bad. There is one white spot on the right panel that I could paint/blend to hide.

this is a no no

This splintered edge is not what I want to see. It looks like crap. I now had two choices, make a new panel assembly or start over from square one with this.

chose option two

I double, triple checked this a bazillion times. I checked that I was laying the pattern correctly on the back face several times before I committed to tracing the pattern on it.

two more fillers

I had two large gaps on the frame - at the top right and the bottom left. My plan was to fit the bottom, right side, and top first. After I got them fitted I would glue the final filler on the left side and fit it.

gotta love McMaster Carr

They are wee bit expensive but they are worth. Ordered these yesterday and got them at 1320 today. These will be used for hinges mostly. A hundred screws in each box for about $10 each.

3 sides fitted

It took a while but I found it relaxing sneaking up on the fit. And I got it correct this time.

last one

I think, at least for me, this was the way to do this. Trying to get all 4 in one shot would too much. The large gap at the top is a frog hair shy of a 1/4". The right side large gap was just shy of 3/16". 

maybe tonight

Got the last filler strip on and I'll let it cook until whenever. I might come back to the shop after dinner to fit but that depends. If not I'll finish this up in the AM.

It is looking like this will be done probably before xmas. I might be able to squeeze in another last minute project to close out 2025.

accidental woodworker 

 

came yesterday

I was tempted to start on these last night after dinner but I didn't. That aside, these 2" hinges will do the job. Nice touch with brass and steel screws but I won't be using either of them. Both are philips head screws and I don't like them. For nice brass hinges like these I want slotted brass flat head screws.

sweet

These hinges cost $34 a pair and they are well worth it. Ball tips are the cherry atop the sundae.

fitting the panels

Laid out the pencil line and planed down to it.

hmm......

The center stile wouldn't align with the dry fit tic marks. However, it is square, on both sides, at the top and bottom. I got both panels dry fitted and I'm happy with how it looks. Forgot to snap a pic of it for proof.

dutchman glued on

I had seen on a YouTube vid where he applied yellow glue to one side and superglue to the other side. No attempt to have clear spots for either glue. I decided to give it a try and see what shook out.

planing the waste

I didn't want to risk sawing any of the waste off. It would have been a awkward working around the clamp and sawing with my non master hand. There didn't seem to be any headaches or hiccups with the mixing of the two glues.

done

This repair will be at the upper left corner of the bookcase. It doesn't look that bad this close and once it is in the bookcase it will be invisible.

glued and cooking

I got the tic marks on the center stile to align. The right side stile ended up a bit proud though. It won't be problem because I still have to plane this to fit the back.

hinge layout

I have come a long way with installing hinges. They don't fill me with dread anymore. I just treat as another step to complete the build.

not perfect yet

The leaf wasn't flush on the left side. Flush on the right though. A piece of cherry veneer brought it up flush.

needs a #5 screw

Not only were the supplied screws philips head, they were too long. They would have been ok in the carcass but not on the door. They were a few frog hairs longer than 3/4" (metric ?) - they would have poked through.

 I didn't have enough screws for the 4 hinges. Blacksmith bolt were I usually buy my screws didn't have any #5x5/8" in stock. I ordered them from McMaster Carr and I should have them tomorrow.

sigh

I blew out the back twice. I only waited the first time a few minutes (used super glue) but this time I let it set for over 30 minutes.

insurance

I clamped a backer at the back and it worked. I didn't blow it out again.

one down, one to go

Left door swings easily in/out. The margins aren't even, the bottom is thinner than the top. They are parallel and consistent though.

nope

The bottom is beyond snug. There is no way this will close. Glad now that I didn't go nutso fitting the doors earlier.

done

Both doors swing in/out freely. No hang ups top or bottom but the doors won't meet/close on latch side. The right door overlays the left one about 1/8".

why they won't close

The gap on the hinge side of both doors is too wide. That is because the hinges aren't swaged. The hinge leafs don't lay flat on each other. I knew that going into this and I expected this. I will break out a router and use it to increase the depth of the mortises on the door and the carcass.

yikes

I was playing around with fitting the back when I stepped away to get something off my workbench. The back fell out of the carcass and on the floor (failed the bounce test). This corner broke. I glued it back together and I'll let it cook until tomorrow.

for tomorrow

Fitting the back into the carcass is going to be a huge PITA. The back is out of square by a 1/4". These glue ups will be used to facilitate making the fitting a wee bit easier.

accidental woodworker

Every day I am at work I spent at least 15 minutes - more like 30 minutes -a day using the showroom treadle lathe. I would do more but I don't have time. And this was the point of designing the lathe in the first place: I need the exercise. Using the lathe, I break a sweat; I can feel my heartbeat go up; and I can feel the improvement in my stamina. I hate going to the gym, and at this point I don't pretend that this New Year will be different. But this is different. I focus on my goal of learning to turn properly and the time just slips by. Eventually my goal is to make certain items. I have a list but I am not skilled enough yet.

And this is what will bring me to the lathe in the future - interest in turning. The important physical benefit is frosting. Consequently I don't have to negotiate with myself, resort to post-workout bribery or make complicated podcast or music playlists to distract myself from (what I experience to be) the monotony of gym exercising.

But there is a learning curve.

Turning in general has a learning curve, but I am also learning the important aspects of turning on a treadle lathes. Pedaling is one example. I am now at the point where I routinely switch feet. I am learning how to position my body so that I am not in the way of moving the tool in a cut - yet still be able to pedal comfortably. I am is getting better, but I am not yet where I need to be, or where I hope to be within a few weeks.

I also had my first accident today. It was pure stupidity and carelessness, as accidents sometimes are. If I had been using an electric lathe, I might have lost a thumb. I was rounding out square stock and stopped pedaling so I could see where I was and I touched the wood to see if it was round. It was far from it and my thumb was dragged and stuck between the work and the tool rest. This was totally avoidable mistake and it served as a real wake-up call. Fortunately instead of causing an emergency trip to the hand surgeon, the accident just caused a mild pain at the base of my thumbnail. I don't even think I will lose the nail.

I counted myself lucky and finished roughing out.

Update on manufacture: We are basically done assembling all the bits and bobs that go into the lathe. The Treadle Lathe is the largest and most complicated hand tool project I can think of by any manufacturer in several generations. We are dealing with multiples of over 100 different parts. All of the parts with three exceptions are sitting here waiting to be assembled. The parts that are missing are a few of the headstocks - we had a CNC milling crash last week and we lost a few days waiting for the machine to be repairs. That's done. We don't feel comfortable finishing the tailstocks until we have assembled a production machine and double- checked the actual center distance from the ways. (It would be just foolish to make an assumption.) And finally the welded frames were supposed to be shipped to us last Wednesday but the trucking company confused bills of lading, reported our shipment picked up and on schedule when in fact it was just sitting at the fabricator. In theory, by the time you read this we will either have frames or we will be waiting for a truck to pull up, which will be followed by a mad dash to assemble the machines. If you have signed up as a pre-sale buyer, you will then get your call to arrange delivery, although that last bit may not happen until January because most of our shop people are on vacation Christmas Week.

We still have lots of work to do on manuals and videos.

All of this is a roundabout way of saying: I expect to spend more time turning and be a better turner in better physical shape starting now.

dipped below 60F

It has been cold for the past couple of weeks, especially the past week and the start of the current one. Through it all the shop temp has hovered between 61F and 63F. I haven't seen 62F at all. The shop is still ok - ish to work in, I'll start wearing sweatshirts if the temp dips any lower. 

setting pin sleeves

This gizmo sets the shelf sleeves with a tap from a mallet. I got it from Lee Valley and it sets 4 different size sleeves. I have 3 of the four. I secure my sleeves with super glue.

done

Before I make the shelves I will get the back installed and the doors hinged. Those being in place will determine the width of the shelves.

brain fart time

The shellac I had ordered a few weeks ago finally came in. I made a stop at the paint store to get 4 empty quart cans but they only one. That was all I needed to mix enough shellac for the bookcase.

the huge brain fart

I can't mix a quart of shellac - the can is too small. So what I usually do is mix three batches. The mistake I made was using way too many shellac flakes - I used 9 ounces instead of 4.5 ounces. 

Ran out of alcohol but I did have enough to get the mountain of shellac dissolved. I have no idea what pound cut of shellac I have. The plan is to get two more cans and distribute the shellac I mixed into the four of them. I'll add more alcohol, guessing what looks good, and go from there.

road trip

The only 6mm birch plywood was a 5 foot square panel that had smashed corners and was warped. So I got these two plywood panels - 2' x 4' with one face prefinished for $19 each. That is cheaper than the Lowes.

hit or miss

I picked up a bag of these 1/4" dowels for my Dowel Max doweling jig. I have bought 1/4" dowels before and they were too loose. It is a crap shoot IMO because the pins will swell and shrink and you have to deal with it.

hmm......

Both of the openings are not square. The left side top right is out. The right side is out of square on the top and bottom corners on the right. I'll make the panels to the size of the larger measurement, and plane them to fit.

story stick

There is over a 1/8" difference at the top and bottom.

yikes

Didn't expect this to splinter out like it did. The face veneer is thinner than a piece of paper.

panels rough sized

Did better with the splinter BS on the right panel. On the right one I knifed the cross cut line. Even the waste side of the cut, which I hadn't knife, came out splinter free.

hmm....

Labeled the joints because I sized the panels to each opening. Both of them are slightly different. What I don't understand is the out of square but all the shoulders lay up gap free.

sigh

This is supposedly a 1/4" panel and the groove is 6mm wide a 1/4" deep. 6mm (0.236) is less then a 1/4" (0.250). The plywood is loose in the groove. There is a healthy gap that I wasn't expecting. I plan to glue the plywood in the grooves so it won't be a problem.

future fix

This was the result of sawing the stile to length. This will be facing into the interior of the bookcase so I'll have to dutch it. I'll do that before I glue the frame and panel up tomorrow.

 

not that bad

The left side frame joints are all tight. The right side and the top of the center stile aren't seated. This is looking like it is going to be a fun plane and fit exercise.

accidental woodworker

Who doesn’t love a nice ribbon bookmark? Older bibliophiles will remember when many fine hardcover editions of literary classics came with a ribbon bookmark. I always loved them, though I’m afraid they aren’t as common as they used to be.

Fortunately, even if your favorite hardcover or leather-bound book doesn’t come with a ribbon bookmark–or if it doesn’t come with enough ribbons–it’s very easy to make your own ribbon bookmarks.

I learned how from a guy named Justin, who was a student of mine. A few years ago, we were both part of a theological discussion group at our university, and one day somebody noticed that Justin’s Bible had probably half a dozen ribbon bookmarks, all different colors. We were a little envious and wondered where he had gotten a Bible with so many ribbon bookmarks. He smiled and showed us how he had made them himself out of some very simple materials.

First I’ll show you how you can add the ribbon bookmark(s) to your book, and then I’ll show you how to make them.

Pretty much every book that’s not a paperback has this handy little gap at the spine. You’re going to attach your ribbons to something long and thin that you can slip into this gap.

Here’s how you do it.

First, make the slip.Use stiff poster board or a sheet of vinyl, just something thin you can punch a few holes in. You can even use a cereal box or something like that. Cut it into a long slip that will fit nicely into the book’s spine. The exact dimensions aren’t important, but if you make it about half as long as the book is tall, you can adjust the length of your bookmarks by moving it up and down inside the spine.

Now get some ribbon. I recommend the 1/4″ wide ribbon that you can get at any fabric store. You can get the wider 3/8″ size if you prefer. Be sure to choose a color and texture that you really like. I prefer plain, smooth polyester ribbon, which is soft and flexible and feels nice in the hand. Other kinds of ribbon are quite stiff or have a lot of texture, which is not ideal for a bookmark. Ribbon is not expensive, so you can get several different colors if you like.

You can attach the ribbon to your slip in many different ways. I decided to punch holes, fold the ribbon through the hole, and superglue it to itself. (I pressed it between a couple pieces of waxed paper while it dried.) You could also put the ribbon through the hole and staple the ribbon to itself. Or you could just tie it off in a little knot, which is how my student had attached his. Just make sure the ribbon can’t pull free if you tug on it a little bit.

With the ribbons attached, cut them to the proper length.

Just make sure you leave enough on either end to drop down into the spine and stick out from the pages.

I was making several of these for Christmas presents, so I put down some tape on my table to help me cut every ribbon to the same length. You may want to customize the ribbon’s length to your book’s size. And you can always leave it a bit long at first and trim it to final length once you’ve installed it in the book.

Don’t forget the singe the ends of the ribbons with a flame so they don’t ravel.

Now slip your new bookmark into the book’s spine, and you’re done!

After just a few minutes’ work, you have made a fine ribbon bookmark to mark your place in your favorite book.

But since these are so quick to make, it would be a shame to make just one. Why not make a few for your other favorite hardcover books. You could even make some as gifts for your bookish friends!

Or maybe it’s time to sit down in front of the fireplace and enjoy your favorite book, enhanced with a ribbon bookmark you made yourself.

Lectio felix! (Happy reading!)