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The lone picture on my FB drew over 1.068,172 views and a reach of 772,550 with 3794 interactions in around 48 hours. It had 15% of my regular followers and 85% non-followers. With 370 comments, I thought you would be as surprised as I was––maybe not? Anyway, what intrigued me (as usual) was the legalism...

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I started developing the design for what I call the “Bowl from a Plank” two and a half-years ago. I wrote about the beginning in a post in 2022. My goal was to design a beautiful bowl that could be … Continue reading →

 Haven't strolled for 3 days in a row. So far this april has been one of the crappiest I can recall. It is either raining, or it is cloudy, and to mix things up it alternates between them. The extended forecast doesn't show any improvement up till the end of the month. Should have a ton of may flowers to look at, maybe. The temps have been lower than normal for this time of the year though. I'm still having the heat come on - I usually shut it off in the first week of april but not this year.

nope

The pkgs of dowel pins (2" and 1 1/2") came in last night and I have sad, sad news. The 2" pins are loose in the holes and when checked, more fall out than those that stay put. I'm a little leery about using these for the table. The 1 1/2" pins were a slightly better fitting.

1/4" dowel rod

Decided to try and make my own dowel pins. I had a 2' long piece of dowel rod and I was able to saw off 16 pins. It wasn't enough but I can get a feel for it it will work or not.

grooved

Used the slip joint pliers to make grooves in a pin. It will take some practice before I get it right - I was a bit too aggressive with the first two.

a touch too snug

I didn't try to seat this dowel. I didn't have a warm and fuzzy that it wouldn't split the rail.

drat, and double triple drat

I checked all 100 of the pins and all 100 were loose. I didn't have one come close to being a friction fit.

measured 15 of them

All of them measured a frog hair over a 1/4" thick. These cost me $5 so I didn't lose too much on them. I recall Dowel Max saying something about looseness of the dowel pins causing problems.

need an angle

I watched Norm do the angle on the butler's tray but he didn't show how he did it. He just says that he determined it to be 27°. After clamping the base I am going on the assumption that the angle goes kitty corner from one outside 90° to the other. The ruler is lined up on that and it doesn't pass through the opposite corner of each leg.

second choice

The first choice was a protractor and I eyeballed the angle. Didn't like that so I set a bevel gauge to it checked it against my bevel angle monkey gauge. I couldn't get the bevel gauge to line up with any angle on it.

this one worked

This gauge confuses me royally. Is it 53° or 127°? Or could it be 37°?. I wrote down all three of them and made a drawing of the legs/base. I'll plug in the angles and use trigonometry to find out which angle is the one I need.

Lowes road trip

Last night I got an email from the 'Canadian Woodworker' on japanese tool boxes. He sent along 3 PDFs of drawings on them. I couldn't satisfy the itch and since I couldn't work on the tile tables I decided to make a couple of said boxes.

I think what I find so attractive about them is firstly their simplicity. There isn't any complicated joinery involved with them. Secondly I like the total lack of hardware. No hinges or clasps needed, everything you need to secure a box is done with wood. Lastly, and what I like a lot, is the lid detail. Making one of these is simpler and quicker to knock out then my beloved sliding lid box.

3rd pile

The Lowes stock will be used to make two pencil boxes for the grandsons. This pile are scraps that have been in the shop for a few years now. I'll make one out of this first to warm up for the pencil boxes.

before I left for Lowes

I couldn't get the dowel pins from bouncing around in the brain bucket. So I glued two of them in some scrap to see how they would glue and cook. I checked it after I got home and they felt solid. I pulled on them with pliers and nada. I can see a teeny gap on the left dowel pin but nothing on the right one. Maybe the glue swelled the pin a 64th to glue it almost 360 in the hole?

completing the test

Decided to glue the two pins together to see how that will shake out. I only put glue in the holes and brushed a thin coat on the pins. I tried to minimize how much glue would get on the faces of the two legs. The two mate only on about a 1/4" shared piece of the faces. I clamped this and set it aside until the AM. I fully intend to beat the snot of out it trying to break it apart then.

ready for primer paint

I checked it over and all the gaps, splintered edges, and other sins were all filled in and sanded smooth and flush. I primed the bottom and set it aside to dry. Tomorrow I'll prime the top and it will call it done. 

not anymore

I am not putting a center stretcher on the tile tables. With the outside long side rails the stretcher is not needed. Besides it doesn't look anything like the pic anymore.

yikes

This is what happens when you get distracted. Forgot about this and after sanding it, I couldn't tell what it was. I branded it again and initialed it. I did not prime this part of the table.

3 PDFs

The middle one is from Toshio Odate and it is the one I wanted. The first one is a small box that is about the size I wanted to make for the Grandsons. The weird looking color is due to my printer being low on one ink and almost zero on the other two.

new detail

I am going to put this 'T' stretcher detail on the bottom of the tile tables. I can't get past the possibility of legs doing stupid wood tricks. It is pine and I did think of getting poplar at Lowes but it is ridiculously overpriced IMO.

using dowel pins

I had an extra T stretcher part left over and I drilled it for pins. I wanted to make sure that the width of the rails (1 1/2") could be drilled with the Dowel Max. 1 1/2" is the minimum width for drilling two equidistant holes with the jig.

first box

This box size was dictated by the stock. I plan on making Toshio's full size box but not now. I don't have any 1x12 pine for that yet.

3 upcoming boxes

The middle and right piles are the grandsons boxes.

Tremont headless brads

The first japanese box I made I used one finger joint that I glued and nailed. Wasn't happy with this it this time because they turned out sloppy and with gaps. I was rushing and I paid the price for it. I wasn't expecting any hiccups with my sawing the vertical walls on the notches.

finger joinery

Glued and nailed the fingers with cut brads from Tremont nails.

sigh

The bottom is 1/4" thick poplar. I would have bet a lung that I had made the width of it a 1/4" wider than the box bottom width. The box is square - the diagonals were dead nuts on. One end of the bottom wasn't square and that is end I anchored and nailed first. I'll plane and sand this flush after it has cooked.

nope

I had eyeballed it this and I thought I was ok. It is too short on the width to use as the lid. I used a piece of 1/2" maple to get a new one.

got confused

I drew a complete blank on how assemble the cleats on the lid. Got the first box I made to bring me back up to speed.

hmmm......

Got the angle on the two correct along with a good fit right off the plane. However, they don't lie square on the lid. Couldn't figure out why initially. I had sawed the angle on two separate pieces of stock. You have to saw out the two on a single piece. Did that and got the fixed wedge to be square to the lid.

nailed it

The two wedges lie up against each other gap free and the outside wedge is square to the lid.

almost done

The lid works and locks down securely. I have to flush the ends of the wedge cleats to call this 100%.

not planned

I was going to veg out and watch the Firestick offerings this PM but I had an itch to scratch. Killed the lights here and headed topside.

accidental woodworker

The case has been together and it's time to work on the drawers. As a reminder here is a pic from the previous post:

Carcase waiting for drawers

First I resawed a wide piece of basswood to provide material for the drawer sides. After planing and jointing the bottom edge I plowed a groove for the drawer bottom. This time I remembered to plow the groove before crosscutting it into smaller pieces. That's less hassle than crosscutting first and then plowing five grooves in five pieces.

making groove in long piece of basswood

Then these pieces are individually planed to fit their spaces, and marked. They are all overly long and will be cut to length later.

planed to fit

Next I fit the drawer fronts. First they have to fit between the legs side-side before adjusting the up-down dimension. I crosscut them on the bandsaw and fine tune the ends with a shooting board. Then the top edge is planed to fit.

too tall fits but tight fits with penny gap

When planing the top of the drawers to fit I tried to keep a penny gap from the top edge of the drawer to the top edge of the rail.

pennies for spacing five drawer fronts fitted

Before joining the sides to the fronts I made drawer pulls. I have two previous projects in my house with similar pulls:

homemade drawer pull, about three inches long

I made them one at a time with a saw, chisel, and plane. Now that I need five I tried to shape a longer stick all at once and then cut them free. I used an old offcut as reference.

old offcut with walnut stock

I figured the underside was the most complicated part so started with that. I plowed a narrow groove and then used a shoulder plane to make a ramp. The outside curves were made with the shoulder plane, although any plane would work. The inside curve on the bottom was made with whatever worked - shoulder plane, chisels, gouges.

1/8" wide groove shoulder plane for angled cut roundover

The drawer pulls needed a tenon to match the mortises in the drawer fronts. I made those mortises with the domino and an 8mm bit.

overlapping domino mortises in drawer front

I made a shallow rabbet (a penny's thickness) on the top edge and then rabbeted the bottom edge until the tenon was 8mm thick.

my wood battens were too flexible drawer pull stock with 8mm tenon

Finally this long strip was marked to cut into five pieces. The ends of the pulls are angled with a 1:6 dovetail marker. After cutting free and cleaning up, the rectangular tenons had their ends filed to fit into the rounded mortises. Four out of five were a tight fit. I think glue alone will hold them as it's a long-grain to long-grain joint. The loose one I will probably wedge.

drawer pulls cut free and in progress rounding ends of tenon fit into mortise front view

For joining the sides to the fronts I anticipated using rabbets and nails. Then I realized that since the drawer sides were 3/4" shorter than the fronts, there would be an exposed rabbet at the top.

drawer front is taller than drawer side

So I am going with dovetails. It's a lot more work. I cut the dovetails with a dozuki and fretsaw out the waste. The laying out and transferring can use some work. Maybe by the time I'm making the last few I'll be more comfortable.

dovetails before cleaning up. basswood is fuzzy.

I have basswood set aside for the drawer backs. They will not be dovetailed as I like the idea of leaving the sides extending past the back. There is about 19" of depth in the case. If I set the back at 16" deep then the sides can extend 2-3" further. And 16" is a good number for cutting plywood. But I'm not making any commitments yet.

potential dimensions with back at 16"

For now I have to dovetail four more drawers.

A couple of weeks ago, my wife and I were antique hunting in Dayton, Ohio, where I ran into this old level in the back of a barn. I figured it was a Stanley Rule and Level Co level, but the amount of brass in the front intrigued me as it wasn’t the usual design I see all the time.

I really don’t restore levels too often, but I decided to ask how much it was as I thought it would be a fun little restoration project. After the lady told me $10.00, I took it home.

Restoring it was pretty straightforward. I applied some citrus based paint stripper on it to remove the old grime, then washed it off with a soapy dish liquid. Then I applied elbow grease to buff out brass with steel wool and liquid brass cleaner. Then, coated the level with a few coats of shellac.

You can see on the side that it’s faintly stamped 11, which I figured makes it a Stanley No 11. Stanley made No 11’s in mahagony and rosewood. When I was cleaning the wood, I got excited thinking the level was made from rosewood, but I’m pretty sure it’s mahagony. The fact that the brass is only the corners and not completely covering the end makes it an older level.

You can see the Stanley Rule & Level Co. so it’s possible it’s before they acquired their plane line.

I’m not sure how to date the level as I am unaware of a type study on Stanley Levels, but if I had to take a guess, I’d say it’s around 1860-90’s in age. And it’s in pretty nice shape for being as old as it is.

Does anyone know how old it is? Drop a comment and let me know.

 I started the tile tables today because why not. I have a boatload of projects in varying stages of being done and all crying out for some attention. I didn't realize I had so many projects in house. I think I will definitely hold off the desks for the grandsons and concentrate on clearing out the backlog first.

 I'll have to go to Highland Hardwoods in New Hampshire  for the desk wood and I'm not looking forward to that. I will have to drive up and back in a ton of traffic. Especially in the AM I'll be fighting the Boston commuter traffic.

filled the errant hole

Unfortunately I still don't know of anyway to completely hide a patch like this. After it is painted it looks good but it will pop on the first seasonal change after it is done. It is low to the floor and it shouldn't be visible.

chamfered the feet

Used the sanding block because it was on the workbench. I was satisfied with how even looking the chamfers came out. I usually do this with a chisel or a blockplane.

nail holes filled

I didn't have any wood putty that doesn't shrink or fall out. I had to make a road trip to Benjamin Moore to get a small tub of it. I also used it on the top in the areas where the plywood edges had splintered and the gaps between the banding and top.

hmm.....

These screws aren't countersunk deep enough to glue a plug over them. As of now I'm going to leave them as is and I will cover them with paint. I don't like filling in large void like this with wood putty. I might revisit this and fill them in with epoxy.

ugh....

Started drilling the holes for the tile table with a me-steak. I had put the spacers on the jig and I didn't need them. The spacers are for when I drill the holes on the legs, not the rails. Glued in a dowel, sawed it flush, and drilled it correctly.

hmmm......

The fix looks good and only a teeny bit of the new hole is missing due to it.

change of plans

Decided to add an extra dowel - this should increase the strength of the rail/leg attachment.

did it right

I didn't think this would be a problem and it wasn't. I drilled the extra dowel hole with the dowel jig referenced off the top of the leg. I double triple checked myself before doing any drilling.

minor brain fart

Got the first table dry fitted and that was looking good. Went looking for the center stretcher and couldn't find it. Then it dawned on me that I had used them for the rails on the plant stand. Totally zoned out on saving them for this.

pine

I don't have any more poplar in the shop and I didn't feel like a road trip to Lowes so I'm using pine. I checked the pic of the table that Amanda liked and this one is different. The pic doesn't have any long side rails, just the short ends and the center one. I assumed that it had 4 rails and I'm sticking with this.

sneak peek

I like the floating aspect of the top but the legs look spindly to my eye. They are tall and don't have anything towards the bottom to keep them from moving in or out. I especially don't think not having the two long rails is a good idea for maintaining stability.

not enough

I didn't have enough dowels with only two holes for each rail end let alone a third one. I ordered more from Dowel Max but they aren't coming until the 23rd. They are coming from Canada. I ordered some from Amazon and I should have them today by 1815.

nope

It doesn't matter what my choice of 'wood button' is because it is a moot point. The rails are 2" below the top so this one is a wee short.

thinking out loud

I might possibly use two figure 8 fasteners on each leg. There is sufficient room for them but there are reservations. The first being screwing into end grain and screwing up into a 1/2" thick top.

2nd table

No surprises or hiccups with the dry fit of the 2nd table. No me-steaks drilling any of the 24 holes neither.

2nd table sneak peek

My opinion of the legs hasn't changed. My biggest concern is the legs will bow inward more so than outward. Either way ain't good but my money is riding them going on in.

nickel plated #8 screws

I made my jello decision on how to attach the top to the legs. Two #8 FH screws into the leg diagonally from each other. At least that way the two won't be screwed into the same grain direction.

center brace

Spent some time giving this my very best goofy looks. Trying to determine the best way to do the center brace. The two contenders so far are dowels or in a stopped dado. A simple butt joint secured with screws or maybe Miller Dowels is bringing up the rear.

15/16"

I got 100 two inch dowels coming. The ones I had on hand are 1 1/2". I'll bandsaw off a strong 1/8" before using the 2" ones. Both the legs and the rails have the same depth with the holes.

 

test joint

This is something I haven't tried before - an X brace at the bottom of the tile tables. I sawed/chiseled a flat on the corner of the legs at a 45. The angle on the table will be different because those legs are a rectangle.

the concept

I think this will work. The tricky part will be figuring out the angle. Thinking ahead about chiseling a 45 and doing any angle work on the ends of the X brace legs? I remember Norm making a X brace like this on a butler's table he made. Note to self - check You Tube for the episode.

didn't work

My first attempt was not wide enough. The X brace leg is 1" wide so I thought if I came down on each side a 1/2" it would work but it didn't. It took two trial and error adjustments before the leg lined up with the mortise. BTW that ended up being a few frogs hairs more than 5/8".

Another potential hiccup is how to attach the ends of the legs into the open mortise? Epoxy with a snug fit was the first thought that transited the brain bucket. The second one was screw but that would be an end grain hiccup along with how to plug the countersink. Something to think about. 

accidental woodworker

My most recent conversation with long-time friend “retired” broadcaster Brian Wilson is now posted on his Substack Brian Wilson Writes or his podcast Now For Something Completely Different.

It’s a pungent discussion of the social/political status quo.  You have been warned.

Enjoy.  Or not.

DCW

I got zero time in the shop this AM. Instead it was spent 90% at the VA, 5% driving, and 5% stopping at the grocery store on the way home. I left for the VA at 0650 for a 0900 appointment. I was expecting to have to drive in bumper to bumper traffic on RTE 10 but that didn't happen. Traffic was light both on Park Ave and RTE 10 and I go to the VA at 0709. Totally didn't expect that to happen in my lifetime. 

I met with the Dr and he explained the the operation (a TURP) happening on the 22nd of this month. I'll have a catheter for 3 days but he told I can do my normal routine. After the doc I went to a pre-op/post op appt where they explained what prep I had to do the day before and the day of the surgery. I still wasn't done as I had to stop by blood draw and leave a urine sample and donate some blood before finally exiting the VA.

Got home at 1050 put away the groceries and headed out to Johnny's Chalet to have fish 'n chips for lunch. I think I'm going to have change my lunch choice because 5 hours after eating I still felt stuffed. I'll try a burger next friday and see how I fare 5 hours later with that choice.

ready to unclamp

I was a good boy and left this to cook. It was almost 1300 when I took the clamps off.

teeny bit

I didn't use sticks on this first, instead I checked it for rocking on the tablesaw. There was a slight bit of it.

flushing the top

Had to remove some dried glue blobs first with a chisel. Then I used the blockplane to flush the legs with the rails.

teeny bit still

It took 3 plane and check steps before I was sighting straight over both sticks.

less than a 16th

Both the inside and outside diagonals read the same.

first choice

This is half of a table top that I got from facebook marketplace. I was going to use part of it to make the top for the plant stand.

better choice

I had a 4'x4' piece of 1/2" thick plywood in the boneyard. I have looked at that for over a year thinking it was 1/4". Sawed off a piece 1" wider and longer than the base.

centering the base

The top on the tile tables is 1/2" plywood too so I'll use this one to experiment on attaching the top. 

transferring the legs

Transferred the outside corner location of the legs onto the top.

two choices

These are the first two choices I thought of on how to attach the top to the base. Four #10 x 1 1/2" long FH screws - one each from the top down into the legs. As I was typing this I thought I could also put another screw down into the center of each rail.

screws won

Not a big fan of driving screws into what is end grain. Initially the grip is excellent but in my experience they tend to loosen over the years due to seasonal swings in the wood. Four extra screws in the center of rails would have helped keeping the top on. 

hmmm.......

How could I not remember this? Wood buttons would work and the top is repairable if it needs to come off. The only draw back I can see to wood buttons is the top is only a 1/2" thick. That is, IMO, not a lot of meat for a screw to bite in.

metal ones

Another choice I totally zoned out on having. These would work well too but again the top is only 1/2" thick. I like using sheet metal screws to attach these and I don't think 3/8" is sufficient.

two more

The two at the top I saw on a Wood Whisperer you tube vid. They will allow for more expansion/contraction than the figure 8 ones. I haven't used them yet but I think they aren't necessary for a plywood top. Found these two styles while searching for the metal buttons.

I forgot why

Can't remember what point I wanted to make with this pic. Other than the ugly plywood edge, I am still clueless. Covered the edges with left over banding I had in the boneyard. Nailed it by hand because I didn't feel like getting the compressor out. This worked out just as well. Applied it to 3 sides and than planed and fitted the last one.

last one

 I think I'll prime it and leave that way. Amanda can paint it whatever color she decides on.

$69 on special

I didn't know that Woodsmith had bought Fine Woodworking. I pulled the trigger on this as soon as I saw it. This archive is normally $99. I was going to put it on my shop computer but Microsuck is discontinuing support for Win OS (Win 10?) This USB stick is not Linux compatible and I don't want to install Wine. Something else to ponder, eh?

accidental woodworker

 I started my post lunch strolls again on the 1st of this month. I am still only walking about 1/2 to 2/3 of what I was doing before I stopped. I am not breathless nor winded but I was a wee bit for the first couple of days. Today I finished my walk in under an hour. I am slowly taking less time to do my stroll. On the 1st it took me over an hour and 15 minutes and today it was 57 minutes. I will stick with what I'm walking for now and see how much quicker I can walk it by next thursday. Then I'll add in some more and do that until I'm back to what I was strolling before I did the bounce test with the sidewalk.

can't see the glue joint

The glue joint closed up and I couldn't see/find it. I got lucky in that the grain lines ran parallel to it. Although I couldn't see it, I could feel it on both faces. I was few frog hairs off flush on both faces. I sanded the outside face flush with 80 and 150 grit but I couldn't sand the inside face.

Clancy's oil

I slathered on one coat of Clancy's and this pine drank it like a it was sucking it up with a straw. After 10 minutes I wiped it down and put it in the boneyard to await its trip to North Carolina in august.

stretchers and long rails

Planing this poplar overall wasn't that bad. My last experience with poplar many moons ago wasn't that easy nor where the results good. A few more years of planing paid off - got these thicknessed in less than 1/2 an hour.

all done

On the left are the rails/stretcher and one extra for an oops. On the right are the short rails and one oops. I didn't go nutso getting them all to be +/- one atom of thickness. There wasn't any need for that because nothing will be married to them in any way. All that matters here is that the ends are square and the outside face is flat and straight.

shavings pile

It looks I could glue these together and have enough for 4x8 sheet of OSB plywood.

rails are in batter's box

I sized the rails so that the legs are inset from the outside edges by a 1/2".

cutting to length

I use a rip blade only in the table saw. I do that for two reasons with the first being I mostly make rip cuts on the tablesaw. The second one if the teeth on the blade are flat so it makes a flat bottom when making grooves. The only hiccup with the rip for crosscutting it that it splinters on the exit. As long as I back it up I don't have to deal with that.

checking

The top on the left one is an 1/8" wider/longer than the right one. I sawed the rails for both the same. That little difference is going to amount to diddly squat.

hmm......

Off cuts from the legs. I was able to get four them to be 3 5/8" long. I couldn't bring myself to shitcan them without trying to make something with them.

teeny table?

Thinking that maybe I can make a plant stand out of this. My first thoughts on it was a speaker stand but I no longer have stereo speakers the size of a volkswagen. Plant stand makes better sense.

2nd purpose

I came up with another use for this. I can practice making the dowel joints for the two tables. The first time I used the Dowel Max I got confused and messed up. This way I can work out the kinks.

step one

This is step one - label the rails and legs. The check marks on them are used to ensure the dowel jig is positioned properly on the rails/legs.

marked

I thought I had this licked but I didn't. I got confused, not with the labeling, but with the legs and the rails. I didn't position them correctly on the jig in spite of the labeling.

sigh, and a bigger sigh again.......

I was on the right road doing this until I had a brain fart. I should have aligned the dowel jig's left side with the pencil line. Instead I aligned it with the left edge and drilled a hole there. 

corrected

I'm glad that I used this to practice for the tables. In typing hindsight I should have glued a dowel in the one of the side by side holes first before drilling the 2nd, correct one.

it fits

This corner went together without any hiccups.

last two

I got the remaining 7 done with no brain farts. It was confusing me because the legs aren't square. Before I drilled each set of holes I put the leg where it should be and then put the jig on it. This came back to bite me on the arse and draw blood a little further on down.

dry fit

Happy with this and I don't see any problems giving this away as a plant stand (of course it needs a top of some kind). I'll have to ask Amanda if she wants it. If not I'll give it to my sister Kam because I know she has plants.

hmm.....

The tops of the rails are less than a frog's hair off flush with the legs. I'm impressed with those results. IMO this dowel jig is worth every cent I paid for it. And I got it before the tariff hiccup going on now. Although it was way less than $800 so it wouldn't have been subject to any tariff?

where I drew blood

I got it glued and clamped and I couldn't see why it looked crooked. Then I saw that I had turned two of the legs 90° to the other two. I wasn't paying attention to the orientation of the legs with respect to the rails and other two. I was able to break it apart and reglue it.

broken dowel

This dowel broke when I pulled the rails and legs apart. I sawed it flush and drilled it out again. There wasn't anything I had to do with the dowel jig to line it up.

 

gluing up

Made a third brain fart. Put the back two legs on going up instead of down. I got the legs orientated correctly this time in spite of it being a blurry pic. Thanking my lucky stars that I did this practice run first.

2nd blurry pic

These are two shims that I put in the jig that offset the holes from the edge of the leg. These two are about 3/16" and that is the distance the rail is offset. I didn't want the rails to be be flush with the legs. The jig comes with four of these shims.

quit early

After making a three bone headed me-steaks I cut my losses and quit the shop early today. Getting these clamps to tighten down drove me nutso. They ran out of threads before twicebefore they were applying any clamping force. I find that to be incredibly annoying especially so when you are stressing out over a glue up. I'll let this go until the AM.

accidental woodworker

 I wasn't so sure this AM when I got up that today would turn out as nice as it did. It was dark and cloudy at 0600 along with the temp being 29F (-1.7C). I had my doubts that it would improve. It did weather wise, with lots of sunshine, but the temp wasn't cooperating. Along with a stiff breeze, it was frigid working out in the driveway. The good news is I got the planing done on the cherry and legs for the tables.

one toolbox handle

Got asked to show a pic of the tenon end of the handle. There is a 16th of shoulder on both cheeks - that is enough to act as a stop and hold it against the ends of the toolbox.

glued and cooking

This is the 2nd toolbox and I left it in the vise to cook. I didn't have any problems driving the wedges home - I wasn't sure how well that would go doing that with it in the vise.

first one

This glue up tried my patience to the max. One end was cupped top to bottom and two ends of the long sides were also cupped slightly. It gave me fits trying to clamp the ends and sides flush. I got it done and I learned a few new wood curses to use on the next glue up.

legs done

The temp was only 34F (-1C) when I ran these through the lunchbox planer. It was so cold that I had to wear gloves. I left the legs as thick and as wide as I could rather then planing to 1 1/4" x 2".

cherry was next

I picked 3 boards at random and checked them for twist. I was relieved to sight over the sticks and see straight across on both. Hauled them out to the driveway and planed them to 7/8" thick. The two treads got planed to a 64th over 3/4". On those two boards I had to plane more to clean up one face.

done

Survived the cold but I came close to not doing it. If the past couple weeks of weather weren't so crappy I would have. The wind chilled me to the bone. I felt of twinge in my groin when I lugged the planer out of the house and on to the planer table. I hope that it didn't effect my hernia repair operation because that was where the short burst of pain came from. 

not the best tenon/mortise

There aren't gaps but the mortise wall ends are a bit ragged out. They aren't as clean and crisp but for a toolbox it will do. I am going to make at least one more of these (wider & longer) and I'll use this handle detail on it again.

the better one

This one came out better. Good fit, no gaps, and clean and crisp on all four sides.

holy bat turds Batman, said Robin

Noticed this hiccup after I had nailed off one side. I'm thinking that it had cracked when I clamped it and nailing it broke it off completely.

glued and cooking

I used three nails at each end of the long sides. I didn't use nails on the short ends but I might add a couple of cut nails there tomorrow.  The break was ragged out but clean and I don't think the glue joint will be visible. I'll find out in the AM.

back to the other toolbox

Glued a 1/8" dowel into the handle. That serves two purposes, the first being to keep the handle from spinning. The 2nd is to keep it where it is between the two ends.

Clancy's oil again

This toolbox most likely will end up in the SIL's garage but I couldn't let it go without some finish on it. One coat of Clancy's will do the trick. I doubt that he will even notice it.

it was almost 1500

These are the rails and stretchers for the two tile tables. I got two of them thicknessed before I killed the lights. Based on how quickly these two were to do, I should be able to whack out the others lickety split in the AM.

accidental woodworker

Is my closest friend the wood I work? Is it woodwork? Or are the tools I lift to every task my comrades in arms? I get my answers without the tiresomeness of mere opinions directly from the wood I work; feedback is important, and it comes directly and honestly from responses I get minute by...

Source

My paternal grandmother kept for decades a tattered scrapbook of poems she had clipped from magazines as a girl in a little coal mining town. Later in life, she and my grandfather would visit nursing homes to offer some entertainment … Continue reading →

 My new gas service was installed, tested, and done at 1612 today. The gas company had put in new higher pressure gas lines last year and today they ran it to a new meter outside my house. They also did the two houses directly across the street from me but there are three more to go on my street. So it will be a couple of more days before the streets are clear of all the construction vehicles. It has been a bit of a chore to get out of the driveway and onto the street with the truck since thursday. Hopefully that will change and ease up starting tomorrow.

yikes

This cleat shifted a wee bit when I nailed it in place. I need this to be square to the outside because the wedge will bear up against this.

Record 073

It took some patience but I got the cleat square to the outside long sides.

sigh

Minor brain fart - I planed the angle on the wedge going the wrong way. Unfortunately it wasn't wide enough to correct the angle so I had to make a new one.

fitting the wedge

I didn't lay out an angle on the fixed or movable wedge. Instead I did it by eye and counting how many strokes with the plane I took. I had to sweeten this end a wee bit.

good fit

This end of the wedge had about a 16th of a gap that I had to plane and check several times before it closed up.

done

This one is done and the itch didn't go away. This was made out of scraps I had and I want to make more of these. I didn't think anything would take my attention span away from sliding lid boxes but this has.

nope

I swept up the shop and dropped the shop shitcan into the driveway shitcan. I also swept up and tossed the wedge for this box. I played with this one (the original) and I planed the angle in the correct direction and it did work. But, the wedge was too short. I had to try and make it work.

found it

I dug through the driveway shitcan and I found it on the first dive. Sometimes you get lucky. I'm going to give this to my son-in-law and I fully intend to make at least two more for me (bigger ones).

two more tool boxes

My wife told me that the SIL needed tote style toolboxes. I am still giving the japanese one to him along with these two. They aren't overly large in any dimension but the sizes were driven by the scrap I had on hand.

Clancy's oil

Initially I wasn't going to put a finish on this at all. Then I thought maybe 2-3 coats of shellac. In the end I went with Clancy's oil. One coat is all this is getting and having seen the before pic, I'm liking the after one a lot more.

clipped the ends

Decided on rabbeted joinery that I will glue and nail with rose head nails.

1/4" groove

Several years ago I had an iron made for this plane for 1/4" plywood. I ran a test groove in some scrap and one piece of plywood I had was a snug fit. I was going to do the groove on the tablesaw but the blade height gave me fits when I made the rabbets with it.

lined up

The fence slipped on me and I saw it before I ran the groove. I reset the fence using the first groove I planed. The vertical one is what I planed next and it lined up perfectly.

good muscle memory

When I first started out using this plane my grooves were iffy. Sometimes they were square and sometimes they weren't. I hope I'm not jinxing myself now, but I now am consistently plowing square grooves.

long groove

These are the grooves that I usually planed out of square. The exit end being slightly worse than the entrance end.

measuring stick

The ID on the tool box was dead nuts square. I ticked off the length and width on the stick and add 2x the depth of the groove to get my final dimensions.

first one done

I marked the two dimensions a 16th shorter then the measuring stick said and it fit dead on. I was expecting to have to trim it to get it to fit especially on the width.

this sucks pond scum

I don't know what is causing the tablesaw blade to rise up. I tightened it as much as I could but it still did this on 2 of the rabbets.

2nd toolbox

Both toolboxes are the same width. The 2nd one is 2 1/4" longer.

stick handle

This one is getting a stick handle and the other is getting a 1" dowel. I wanted to put a dowel on both but I only had enough to do one. This one is a stopped through mortise.

first mortise

Drilled out most of the waste on the drill press and than chopped it coming at it from both sides.

snug fit

I made the width of the mortise a 1/8" less than the thickness of the handle. I planed the cheeks of the tenon with my skewed block plane. The height of the mortise was a 16th less than the handle height.

first mortise tenon dry fitted

I was happy with this fit and if I make more of these I'll go with stick handles and stopped through mortises.

not quite on the 2nd one

I missed squaring the bottom right corner on the mortise. The tenon pushed it out partly. I glued and clamped the blowout back in place. After 20 minutes I unclamped it and cleaned/squared up the corner with a chisel.

oops

Forgot to snap a pic of the two dry fitted. I will get these two glued and cooking in the AM.

one short

Because of the grain orientation of the ends I couldn't put a wedge at the top and bottom of the tenon. That could have possibly split the ends. Instead I am going to wedge it on an angle. The will exert the force in line against the direction of the grain.

quitting time

It has been a long time since I've worked in the shop this late. The gas techs just left and I killed the lights here.

happy face on

Yesterday I got what I thought was the correct OTG thing for the Firestick but I was wrong. The Firestick requires a micro USB C and I had ordered a USB C. The silver one is the wrong one. The black one is a Firestick OTG - that is what I plugged into the Amazon search bar this time around. 

I found instructions and You Tube vids on how to install the WiFi keyboard and I'll probably get around to that tomorrow or the next day or....

accidental woodworker

If I am known for anything in the realm of shop work it is that I am an enthusiastic advocate for two arcane tools; the polissoir at the finishing bench, and the toothing plane at the woodwork bench.  I find myself grabbing one of my dozen toothing planes almost every time I am preparing a board for whatever comes next, as toothing planes are magnificent for the task of making a board flat/planar (but not smooth).

I have long asserted that we are living in a Golden Age of hand tool makers, and one of them is my friend Steve Voigt.  Sometime last year I asked Steve to make me a custom toothing plane.  As a result of our correspondence about the plane, I sent him three of my favorites to use as guides for his work.

A few days ago I received two packages from him, one with my three and the other with his new one.  I’m like a kid on Christmas morning, anxiously awaiting the time soon when I can really take it for a test drive.

Stay tuned.

 It actually goes back to the end of March with the current weather. Today it rained off and on all day long. Tomorrow is forecasted to be partly sunny with wind and wednesday is looking good enough to do some lunch box planing in the driveway. Like just about everything else I'll cool my heels and wait and see what shakes out. In the interim I have plenty to do to keep me busy in the shop.

hmm.....

What do you do when the swamp floods and the gators get loose? You look at a stash of wood and decide to start a new project. Lee Valley put out a You Tube video email this morning on making a japanese tool box. I have seen them before but they didn't interest me then. But this video changed that and I had to scratch the itch and make one now.

breaking down the stock

Used my bow saw for this round. 20 years ago I used this for all my crosscut and ripping needs and then set it aside. What I'm finding out with all the various and different saws I've been using is it doesn't matter. Sawing is an acquired skill that isn't dependent upon the type of saw. And it was quicker using the bow saw than my favorite western crosscut saw.

there isn't much stock required

From L to R, cleats, sides, and bottom. Didn't realize it here that I was short on what I needed.

kept going from here

Initially I was just going to plane a reference edge and face. But it  only took me about 15 minutes to get this done and I decided to keep going. This board had been in the shop for a few months so it should be acclimated by now.

tiny bit of twist

Took me about 20 minutes to plane each of these flat, straight, and twist free.

light came on here

This is where it dawned on me that I didn't have a lid or a bottom and the short ends. 

the bottom

I went back and forth on how I would get the bottom to thickness. The board was a 1/16th less than 3/4" thick and the target for the bottom was 3/8". Finally settled in to planing it to 3/8" thickness.

the lid

The pine I used for this box is dead clear and has the straightest grain I have ever seen in pine boards, and it isn't quarter sawn neither. I also got the lid cleats and the ends from this board.

humph.....

My workbench was rocking like it was twisted. I have been using this bench for over 30 years and I have never experienced this headache before. I had moved the bench a couple of days ago and tried to reposition so it wouldn't rock but I couldn't.

Made a quick pit stop and bandsawed out a couple of wedges. One of them worked on the left front leg but wasn't anywhere near thick enough for the right leg. Made a thicker 3rd and that one worked. No more rocking and no more benchtop wiggling while I was planing the stock.

frog hair more than 1/4"

When I checked the bottom after thicknessing it I saw that I have planed a taper in it. Flattening it again brought the thickness down to a 1/4". I would have rather it to be the original 3/8" but 1/4" will still be adequate.

ready for joinery

I worked past the ringing of the lunch time bell so I could finish them. After lunch I made a road trip to ACE to get some small ring shank nails for attaching the bottom. The selection wasn't that large and I settled for a small package of over priced copper ring shank boat nails.

new WiFi keyboard

My wife has one of these but she lost the USB receiver for it so it is useless. I found out how to install a USB Wifi or BT keyboard on the Firestick. I also had to order a USB C OTG that hasn't arrived yet. It is annoying and a ROYAL PITA typing in Firestick. I have been thinking of installing Alexa because Firestick will accept voice commands. I'll be trying the kybd route first.

not much to it

I did a quick search for japanese toolboxes and I didn't see any done with dovetails. Everyone I saw was done with finger jointery or nailed together with butt/rabbet joints.

gang sawing

I put the finger notch on the long sides and sawed that with the two together in the moxon.

used the gents saw

I scored the square line for the gents saw to track in. I find that to help a lot with sawing square across the edge.

removing the waste

I was going to use a coping saw to remove the waste but switched to using the bandsaw. I think Paul Sellers would approve of me using either method. I wasn't going to chop it out because I don't get good results with this type of chisel work.

some gaps

I made a mistake when I sawed out the waste. I sawed it almost dead on the marking gauge line. When I chopped on that I didn't do that good. There wasn't enough meat for the chisel and I didn't chop in a straight line. On a couple of them the chisel moved backwards away from the waste area into the good meat. Not horrible gaps but gaps nonetheless.

 Drilled pilot holes in the fingers for the rose head nails that I am using. I test nailed a ton of scrap together before I committed to the real thing. It took several different sizes of pilot holes before I was able to fully seat a nail without it splitting.

took two drill bits

If I used just the small bit, the nail would split the top board. If I used just the larger bit, the nail was loose. It seated but I could pull the two boards apart with my hands. What worked for me was to drill the top board with the large bit and the bottom board with the thinner one. I got no splits at all doing it this way.

flushing the fingers

I intended for the fingers to be proud. I was going to chamfer the stick out part but I changed my mind. I like the look of them being flush. That looks cleaner and simpler IMO.

bottom nailed on

No glue, just nails all around the perimeter. The You Tuber didn't glue his bottom on neither.

another change

The bottom did have a 1/8" overhang but I flushed it. One long side was slightly tapered so I planed it flush.

stopped here

I'm pretty sure that I could have finished this but I was a wee bit fuzzy on how the lid locks in place. I also realized here that I was short one cleat. I need one on the left that holds up the lid so it can go underneath the cleat on the top left. I know that I need that cleat in place so I can determine the final length of the lid (along with the width of it). 

Blogger still is acting wonky on me. It is freezing now at least once every time I type a blog post. That has come down from it freezing 3-5 times or more. Once is still annoying but better than multiple times. I haven't find anyone online having this problem so far. I'm fairly certain that once this headache goes away another one will take its place.

accidental woodworker

Hello Carpentry Way readers—both old friends and new visitors,

Amazingly, today marks the fifth anniversary of Chris’s death. It’s hard to believe it’s been so long since I last heard his footsteps, talked with him, or saw him in person.

I still miss him and think of him daily, though it’s much easier now than it was at the beginning. Today feels almost normal—though not quite. Being happily remarried and having Ryden – who is such a great kid and a lot like his dad – certainly helps a lot.

Chris left behind many wonderful things that are uniquely him: his furniture, his architectural work, and his writing. Not everyone gets to leave such a tangible legacy.

It means a lot to me that people continue to visit the blog and purchase Chris’s carpentry essays. Thank you to those who email to say you’re thinking of him or still inspired by his work. That truly means the world.

I pulled over yesterday to take a photo of this stop sign, with Chris on my mind, and that during challenging times, remembering to love the world helps to keep me going, just as it did when Chris was dying.

I wanted to share a few tidbits about Chris you might not know from the blog. He held black belts in two martial arts—hapkido and jujitsu—but eventually stepped away from practicing after a friend asked why he was devoting energy to something rooted in violence. He continued to respect martial arts and those who practice them, but chose to focus elsewhere.

That said, he had amazing reflexes…

The day he went in for the lung biopsy that confirmed his cancer was terminal, we were driving to Boston in early morning rush hour. Despite being ill and facing an unimaginably difficult day, he insisted on driving. At one point, a car suddenly swerved into our lane. With just six inches of clearance, he calmly steered us out of danger—no overreaction, no panic, just precision. Then he took a deep breath and kept driving, completely focused.

He loved mountain biking, disc golf, making sushi and pizza—and he was completely unbothered by changing diapers. His musical taste was eclectic: Blue Öyster Cult, John Coltrane, Selena Gomez, and Mariah Carey all had a place in his playlists. As readers of this blog know, he could be intensely focused and serious about carpentry, and sometimes even a bit harsh in his critiques. But he was also open to feedback, and his sense of humor stuck with him right up to the end of his ability to speak.

To mark this anniversary, I wanted to share a few things with you.

I’ve been reading a book I think Chris would’ve liked—or at least appreciated. It’s called Water, Wood, and Wild Things: Learning Craft and Cultivation in a Japanese Mountain Town by Hannah Kirshner. You can learn more about it and read an excerpt here.

Even though it includes long sections on making sake and hunting—and I’m a vegetarian who’s never been interested in alcohol—I found it captivating. What drew me in was the mindful approach to every aspect of life. As a child, I loved books that explained how things were made. I often felt our modern world was disconnected from the physical reality of how we live—from the food we eat to the tools we use. Chris’s skill, focus, and ability to make so many things by hand always felt deeply meaningful to me. This book reminds me of that spirit and how important it is to traditional Japanese culture, and I think many of you will appreciate it too.

Here are two very short videos that I thought you might like to see.

• From Chris’s birthday in 2015—just about ten years ago, as he died the day before his birthday.
• Chris with Ryden about a year before Chris died.

I hope you enjoy these glimpses of him.

And now, some good news and a big thank you to Brian Holcombe: he repaired the head of Chris’s shrine lantern, which had been damaged shortly before Chris’s diagnosis. [Here is the last post I shared about it.] I now have the repaired lantern head, and once we find the right spot for it, I’ll share an update. Brian recommended placing it somewhere sheltered, as it’s more fragile now and not suited to snow, ice, or rain.

Coming up, my new spouse and I are taking Ryden to see the bench Chris built for the Japanese machiya (merchant’s house) exhibit at the Boston Children’s Museum. The wonderful longtime museum staff member, Akemi Chayama, has kindly offered to show us around. Ryden will also get to see the gate Chris built at the MFA. I’m looking forward to the visit and will share more if there’s anything I think you’d enjoy seeing.

With gratitude and warm wishes,
Thank you for stopping by The Carpentry Way. I keep this going because of you—and because of Chris.

Doug Gordy was introduced to woodturning by his father, Vernon, a master woodturner. Doug recalls going with his father to Highland Hardware (now Highland Woodworking) for the first time in 1985, when he was a teenager. It was a much anticipated and frequent destination as he grew up. When Doug moved away from Savannah, whenever they were visiting family in the Atlanta area, a trip to Highland Woodworking was mandatory. Vernon introduced his grandson, Parker, to woodworking when he was about 5 years old. Parker, a recent GA Tech graduate, has recently started woodturning. His dad, Doug, said Parker has to go to Highland and buy his own Oneway lathe now.

Doug & his wife, Sherri, raised their family in Savannah GA, where Doug had a successful career working for Gulfstream Aerospace. He loved the beautiful woodworking details in the planes and the exacting perfection of what they built. His way of unwinding after a day at work was to work on his lathe for 2 or 3 hours. He says you have to be completely focused to do woodturning, it made him put aside any stress from work & relax. Doug learned from his father & further developed his skills by taking classes and watching master turners. If he saw something new, he took it as a personal challenge to learn to how to do it. Next on his list is turning a lampshade. A bit of a renaissance man, his interests also extend to carpentry, welding, building cars (and planes, of course), and making his own tools.

Doug turns pieces on commission, & now that he has retired & relocated to Milledgeville GA, he looks forward to having more time to devote to his art. Now 86, his father customized a lathe so he can continue to turn in their newly completed shop. Doug enjoys turning large pieces, letting the wood dictate the design. He is happy to work with domestic wood, and will go out with his chainsaw after a storm & help clear a fallen or damaged tree in exchange for some wood. He feels he is giving the tree a second life when he creates something with the wood he harvests. Sherri handles all the finishing, with Danish Oil or Teak Oil and various stains.

Doug is partial to Sorby Tools. He jokes he now has more tools than Highland Woodworking, and with the exception of the tools he has made, almost all of them came from Highland. Doug says the knowledgeable people at Highland, who have helped his father, then him & now his son over the years are an incredible resource. If there was something he wanted & on the rare occurrence that Highland didn’t have it, they would help him search for it & facilitate the acquisition. They love what they do & their customer service reflects that passion for woodworking.

So, the front three panels are taking shape. 

The two outside need more detail, but I'm not sure what yet. I'm going to move on to making the front rails and stiles, decide on the pattern for them and come back to the front panels. It seems fitting that organic designs are coming together, well, organically.

The nearest/right one still needs grounding.

On to the top rail.

An old familiar way of working, with well used tools. I don't get to work this way all the time, so a day on this is joyous.

This board was twisted and I am surprised it planed up ok.

Setting the marking gauge with my Rabone rule for the thickness.

All change tomorrow, hanging a front door.