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 Happy with the digital antenna I bought. I was going to buy one that cost $139 but instead I saved myself a few $$$ and bought one for $30. The picture I am getting from each station is in HD and only one of them is iffy. I don't have a listing of the digital channels in my area so I can only select/surf the stations the TV picked up. I am getting one iffy channel and it is similar to a scrambled pic from an premium channel. So far so good and I just have to find a Digital TV listing. I think I'll get a digital antenna for the TV in the bedroom too.

prepping for the 2nd coat

 320 sandpaper on the entire ladder. The small scraper is for the drips and runs. Sanding them with 320 doesn't work. Scraping them is quicker, easier, and yields the best results.

mahogany

I got the 2nd coat on the kitchen ladder and I didn't want to start laying tiles before lunch. This mahogany is the last of the solid mahogany from the table I got from Facebook Marketplace. I bandsawed off two strips a wee bit thicker than a 1/8".

keepers

I decided to finish this box and not use hinges on it. Instead I am going to put keepers in the lid and use them to secure the lid to the bottom.

dry fitted

I mitered the corners on these keepers vice using butt joints which is why I made them so thick.

clean look

The lid fit (dry) without me having to plane or sand it to fit. It is a bit snug and with shellac I know it won't fit then. For now this is ok as is but I'll have to plane/sand it for a loose fit before applying it.

screw holes

I went back and forth thinking about these holes. Use them and go with hinges or use keepers and deal with the holes. I didn't like my hinge choice so I'm going to deal with filling in the holes somehow. I'm leaning in the direction of dowels, no putty. I'll do that after the glue has cooked on the keepers.

ready for laying tiles

Using a stool I made last year. It is the perfect height for playing with the tiles on the table. This stool will be going to live with youngest sister Kam sometime soon after this.

way too much

Mixed up a batch of the mastic. I tried buttering the backs of two tiles, one with the mixing stick and the other with the putty knife. Surprising to me was the putty knife won. I thought it was too wide to place mastic on the backs of the small tiles.

kept going

The plan going into this was to lay the perimeter tiles only. Let them set up and then do the inner tiles. I thought it would be time consuming to butter the tiles and set them in place. Instead it went rather quickly. My concerns about handling the buttered tiles were unfounded. Getting to this point took about 40 minutes.

done

Of course I had to arrange the tiles again as I laid them. I couldn't remember the orientation of the tiles I placed on the first table tops. I found that out on the second row when the same tiles were butting against each other.

My grout/margin lines aren't straight and neatly laid out R/L and T/B. There was no way that was going to happen because of the tiles - none of them are square and the overall sizes varied too. However, I think the wonkiness of the tiles blends in with the wavering grout/margin lines nicely. They both compliment each other.

The tiles for Amanda's table will be here tomorrow via UPS (which just laid off 20,000 drivers). I don't know when it will get here but I doubt I'll get lucky and get to it tomorrow in time to lay them. I will however, be able to finish up the 2nd coat on the kitchen ladder. I'll eyeball it then to see if it needs a third coat. I may put a 3rd on the treads due to the high scruff wear they will get.

accidental woodworker

It’s rarely used, uncomplicated joinery. You don’t need powered equipment for a quick outcome; the joint readily comes dead on when you do it with a handful of bench tools. Ten minutes gets you there––a chisel hammer, two chisels, a knife, square, steel rule and a marking gauge. You can add a hand router plane...

Source

I carved these two walnut bowls from a radially-split piece of fresh black walnut, but the design is well suited to be carved from any 2″ thick plank of wood. Compared to my usual Bowl from a Plank, I guess … Continue reading →

After what seems like a century we are back in Shangri-la, having logged thousands of miles in traveling for the past two months.  We were home twice to swap out luggage but otherwise we were elsewhere.

It began with our arrival in DC for the very birthing day of Grandson #3.  Three weeks later we went to Alabama for the third birthday of Grandson #1 and first birthday of Grandson#2.  Then back to DC for GS#3’s baptism, a grand week we got to spend with our co-in-laws.  My co-father-in-law and I are twin sons of different mothers.

After another brief stop to swap out more laundry we wrapped up our journeys with a trip to Rochester NY where I made six presentations to the Rochester Woodworkers Guild — Principles of Furniture Conservation, Case Studies in Furniture Conservation, How Furniture Conservation Affects My Current Furniture Making, demonstrations of various conservation techniques, a review and demonstration of parquetry techniques, and finally a conservation/restoration clinic based on the pieces the attendees brought with them for that purpose.

Now back home with summer trying to ramp up we are back at it big time.  Mrs. Barn is feverishly working on her gardens and I am hard at work on the greenhouse, finishing the installation of a greenhouse fan, draping the structure with a shade cloth our newest son-in-law gave to us when it turned out to be too large for their patio space, and sealing up the perimeter to protect from the voles that are the bane of Mrs. Barn’s gardening life.

The shade cloth was something we had been wondering about as the inside temps were in the 80s when the outside temp was in the 20s.  Now that the sun and outside temps are much higher the issue came front and center.  I do not like high temperatures anyway, but when I was working inside the greenhouse in 110-degrees I broke out the shade cloth and affixed it in place.  Combined with the fan that lowered the inside temps to a manageable 85 degrees.

As for vole-proofing the space, that began at the very beginning of the construction phase several months ago.  I covered the entire inside space with 1/4″ hardware cloth, and now was the time to tie it all together with new pieces at the bottoms of the walls and posts.  One more day of that and it will be time to move on the laying out the inside configuration.

I hope we get to stay home more from now on, but that may be a vain hope.  In two months the family of GS#1 and GS#2 will be moving to live within five miles of GS#3.  I’m guessing that Grandma and Grandpa will be burning up the roads between here and there.

I am anxious to get back into the shop to work at both the bench and in my writing chair, but that might have to wait a little longer.

Spent a good portion of today running errands. One of them I've been putting off for quite a while. It was nice to finally checking that off the to do list. In the PM I went out with my wife to look for plants/flowers for the yard. I would like to put a weeping red maple in the front side yard and she agreed with me. I had to rephrase and ask her again twice before I believed her. I basically leave the yard to her. About all I will do with it is battle with the ivy along the back fence. It will be interesting if she asks to transplant a maple for her.

done

Maria does awesome job on cutting the matting and setting the pics. The two circles were ovals in the original paper mat and I had told her I didn't want ovals on this one. I would have been happy with square or rectangular openings (didn't tell her that)but I am ok with the circles. The trick now will be finding open real estate somewhere on a wall upstairs.

The pic in the upper right corner is of a younger me. It was taken 49 years ago. Where did all those years in between go to?

2nd side

I never went back to the shop last night after dinner. I did manage to get the other side's first coat on today. I like the poly - it is called warm satin. It has the teeniest of hints of brown in it.

looks bare

Got the 2nd side done and it either soaked in or I missed a big spot. The outside leg between the two steps is the problem area. It felt tacky to the touch so I think I got poly there. I'll have to wait and see how it looks/feels in 3-4 hours.

WL Fuller stop

I had to replace 3 bits in this holder and all 3 replacements stuck out like sore thumbs (two were black oxide). I would have gotten this haul the last time I came here but I couldn't remember the 3 bit sizes I needed. I have several 1/4-20 taps but I didn't have a 1/4-20 die. Fixed that with one from WL Fuller.

another distraction

This digital antenna kit came today and of course I had to immediately play with it. I wasn't expecting the antenna to look like a piece of black paper. I played with it for over an hour. The instructions (chinese) weren't that horrible. I could understand and follow them. It took me 5 channel search and set up runs but in the end I got my local stations. I have ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox. I will be able to watch football come this fall as the games are on one or all of them. ESPN carries some games but I won't be able to watch them. I couldn't find a digital channel for them.

prepping

The game plan is to remove all the interior field tiles. I took them out and placed them on the original tables that I made too small. I will secure the perimeter tiles first and then do the rows one at a time.

ready

I'll start on this tomorrow. I have to find chair or make a stool to sit on. Standing in front of the table bending over to remove the tiles hurt. Securing the tiles is going to be tedious enough and I don't need to be aggravated with my back singing arias for me.

nope

It had been over 3 hours since I applied poly but it was still a wee bit tacky. The shop was a toasty 64F (18C) and it has been that temp for over a week. That is plenty warm enough for the poly to set. Maybe I'll get it sanded and another coat of poly on it after dinner today.

hmm....

This feels the same as its sibling. However, the bare spot is gone. I looked for it in raking light and nada. It feels rough to the touch too but that is to be expected after one coat of poly.

accidental woodworker

 Well boys and girls I misread the website. I had ordered new mosaic tiles and initially I thought they were arriving on May 1st. When I checked the Etsy site this AM I was a bit disappointed in what I read. Today the arrival date was between May 1st and May 5th. Yesterday there was not anything else after May 1st. With my luck they won't be here until the 5th at the earliest. I can work on my tile table first and work out any kinks with it. 

Lowes road trip

This is what $63 looks like. A ten pound of mosaic and glass tile mastic, a grout sponge, one grout float, a small container of light gray grout, and a quart of 'warm satin' oil poly.

Switched to the mastic over the silicone because I couldn't think of a way to use the silicone. I will have to butter the back of each tile as I set them. I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to control flow of the silicone with the caulking gun. Also I don't have any idea how long of an open time I would have with the silicone. Too many unknown variables that I didn't have a warm and fuzzy with so I picked the mastic.

I have done tile work in the past with mastic and I feel comfortable using it. I can mix up small batches of it (I'll still have 9 1/2 pounds left) and not worry about it setting up quickly. A ten pound bag is the smallest amount that they had for sale. The grout I will probably have to buy another small tub of for the 2nd table.

Got the poly because I didn't have a warm and fuzzy about the spar varnish I had. I didn't like the color of it (turning a brownish color) and I have had this can in the shop for at least a couple of years. Thought it best to suck it up and buy a new can of poly.

hmm.......

I missed two of the same color tiles side by side. After fixing this one, I noticed and had to correct 3 others. These tiles tend to blur en masse after checking a couple of rows.

gotcha?

Both of these tiles appear to be black but they aren't. Each tile has a smooth glass face and the other side has a design/imprint on it.

one was copper

Both of the tiles had the design side facing up. I went through touching every single tile making sure the glass face was up. The tile above and to the left of my finger has the design face up. The one under my finger has the glass face up.

I am going to have to come up with a better way to set these tiles that doesn't require me to stand over it, bent at the waist, listening to the protests of my back screaming in my ears. I never sit in the shop while working but I'll make an exception for doing this job.

I think I got it this time

Having multiple tiles in row like this doesn't bug me. Touching at the corners is ok but butting up against each other on their sides ain't allowed. Overall it still looks like all the tiles are randomly aligned. I broke up this three in a row copper tiles because it was the only one I could see.

yikes

This is the worse tile of the ones I had to deal with. There are several more on the table with one tapered side but not anywhere near bad as this one. The ones I kept blend in well with the uneven grout lines and aren't that noticeable.

ready for poly

Sanded it with 180, tack clothed it, and vacuumed it. This is going to be awkward to get poly on. I'll tackle it by applying it to one side, let that dry, and put a coat on the other side. Wash, rinse, and repeat for the 2nd coat and then do the same dance steps for coat number 2.

still sticky

My wife had bought me a roll of tack cloth a bazillion years ago for xmas. I stuck it in a cabinet and forgot about it. Surprisingly it is still sticky and picked up a lot of sanding dust. This is my first time putting poly on a maple project. This is also my first maple wood project. I remember making a maple miniature blanket chest back in the 80's that I never finished.

hmm.....

Before I started this I looked around the shop for a spot to hang this so I could apply the poly to whole of it at once. Found a spot but not a way to suspend it. The plan was to poly the inside faces first and maybe after dinner do the other side.

must have IMO

If you do any amount of painting or using oil based finishes, having a brush spinner is a nice tool to have. You can't clean a brush as well as you can with this by hand alone. I've had this one for about 30 years and it is getting worn but still spins a brush like a helicopter rotor.

bench hog

The can states that you can recoat in 3-4 hours which is pretty good for an oil poly. Until that time this gets to have the bench for its exclusive use.

oops

The right side bottom is hanging out in the air. I put poly on the bottom edge when I shouldn't have. It won't effect it drying in 3-4 hours though.

wow

As I was leaving the shop I noticed two black tiles side by side. I played with this studying it for almost an hour this AM. I thought I had flipped all the tiles glass side up and didn't have any tiles of the same color butting against each other. I'll have to eyeball this again before I start setting any of them permanently.

accidental woodworker

In this video, I’m making the platen and showing different ways to plane end grain without using a shooting board. It’s all done by hand, using simple techniques and a few tricks to get clean, square results.

 I'm starting a trend it would appear with short shop days. Today was another one where I punched the time card for the AM and zero for the PM. I had walked to Johnny's Chalet for breakfast and I got to the shop around 0830 and I worked until a little past 1100. Had lunch and went for my post lunch walk about. Came back to the barn and fell asleep at my desk. Woke up from that unplanned nap at 1430. Needless to say all I did in the PM session was to kill the lights.

dry run

This is the bonus table I'm making to give Amanda. She may not like this as it is made up of random, different colored tiles. However, I do like it a lot. I think the randomness of the tiles fits in well with wonky gaps between them.

This was not easy to do and I'm glad I made a dry run first. The tiles moved a lot on me due to me inadvertently hitting neighboring ones. I still have the joy upcoming of securing them individually with silicone. Oh what fun that will be, eh?

over an hour later

These are the tiles that Amanda picked out. I couldn't use 8 of the 156 tiles I needed. They were over an 1" wide. Several of them had tapered sides that hadn't snapped off cleanly when cut. 

I'm not happy with how this looks. I don't mind the mismatch between the tiles - they are both blue but with different patterns. I played around placing these tiles in the middle and this is the best I could come up to my eye. After playing with it I said NO MAS and I ordered another bag of 25 tiles. According to Etsy I'll have them by the 30th.

coming up with a battle plan

I know already going into this that I am not going to have nice straight, symmetrical grout lines. The plan is to secure the perimeter tiles first. Those will then be how I will gauge/set the remaining tiles against. 

better

I wasn't happy with how many black tiles were holding hands. I took the 8 blue tiles from Amanda's table and reworked my random table. I know it looks like there are still black tiles side by side but there aren't. I also moved around the other tiles so none of them were side by side. I like this layout better than the first one.

I'll be able to use this table as test bed. On my post lunch stroll I spent most of it thinking about doing this. My biggest concern is the grout lines and being able to reposition the tiles. I have no idea how long I can play and move the tiles around with the silicone. Setting the perimeter tiles will be the easiest to do and I'll be able to gauge my 'play' time with them.

have 25 coming

I ordered the same tiles as the ones here along with another bag of the same pattern but in purple. I don't like this all same color and I'll be able to fill the center in with the purple tiles. I can take a pic of it and ask Amanda if she likes it. But that decision will be hers to make. I'm just the '....can you make....' this guy?

I emailed Lee at The Best of Things last night and he replied - I had my answer this morning. He stopped selling new tools but is still selling vintage ones. So it was a no to getting a pad saw blade from him. I think my best bet for finding a new blade is searching tool sites in England. The pad saw was more prevalent there than here.

accidental woodworker

Yesterday (saturday) was rainy and today turned sunny again but a bit on the cool side. Worked in the shop in the AM session and that was it. I went on my post lunch stroll at 1145 and I got back to the barn at 1315. Went to the shop in the PM and just killed the lights. Spent the rest of the day perusing my FoxFire books. There is lot of info to soak up in them.

its new home

The first box I was going to use for this was too big. This one is a bit on the large side too but less so. I had to remove the blade because it wouldn't fit with it installed in the handle.

it worked

I had a lot of doubts about this working but it performed a bazillion percent better than my pad saws. I was especially surprised at how well the gadget worked on squaring up the corners. I had drilled a couple of holes and sawed between them.

pad saw

You expose only as much of the blade as you want. The blades I had were roughly 11" long and they buried themselves in the handle and came out the butt end. They had coarse teeth and this blade snapped in two on me. Every time I used one it either snapped in two or mostly the blade bent on me. 

As I was typing this I realized that I never checked to see if the blades were sharpened. Sharp does cure a lot of hiccups so I'll have to check it out. However, I don't think I have anymore pad saw blades. But I could try sharpening what I have left on this one.

I checked the The Best Things website and he is selling tools again. I thought he had stopped that but it appears he didn't. I didn't see a search function nor did I find a parts/accessories radio button to click on. I shot him an email asking if he still sells pad saw blades. As an aside, he has a american Disston pad saw for sale $48. Both of my pad saws were made in England.

almost ready

I thought about this but I couldn't think of a way to secure the top to the base after tiling it that I liked. Got my pilot holes drilled in the table top and the leg tops.

done

Mixed up some slow set epoxy and applied a thin coat to the tops of the legs. Before doing that I had lightly sanded the top of the legs to give this epoxy something to bite on. Two screws in each log and Bob was your uncle.

hmm.....

Me thinks I got ahead of myself a wee bit. I should have painted the tops of these stretchers before I secured the tops. Got them painted in spite of me getting ahead of myself.

I like the color

This light gray paint is called a high falutin name - silver lining. It isn't a color I would have thought Amanda would like. It will play nicely against the blue sparkly tiles she picked. 

After the tiles are set the last step is grouting. Haven't got that yet because I am going to wait until I have the tops tiled. I am leaning in the direction of a light gray grout and maybe I'll get lucky and find one called silver lining.

my new shop iron

Ordered this off Amazon same maker as the wife's iron. The model my wife has was $90 and this one was $39. I showed it to my wife and told her to ask me before using it. I'll keep it in the box it shipped in until I can make a replacement wooden on. Might be a a good candidate for a japanese tool box?

accidental woodworker

I bought a Disston D8 Thumb Hole Rip Saw and wanted to restore it. The saw was in pretty good condition when I bought it. The only issue it had was that the back of the handle was broken with a chip missing from it.  It’s a pretty common issue as that is where your thumb and index finger ride when sawing, so it’s under a lot of friction.

I wanted to repair it, so I carefully carved out an area to glue a new piece of apple wood in its place.

After the glue dried, I shaped and sanded the wood to match the rest of the handle. It came out well , it just needed a little bit of wood putty to close up the gaps between the new wood and handle.

After the putty dried, I sanded the whole handle and applied a few coats of shellac to it. The handle looked nice, but the putty stood out like a sore thumb.

This is where I put my artistic hat on. Playing with a paint kit, I mixed up a few colors of red, brown, and yellow, mixing them around to get the best matching shade I could create. It wasn’t about creating the perfect color but laying three different colors down so that it would blend with the rest of the handle.

After a few minutes of painting, I was happy with how it turned out, so I let it dry.

The saw came out nice, and the broken end of the handle won’t dig into my skin when I’m using it. Now that is all left to do is to sharpen the blade and put it to use.

Another saw saved from the scrap heap.

 

 I'm at the least favorite stage of anything I make. That is applying the finish and it doesn't matter if it is teeny or something as large as the tile tables. Today I painted them and that is all I got done. Even though I used a latex paint, I still have to go dead in the water at least till the paint is dry to the touch. Finishing means that is all that gets done until it is done. 

new home

I read a couple of chapters in book #1 and I'll go through all 12 reading what catches my attention. I had CD/DVD bookshelf in this hole that I'll have to find a new hole to stick it in.

done?

I have one coat on the bottom side and two on the banding. I'm on the fence about putting a 2nd coat on the bottom.

no difference

I wanted to see if the table top could be see or reflected upwards through the tiles. The two on the left are on the top coat and the right ones on the primer coat. I couldn't see down through either one of them.

2nd coat

Initially I thought I was going to get away with one coat. But after cleaning the brush after the first coat I saw that it wasn't going to happen. The paint was drying and had streaks in it where I could see the primer coat underneath.

missed it

After I got the 2nd coat on this I went over the entire table smoothing out any drips and runs but this one survived. I tried to scrape it flat with a razor blade but it took it off down to bare wood. I'll have to sand this to feather it out after I get the first coat on. It'll be a few more days before this has a check mark in the done column.

one on

This will be visible as it is the top rail. I could already see that it would take another coat. The rest of the table has two and it looks good to go.

2 to 1

I used the plastic spoon as my measuring device. I chose this penetrating epoxy over a slow set epoxy.

it penetrated

I used this epoxy to size the end grain on the tops of the legs. This  is where I will screw the top into. Once this epoxy has set I will apply a slow set epoxy on top of this to secure the top to it along with a couple of screws.

accidental woodworker

 The temp today topped out at 83F (28C) which is really all I have to say about that. It was partly sunny and I worked up a sweat on my pre and post lunch stroll. Now that the weather is much better I have started to walk to Johnny's Chalet for lunch and then walk home. I did that today and last friday and I didn't feel stuffed after eating. In fact I was hungry after getting there and over two hours later I was kind of hungry again. But I wasn't 100% sure of that - it could have been me just wanting to stuff something in the pie hole.

done

I got two coats of the tung oil wax on this with two previous coats of Clancy's oil. However, this doesn't look nor feel like the other box I did with the tung oil finish and tung oil wax made by the same maker. This is a toolbox for the son in law so it is adequate for this purpose.

one on and one to go

I didn't smell any citrus using the wax on these 3. I must be used to it by now but it was a strong aroma the first time I used it. So far these 3 are heading for turning out the same as the previous ones I waxed.

done

I have to assemble the tables before I can do the tile inlay work. I was thinking of leaving the tops unsecured so they could be used as trays? Nixed that and I'll be epoxying and screwing them to the leg tops. Anyways, doing the tile and grouting will be the last two steps in this build.

I am not going to paint the top of the table. There is no need to do that because the tiles will be glued to it with silicone and then grouted. The silicone is rated to stick to anything and everything.

can't see it

The top of this rail at this junction had a big chip missing from the top of it. Since it was on the top and visible I filled it in with wood putty. The results are better than I expected them to be. I was prepared to put on more putty but it doesn't need it.

0943

I was done with the AM session. I got the bottom edges of the tables painted with primer. I couldn't do anything else so I went topside and whacked out a couple of crossword puzzles. These tables are finished with the primer coat on the top portions. Got that done at 1410. Another short day in the shop and tomorrow will probably be the same when I put on the top coat. Any guesses as to how many I'll have to put on? My money is on two.

made the choice

Using this varnish only because I have it and I want to use it before it goes bad. I had put some on the end grain and initially it was dark. I thought it was due to the age of it but over an hour later it had lightened up quite a bit. I just want this to be done and out of the shop so I can start on the cherry kitchen ladder.

accidental woodworker

I’ve never made a lap joint before. When I attempt something new, I like to read several accounts of how others do it, and ideally watch a few videos first. Lap joints would appear to be considered so obvious that I could not really find a detailed blow by blow guide. If anyone knows of a good one, please point me towards it.

 I've been using the Firestick for a couple of weeks now and I can say that I don't miss cable TV. Especially not missing the cost or the channel selections forced on me or loss without replacement. For the most part I am disappointed in the 'free TV' offerings. 99.99% of the selections are TV series from the 60's and 70's with most of the newer series being paid for view only. None of the free TV services offer local programming other than news. I haven't looked into getting anything to watch football games but I have time to look around. 

it fits

What was going to be my pencil box could now be my jigsaw holder saw thing.

she didn't like it

I borrowed my wife's iron for the last time. She said no more taking it to the shop. On the flip side I was able to raise out 99.99% of the dent. I had to do 4 of them and I wasn't able to fully raise any of the dents. I will buy the same iron for my shop - this one spits out a ton of steam continuously.

branding iron spot

I am going to leave this spot paint free of the primer and the top coats. This is the underside and I want to brand the tables and not have it hidden under paint.

 

tables primed

I put the first coat on the other side in the AM and it was dry to the touch after I got back from my post lunch stroll. I was expecting to wait until tomorrow to prime the top of it but I was able to do it now.

came this close

 Got both of the tables sanded up to 180 but I had a hiccup. The table with the blue tape I had to fill in some missing chips with wood putty. I will prime the underside of the tables in the AM and do the tops in the PM.

had to fill it

I was going to leave this alone but I decided to fill it in. I am going to put a clear finish on this and this would stick out too much IMO. This is a wedge of maple and face grain will be facing up.

super glue

Trying to clean up the squeeze out from yellow glue lost the coin toss.

the after pic

This turned out so much better than I thought it would. It wasn't that obvious from a couple of feet away. Got a smiley face on.

a clear finish

I've been procrastinating on applying a finish on this kitchen ladder. The only thing I am sure about is the finish will be clear. However, there are currently 3 clear finish choices - shellac, oil based varnish/poly, or a water based poly. That is the excuse I'm using for why it is taking so long to get a finish on it.

came today

I bought all 12 books in the FoxFire series. I first came across these in the library on the submarine base at Groton, Conn when I was going to sub school. I couldn't settle on which books to buy as I was mostly interested in those that dealt with woodworking/crafts. It didn't cost that much more to buy the whole set vice the 7 books I picked out. If I ever get marooned in the woods I hope that I have these 12 books with me.

accidental woodworker

Well it’s been a while since I’ve my last post. A lot has been going on both with work and with life in general and it’s been hard to find the time to write much lately. But at long last I’m back to share some of the final details from the Modular tansu project. One… Read More »Modular Tansu Custom Hardware

The post Modular Tansu Custom Hardware appeared first on Big Sand Woodworking.

Frame #266 measures 24″ square and was designed for Diane Eugster’s painting titled Trail Dust. The closed corner frame was made using my 15° process and I’ll admit I probably went into way too much detail on how it’s made — sorry! A feature of this frame was using clavos to add that western vibe to it so feel free to scroll down through the tutorial on milling the Basswood to create that 15° profile. The finish is Real Milk Paint using a 9:1 ratio of Black Iron and Soft White.

I prefer to cut each leg of the frame to length (plus miter allowance) separately which makes it easier to control on the saw. I strongly suggest to also cut at least one additional piece 10″ to 12″ long to use as your trial piece to set up your saw. Set your blade at 15° and lock it, it’ll stay the same for the entire job. Lay out both ends of your trial piece with the sliding bevel set to the angle of the tablesaw blade. To ensure that all cuts are made in the right place, I lay the frame legs out on the tablesaw in the exact orientation for each cut — believe me, it’s really easy to make a cut on the wrong face or edge.

Cut 1: I forgot to take a photo of this one but the face of the frame will go against the fence and the board is set on edge. Setting the fence for about 3/4″ works for me but experiment. This cut is what the frame sits on to raise the sight edge. I did a blog on this some time ago but have changed the order of cutting a bit for safety, you may want to check that blog out.

Cuts 2 & 3: These are 15° angle cuts on the sight and back edges. Note that the angle on the back edge will become shorter when you make cut #4. For this frame I measured about 5/8″ in and the cuts are made with the piece on edge. After these cuts I use a smooth plane to remove any mill marks on the face of the frame.

1. Cutting 15° angles on face, keep pressure on flat, not angled cut! Smooth Planed Optional beading

For this frame I wanted to add some bead details and used a Veritas small plow plane with a 3/16″ bead cutter. This is an option, if you decide not to simply go on to the next steps. You need to do this before cut #4 so you have a 90° corner to guide the plow plane.

The final step is to cut the miters and assemble the frame. When you cut them be sure to apply pressure on the angled cut at the outside of the frame, not the sight edge. I use biscuits to join my frames and the same thing applies here, the biscuit joiner needs to be held securely to the angled cut on the bottom of the profile.

Pressure point for cutting miters Bicuited, glued, and clamped

Final Steps:

Once the frame is removed from the clamps it’s time to do any clean up of glue, especially in the grooves between the beads. Any slight variation at the miters can be fixed with a paring chisel. This slideshow demonstrates the process for creating the areas for the clavos. Chisels were used as shown and you’ll notice I drew arrows to remind me of the grain direction, the miters required caution.

After locating the clavos location with dividers I used a scratch awl to deepen the holes so they were visible after painting. To install them they were first pressed in by hand and aligned to the center of the space. To protect the finish from the hammer I placed a piece of hard plastic and tapped them in. They did tend to twist so before they were completely seated I used those pliers with the plastic jaws to align them and tapped them into place. They have an uneven bottom edge which digs into the wood preventing them from twisting.

All things considered this was a good challenge and fit for this painting. Like I mentioned at the beginning of this somewhat lengthy blog I’d appreciate any comments about it — let me know if you make a 15° profile frame and how you liked it; Thanks — John

 Didn't get a lot of time in the shop today. It was another beautiful day here in my part of the universe. 76F at 1500 (24C) with blue skies and just just a few white clouds. Went for a walk and I stopped and got lunch at Johnny's Chalet. By the time I got back to the barn I had been strolling and eating for over 3 hours. The time just flew by and I went through 3 oldies and goldies play lists on You Tube. I use my cell to access You Tube and it gets blue toothed to my hearing aids. Absolutely awesome. I made some progress on the tile tables and put some time in on my growing collection of japanese tool boxes.

damage from yesterday

As an aside, this plywood comes from Ecuador, South America. It got dinged a bit when I removed the banding I had just glued and nailed to it. I've been filling it in with wood putty a little bit at a time. A couple of more and I should be flush then.

This miter is also the one that had about a 32nd of a gap in it. I filled that in with putty.

the other side of the miter

I couldn't see this side of the miter yesterday. Based on what I saw on the bottom I assumed that the toes were open the same top to bottom. The top (and the other 3) is tight and gapless. Got my happy face on.

check out the miters

The top of all the miters look good - tight and almost seamless. The toes are about the same. There were only two of them than I had to fill in with wood putty.

japanese toolbox herd

Whacked out 7 so far. The learning curve wasn't hiccup free but it was easier to do these 7 than the first 7 sliding lid boxes I made.

my first one

I have only one coat of Clancy's finish on this one. I am going to add a couple of coats of the tung oil wax I just got. This box looks like it has some kind of a finish but it is rough to the touch. The other 3 will get wax too but first I'll slap on two coats of the tung oil finish.

tile in place

Having to make new table tops worked out in my favor. There is roughly an 1/8" from the tile to the top edge of the banding. I am attaching all the tiles with clear silicone so that will add something to the overall height. On the original ones the tiles were almost dead on flush. Now I have some wiggle room to work with.

almost flush

I have stuffed putty in this void twice already and #3 is happening now. Almost there.

clamp pad depression

I have to do something about this. If I don't it will pop out like a flashing neon sign when I paint it. I will try to steam it out first and see how that goes. If it doesn't raise it flush, I'll fill it in with wood putty.

screw holes

I'm not sure how these will fare under paint. In my experience that show up on the first seasonal change. Here and now they look almost invisible.

chamfering the bottom of the legs

I used to do it with a chisel or a blockplane but no more. I switched to using my Shinto rasp. It doesn't cause blowouts or splintering off big chunks of wood. Quick, easy, and simple to knock out with no headaches.

dowel max goodies

The tracker said that these were coming on the 30th but I'm not complaining. Got 100, 3/8" x 2" dowels, the T doweling plate, and a gadget to set the correct depth on the drill bit. The gadget was not needed but I like having all the accessories on tools. It will be better for the grandsons once they inherit it.

empty holder

I made this for the 1/2" drill bushing holder. I am still on the fence about buying it because I don't really see myself using 1/2" dowels? If anyone has one, chime in good or bad on having one in the comments please.

setting the table and legs

The legs aren't square - the diagonals are off a strong 16th. I fudged and fussed for a while until I was satisfied with how they sat. Once I was happy with it I penciled the outside faces of the legs onto the table bottom.

transferring

I wasn't sure how well this would work because the legs on the two tables don't align dead on. I did get close and I repeated what I had done on table #1 for #2. Once I was happy with how it was sitting, I penciled the two outside faces on each leg.

close

The inside lines are the faces of the leg. The kitty corner one to this I had the same lines to deal with. I made sure I erased the lines I didn't need. After that I penciled the outline of the leg on all four sides. I did that so I know where not to paint. I am going to epoxy the legs to the underside and I want that area and the top of the legs to be bare wood.

keepers?

Not sure what to call these. The plan is to put two of these on the pencil lines on the two outside faces for each leg. The outside corner where the two legs meet is mitered.

what they look like

The legs dropped into the keepers in both ways it could. I super glued and nailed them on.

hmmm.....

I can't see the keepers kneeling and looking at the table edge. Amanda told me that she intends to use the table for drinks in between a chair and the couch. She doesn't know that I'm making a 2nd one for her. 

2nd one

Both legs will fit in either table but it takes a wee bit of fussing to do it. I labeled each table and base so I can match them up without any hassles.

pin nail holes filled

I filled some sins on the bottom of both tables and I almost forgot to fill in the pin nails on the edges. I thought in the AM I would get the prime coat on the tables but it didn't happen boys and girls. The wonderful spring day got in the way of the best laid plans of mice and men. Fingers crossed that I'll get that done tomorrow.

6 1/2 hours later

One more coat of wax to go which will happen tomorrow. It already feels better to the touch. The roughness is gone but it doesn't feel baby butt soft yet. It is looking a little bit wet/shiny too. The wax and the tung oil finish fill in and smooth the end grain nicely. Shellac doesn't as it needs to go over a sanded smooth end grain surface.

will it work?

This is one of the latest offerings from Blue Spruce Tools. It is an american version of an english pad saw of which I have two. I have had them for years and they are collecting dust. I never mastered how to saw with them. The blades would either bend or snap in two every time I used them.

Another problem with them is the saw blades for them are non existent. The Best of Things was the only site I could find that sold them but they don't anymore. He stopped selling tools and accessories a few years back.

Blue Spruce says that this will take all styles of jig saw blades and it came with the ones in the pics. I can't wait to try this out on the first opportunity that comes up. I could have used it when I made my wedge cutting jig a few days ago. 

accidental woodworker

 

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