Hand Tools

 Last night I was thinking about the new cabinet and my initial designs had drawers in it. I drew up several with one to four drawers (liked the 4 drawer asymmetrical layout) but decided to do just a cabinet with a door. Then I went back and forth on an overlay or inset door. In the end an inset door won - trickier to do then an overlay but I think an inset door looks better.

checking the height

I have the two ends together, flushed at the top. With door butted up against them I have about 1/8" at this end. That gives me a 16th of wiggle room at the top and bottom.

wash, rinse, repeat

Did the same for checking the width of the cabinet. Got the same 1/8" wiggle room for the width.

sawing the last half pin

After 15 years of doing dovetails I am getting comfortable with them. Half pins were especially difficult for me to master. I can now look back see that it was mostly my lack of sawing skill. Since then I have upped my skill set with sawing. I still have gaffes now and then but even those are dwindling away to nothing.

tails done

I have been thinking about sawing the waste instead of chopping it out. My dovetailing has evolved and I have changed how I do them over the past few years. I've settled into a routine with them and maybe sawing the waste is the next step in my progression with dovetailing. On the flip side I enjoy chopping them and feel that it helps develops my skill using chisels for other operations. Not going to try it on these but maybe on the next dovetailing adventure.

simple set up block

The piece of pine behind the stock in the vise sets the height of the stock. The set up block is aligned with the top of the outrigger, height set up thingie behind it. That allows the tail board to lay flat and even on the pin board for marking/knifing the pins.

2 of 6

I have 3 gent style dovetail saws and 3 open handle dovetail saws. The right saw is a Lie Nielsen saw and it was my go to for dovetailing until the I got the one on the right (2 years ago?). That one came from Blue Spruce and I use it now for all my dovetailing. I find that the length (12") makes sighting and sawing plumb and square much easier than the shorter length LN dovetail saw.

chopping the pins

Used 3 different chisels chopping the tail and pin waste. My LN 1" socket chisel, Ashley Iles chisels, and my no name 25mm metric chisel. All of them work and do the job without any one of them really outshining the others. I do know that not all of them hold an edge for long and all of them suck at chopping when dull.

hmm.....

The tails are proud in a tapered manner. Maybe I should have made the faces parallel rather than just eyeball flattening the two faces.

square

Both ends of this pin board were fitted off the saw and went in square. It is getting to were I am starting to take this for granted. It is humbling when you screw it up and end up with kindling.

checking the height

Still have my 1/8" to split the top and bottom.

nope

Killed the lights here on the 2nd pin board. Had other life events intervene and I'll do this one in the AM. The goal of getting the carcass dovetailed and glued up didn't happen today. 

hmm....

Played some more with the rabbet plane before I left the shop. The rabbet plane ate up this red knot without a hiccup. Surprised me a lot at how effortlessly it plowed right through it.

took some fiddling

The plane bottomed out but the rabbet needed some remediation. Planed a hump in the middle and inboard vertical wall was wavy. Fixed both of them with the same plane. Gauged my progress with the margins from the stick laid in the rabbet.

accidental woodworker 

I know! It’s the busiest of grain types; a diverse switch from any beech wood you might know because beech is not known for diversity and this wood I have chosen gives volume and depth that might seem distractive but yet, just like the mould of spalting, it creeps in to grow on you to...

Source

  The glass door cabinet and the toolbox are done. Both have taken up residence in the boneyard for now. My wife wants the glass door cabinet and the toolbox is awaiting someone to adopt it. I also have a japanese toolbox that is hoping to be adopted.

muntins cooking

Glued the muntins on after dinner last night. While filling the pie hole I thought about the door. Couldn't think of anything else to do on the door that needed to be done before the muntins were glued on. Ran putting the whole cabinet together in the brain bucket and nada. Didn't see any road blocks or hiccups so I pulled the trigger. 

The muntins were square to the inside of the frame. All four points that the muntins were glued to the frame were tight and secure. I think with the snug fit and the four glue points the muntins will stand the test of time.

name?

Glued the center thing on the horizontal and vertical muntins. I just saw a blog about repairing these but I can't remember what he called them. I let them cook for a couple of hours before removing the clamps.

first toolbox glamour pic

The dutchmen I did haven't popped as much as I thought they would. The through tenons look good IMO.

2nd glamour pic

They didn't pop much more on the interior. 3 coats of shellac on the interior and 5 on the exterior.

3rd glamour pic

The till came out a wee bit smaller than planned. None of my wooden marking gauges fit - the till is too shallow. However, my Glen Drake marking gauges fit.

4th glamour pic

The lid could double as a teeny workbench. I tried but the handle got in the way when I tried to sit on the lid.

hmm.....

The toolbox that inspired mine had the edges of the ends wrapped in metal. One end had an 'anvil' at the top. Perfect for pounding on for straightening bent nails? I thought of copying that but I couldn't even begin to figure out how to do the metal work. Maybe on the next one. BTW, still haven't been able to find the YouTube vid on restoring the original one.

done

There isn't much more to do with the door other than hinges and a knob of some kind. I'm thinking of using a snap catch for this similar to the one I used on the glass door cabinet.

ta da, 1st glamour pic

I had a few hiccups making this but none of that slaps you as you look at it.

I am not a fan of fixed shelving as I prefer adjustable shelves that can be positioned as needed for current storage items. It was too tight for drilling into the stiles for shelf pins. One of the draw backs for this type of cabinet construction.

3rd glamour pic

Glad that I decided to make the back finished. I doubt that it will be exposed but it gives the option to my wife with having it visible.

flattening the new project stock

 The boards all had a slight cup to them. I didn't attempt to get the two faces parallel - just planed both sides flat taking the minimal amount of stock off.

two sides, top, and bottom

The plan is to dovetail the carcass. I'm thinking ahead to the back and how and what it will be. I would like to use 1/2" thick stock and I'm stuck on how to attach said 1/2" thick boards to the back of the carcass.

stickered until the AM

I need time to think more on the build and this will give the stock time to relax and get any stupid wood tricks out of its system.

what a relief

The door laid flat on the tablesaw. Not even the slightest hint of it rocking. Even flipped it and tried it on the muntins. Not dead nuts flat but still almost no rocking neither.

hmm.....

It was too early to kill the lights so I dug out this rabbet plane to play with. I've had it for 4-5 years (?) and it smelled awful when I first got it. After hanging out in the shop that smell is now gone. Tried it as is, the plane hesitated due to the iron being dull a little but no hiccups with making this rabbet.

plane bottomed out

The size of the rabbet is a viable size. This would work on the current build for the back for the 1/2" thick boards I'm planning on using.

freshly sharpened

The blade is laminated. I can see the line across the bevel and on the sides.

yikes

Wicked sharp iron and I didn't even have a chance to start the thought of saying 'aw shit.....'. Weird that this finger was the one the iron drew blood on.

looking better

Scrubbed it first with alcohol and then Simple Green. Looks better and cleaner. The smell hasn't returned. It was the smell that initially made me stick this in the black hole of shop 'to do' things.

accidental woodworker 

mantle clock

I finished a mantle clock a few days ago. Between the resawing, planing to thickness, re-planing for a smooth surface, all the hand joinery, and the finishing work, it took about 14 hours to build. Even I was impressed with that time.

I had to spread those 14 hours over several days because of my back acting up and other life commitments. While I spend 99% of my time in the workshop, there’s still life outside it that needs my attention.

I’ve been thinking about making a video of the next clock build. Instead of doing a series, I might make one complete video divided into short sections, not showing every step in real time, but more like the style you see on Instagram. The only difference is, I don’t have mountains or acres of land in the background.

Anyway, I just wanted to share my latest build with you. Let me know what you think.

 I'll have glamour pics of two more projects - the glass door cabinet and the toolbox tomorrow. Glad to finally putting these two to bed. And I started on the next one which starts with a four lite glass door. I'll be building the carcass to fit the door rather than fitting a door to the carcass.

not a good first pic, eh?

Painted the holidays on the door and the carcass. Barring me finding more hiccups this will done once the paint is dry.

hmm.....

Decided to use one of these picture frames as a door for the upcoming cabinet build. Like I already said, I'll be building the carcass to fit the door.

muntin

For some reason I drew a complete blank on how I had made the muntins for the glass door cabinet. On the bright side the muntin came out perfect for a test piece. The idea is to glue the center thin bar in a notch in the door frame.

making a tenon

In spite of drawing a blank, this muntin will be done in a different way then the glass door cabinet.

sigh

These two are toast. Both of them are from quarter sawn and after ripping out the center bar they curled at the ends.

two new ones

Same problem but not as bad. The board I ripped these out of is bowed at one end. Didn't see that when I sawed them.

sigh

Two more muntins from flat sawn and they are toast too. Both of them slipped in the tenon jig when I pushed it through the saw.

just as well

I sawed for the tenon on the wrong side anyways. The kerf should have been on the left not the right.

2 more plus an extra

I was still trying to understand the echoes banging around in the brain bucket about how to do the muntins. Where to place the tenons, half laps, notches, and not being able to fully see the negative spaces. I was getting a headache.

test pieces

Before I commit to the real thing I'm going to experiment on some scraps to figure it out. The left one is the muntin and the right one, one of the sides of the frame.

notch chopped

Decided to use a notch the same size as the muntin for strength. This will be a larger a glue surface than a skinny center bar. 

self supporting

Got a good fit on the notch and the muntin but it didn't work out. The top and bottom of the muntin are flush with the top and bottom of the frame. I need an offset for the glass and the retainer bars.

2nd attempt

Made the 'tenon' deeper on the muntin so I got an offset on the back. Wasn't expecting the front to lay proud on the front face of the frame though.

serendipitous?

I kind of like this - a step up from the flush look of the glass door cabinet.

small chamfer

This is what I'm going with. The muntin will be proud and have a profile of sorts.

choices

I ripped the test frame piece to the same width as the door frame. Deciding how long to make the muntin overhang on the frame width. I think this is better looking if it isn't run out to the outside edge.

not quite half laps

Setup I used to get the depth of the muntin 'tenon' the same on both ends. The board on the right was the outrigger for the router to keep it from tipping.

true half lap

The horizontal and vertical muntins joined.

muntins done

The blue tape is holding a super glued chip back in place. I used the half laps to determine the 'tenons'on the horizontal muntin. They went together enough so I could knife nick where it crossed the frame on the right and left.

asymmetrical layout

I used thirds for the layout. The inside measurements are 12" x 24". The vertical muntin is set at 4" and the horizontal one at 8".

brown knot

Soaked this with super glue twice. I am going to paint the door and shellac the carcass. Most of the brown knot will be hidden when the door is closed. There is a small brown knot on the face about the size of a pea.

glass retainers

The retainers are square and sit flush in the rabbets. I'll have to thin them after I get the glass for them.

chamfer done

Thought of doing this with a plane but whacked it out with the router.

corners cleaned up

The door is basically done. The hard part of making/fitting the muntins is complete. Before I glue it up I'm leaving it dry for just in case. No worse feeling to be had after glue up then to realize you needed to do one more thing before you glued it.

accidental woodworker 

Making a tap guide for my lathe turret.
Of all the tools we manufacture the drafting rules are my favorite. I have one that I use everyday. It's the rule I use when I'm measuring something because of a customer query, if I'm trying to find the right stock to make a part, or if I have to part something off on a lathe to make sure it's the right length. Now the difference between a drafting rule and a regular rule is that the drafting rule has thin edge, which gets it close to the thing you are measuing or layout and and there is less parralax error. Ours version also has end grads, which is really handy for measuring short things when you simply don't have space for the entire length of the ruler. This is very handy when I am working on the lathe.

Starrett used to make a drafting rule, and I have one and that's where we got the idea that maybe we should reintroduce it. The Starrett drafting rule only had a bevel on one edge, ours has a cove which looks and feels nicer but more importantly it means if you press down on the one side of the ruler the other side lifts up and it's easier to pick it up.
So a few years ago we started making them. We discovered we had no idea what we were doing. When you mill the cove on one side the brass wants to buckle and the scrap rate was horrendous. So when we ran out of initial batch we stopped making them. About 2 years ago, we ordered material to make more of them, thinking we would do it better. But we gave up pretty quickly.
We still have the stock, and I have another idea about fixturing, but hustling to produces Gramercy Tools Treadle Lathes, I just haven't had the time to figure out if we have a good path. Maybe next year if I have time. However, we found a very small number of English rulers (8) buried in the warehouse that we didn't know we had, along with two English / metric (2) rules. We just put them up for sale now. If you've been jonesing for one now is your chance. Click here.

In other news this past weekend I once again visited the Poster House Museum to see there awesome exhibit "The Future Was Then: The Changing Face of Fascist Italy". This was eyeopening to me as I never really understood much about Fascist Italy before WW2.




PS

 Two days in a row with an appointment but at least this time I knew I had this one. It was PT to help me with my right hip - I can't lift my right leg upwards from a seating position. However, it screwed up not only my shop time, it set back my post lunch stroll. All and all it worked to my advantage. Started applying shellac and all the drama with the strolling and the appointment wasn't so bad.

one more day

I got 4 coats on the toolbox and the till (includes post dinners application too). The lid is drying on the tablesaw. Two more days at the most and I'll be snapping glamour pics of it.

accidental woodworker 

Almost made it and I would have too. But, a monkey wrench got throw into the gears today. I use a desk flip calendar as my planner and when I flipped today over an appointment for orthopedics popped up. It really screwed up my agenda for today big time. I would have gotten the toolbox done today but that didn't happen boys and girls but maybe tomorrow......

hmm.....

The spacer strip I glued at the top was proud of the notch for the strap. A minor hiccup fixed lickety split with a few strokes of a chisel. As an aside, I believe chisels, next to saws, are in the top 3 most useful woodworking tools.

dovetails won

If the till had been made with plywood I would have mitered it. Dovetails are a better choice for solid wood. I don't have good luck with solid wood miters holding together.

tails done

This is as far as I got before I had to leave for my doctor appointment. 

dry fit

It was a little looser than I wanted but it was still self supporting. I didn't reach under as much when I marked the pins off the tails.

happy face on

The till slid R/L without any problems. The sliding action wasn't sloppy and it didn't bind anywhere along the length of travel.

flushing the bottom

No twist when I checked but 2 of the corners were proud. Before I ran the groove for the bottom I had to flush it up.

major brain fart

I had looked at my reference labels and when I sawed the groove instead of placing them down, I left them up facing me. Sigh. Flipped them and sawed the groove correctly.

last one

Sawed a couple 1/8" thick strips to fill in the errant grooves. Got a snug fit and it looked pretty good when I planed them flushed.

ta da

The woodworking is done or at least I thought it was done here. Close but no cigar yet.

last one

Had to fill in four holes left from the plowing the grooves.

insurance

Added three #10 x 1" brass wood screws. ACE only had round head, slotted screws so I had to file the center one down flush to the top of the handle.

came this close

This is the last of the woodworking and I still have the other end to sand. As far as I know this is it. After the other end is sanded, I can start slapping on shellac.

accidental woodworker 

sigh....

This paint is sold as a 'one coat coverage' paint. I have tried every trick I learned about painting and I have yet to achieve said 'one coat coverage'. I tried a bazillion different brushes and nada. The only thing I found that worked was to flood the wood and push the paint around with a palette knife leaving a heavy thickness on the wood. On a brighter note, I got the coverage I needed with one primer and two top coats.

rounding the front edge

Quicker, easier, and a whole lot quieter than using an electric router. And it doesn't take that much longer neither.

clearance

Wish this was a wee bit more but it clears the handle. There isn't anything I could do increase it so I'll live with it.

this works

Notched the front and attached the leather strap to the underside of the lid. This will clear the lid and hold it shut. 

bonus

The strap clears the handle and once on the other side it holds the lid open.

everything fits

My 24" level fits too. I could pick up the toolbox (with these planes and the level) with one hand but it was heavy. The handle held - I didn't see any flexing or movement it in when I picked it up which was encouraging. I think when this toolbox is packed it might be a two handed transport.

hmm.....

I was going to start snapping the glamour pics but I changed my mind. There was one more step before I did that.

scratching the bald spot

I want a sliding till. Something shallow that will hold the little things like tapes, pencils, marking gauges, etc etc etc.. Once that is whacked out, then it will be done.

bearers

Wish I hadn't shitcanned all my scraps. The bearers aren't equal but that works in my favor. The larger one will be placed against the side with the hinges. The slight protrusion of the hinges will eat up some of the bearer real estate and the larger bearer will compensate for that.

helpers

These two will keep the bearers at the same point down from the top regardless of the differences between the two.

my opinion

I got these 3 rules because they are the same style that Paul Sellers uses. They are both imperial and metric and I've had them for several years. But I can't get my head wrapped around them. They are visually busy and crowded. I especially have problems with the graduations on the imperial scale. I like 8ths and 16ths and I don't see the necessity of 32nds and 64ths in woodworking. I tried to use the 18" scale to layout the screws on the bearers and gave up. I used my wooden rules laid out in 8ths and 16ths to do it.

no glue

Just screws just in case I change my mind or if I need to repair/replace it.

what to call this?

These two pieces of pine are a wee bit thicker than the hinge plates. That will allow the till to slide past the hinges without binding or rubbing on them.

dumb founded

My wife finally saw and came over to look at this. She asked me who it was for and I said it was for Amanda or her sister Bonnie, who ever wanted it. She said she wanted it which floored me. If you held a gun to my head I would have never said she wanted this or even liked it. I don't know where is going to put it but that is her problem.

hmm......

The opening is tapered. It is wide on the right and it thins a 16th going to the left. There is plenty of room on the bearers to account for tapered wiggle room.

shutters are done

Got the final coat on the back this morning. They will rest here and tomorrow I'll hang them.

till stock

The stock is 1/2" thick but I'm thinking of thinning it down to 3/8". I'll make the command decision in the AM or PM.

sizing the ID

I want the till to be large enough to hold a 12" rule. The height will be 2" roughly - the bearers are set down 2 1/8". Next up is dovetails or miters along with how the bottom panel will be installed? I can figure that out with sweet dreams overnight.

accidental woodworker

Here are the angle gauges that I use for the method discussed in the previous post.  The size for all is about 4 1/2” long, 1 1/2” wide, and 1/2” thick  and made from cherry or African mahogany. They about 10 to 20 years old.  The sharpening angle goes back about 1” for all the […]

 Out in the autumn sun, to trim the pegs, and tie in the rails carving to the stiles carving.

 

not looking good

Got the other side primed after dinner and first thing in the AM, I got the first top coat on the back side. Based on the primer coat and what I saw after the first top coat, it is going to take a minimum of two coats.

got fooled

Going on the top coat looked promising. Twenty minutes after applying it I could see the primer coat peeking through. 

toolbox lid

Been in the clamps for two days and no surprises when I unclamped it.

not flush

Used the chisel to scrape off some glue squeeze out. The piece I glued on wasn't flush anywhere along the length on both sides.

done

Flushed on both sides in less than 3 minutes.

flushed on the ends

 I realized that I have been spelling the name of this saw. It is a Ryoba, not Ryobi. That aside I used the Ryoba to flush the ends of the glued on piece. I find this saw is better at sawing off thin slivers vice a western saw. Smoothed the saw cuts with the low angle blockplane.

parallel

Marked the ends of the lid parallel to the ends of the toolbox. The toolbox isn't square across the ends at the top on this side. It is also not straight and square across the long sides R to L. Wee bit of a headache fitting things and it reminds me of when I first started out going down this rabbit hole. Been a while since I've had to deal with something this far out of whack.

tapered

I eyeballed marking the parallel and planed down to and removed the pencil line.

left side

Happy with how this looks - much better than the before one. This gap is now even from front to back.

right side

Right side looking just as good as the left. Now I'll have to deal with the non OCD gap. This will allow all kinds of garbage to fall past it into the bottom.

screwed only

I'm not sure that I will stick with this. It cuts off light sneaking past the gaps and it is a resting place for any debris. But I can't think of another way to deal with it.

it fits

The gap is a frog hair less than a 1/8". I checked Lee Valley where I got these hinges and they don't sell any other, only 3/4". I'm not waiting for the strap hinges and instead I'm using these.

hmm.....

I had been thinking about the best way to install these hinges. It is important that the back edge of the lid be flush with the back of the toolbox. The lid swing arc is tight and it is based on these two being flush.

superglue to the rescue

This worked on the first attempt. The lid barely cleared the handle - I'll round over the top edge of the lid to open up some clearance there. When the lid was fully opened the hinges let go of the bond. Put some more glue on the hinges and left them clamped. I'll check on them after dinner. 

accidental woodworker 

Veritas released their new saw set: https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/shop/tools/hand-tools/118411-veritas-saw-set

 I had the chance to test a prototype earlier this year. First impression: 

Wonderfully made tool. 

 Smooth comfortable handle. 

Clear view on the teeth. 

Wide flats to rest on many teeth. 

Extrem slim hammer, to meet the tiniest teeth. 

An anvil adjustment with letters, not numbers. No more confusion.

Any downside? Not really. The set weights double or more than the Stanley 42x, wich it was mostly inspired by. And I have the same problem as I have with the Stanley 42x: I cannot set blades in my saw vise, because the handle and the vise need the same space.  

 

 

 

   

Throughout this whole process of repairing the north side of our house, something that had been nagging me was the tilt of the building. The level and direction of tilt varies a bit throughout the building, and it’s most pronounced on the north side. So, before closing up the walls I decided to see if… Read More »Tomobe – North Side Plastering

The post Tomobe – North Side Plastering appeared first on Big Sand Woodworking.

In answer to Joe Leonetti’s request for more information on working it with hand tools, I can say mesquite is more predictably unpredictable and then unpredictably predictable than most any wood. There is nothing in any way uniform or straight-grained about this remarkable wood and there is no doubt that it is a thousand times...

Source

I didn't get much done in the shop on either the toolbox or the glass door cabinet. Errands to run in the AM, 2 hour post lunch stroll, and house work in the afternoon. That felt good because it was actually something that I finished. I have one more thing to finish but no one but the wife and I will know when that will happened.

I like these hinges

These hinges are designed for 3/4" stock and the sides are roughly 5/8". Not a deal killer - a thin piece of veneer will make up any shortfall. Still clueless on where or even who I ordered the strap hinges from. I'll have the same headache with them too - they are meant for use on 3/4" thick stock.

nope

I sawed off the front of the lid. As much as I liked it I knew it wouldn't last. In one day it had already suffered two big chips in the toe. This pine isn't working because the far end dog legs. It is straight and flat until about the 3/4 point where it twists to the left and slightly upward.

better match

The dog leg board was quarter sawn and this one is flat sawn like the lid is. It isn't a color/grain match but it is a better match than the quarter sawn one.

found a use

My small japanese tool boxes have a purpose now. I have four boxes of nails that I can fill them with.

what's inside

Super glued one of the nails to the lid to ID what is inside.

last set of shutters

My wife is/was hesitating about painting these. Rather than wait for her to do, I decided to whack it out. Step one was super gluing all the brown knots including the faces. There is one red knot on one shutter and it is on a side edge. Red knots will bleed through paint but since this one is on the side I'm leaving it unsealed. If and when it bleeds through it won't be noticeable.

primer

I doubt that I will get away with a primer and top coat. I'm betting the odds highly favor at least two top coats. After dinner I plan on returning to the shop to prime the opposite face. Tomorrow I'll try my hardest to get both sides top coated. Any  takers on the odds?

accidental woodworker

 Just a few photos for you................

When we hand sharpen a tool, such as a chisel or plane blade, it must be accurately and consistently held at the desired angle to the stone. Most woodworkers and most teachings use an angle holder. With some exceptions such as tiny or odd blades, I generally do not. I do have a metal gauge […]

Recently my brother and his wife were visiting, and their routine included a long evening walk.  One of the walks was in the aftermath of an early evening rain, with this being the result.