Dan's Shop

Huberd's Shoe Grease

2012-01-31T20:07:00.000-09:00

I love to read WoodenBoat, "the magazine for wooden boat owners, builders and designers", although they really should add "dreamers" to that list - and I doubt it's just me. It is, in my humble opinion, the best magazine out there - especially since the demise of Woodwork. Anyway, I was looking through an old issue from 1999 and stumbled across an article/review of Huberd's Shoe Grease, which I had never even heard of. The author, Greg Rössel, stated that he tried the beeswax and pine tar product on leather with good results, and that it also had some promise on wood. Included with the article was a picture of the can - it looked awesome and I decided to try to find some.

So, I asked Mr. Google and located their site (http://www.huberds.com/) and some online retailers, but never got around to ordering any. Then, not too long ago, I was walking through the outdoor/camping section of my local "Big Box Costco Reseller" and there looking about 100 years out of place was a can of Huberd's Shoe Grease. The can was even cooler in person, but what really sealed the deal was when I popped the lid and took a big whiff of the grease. Mmmm. Deep memories stirred - I knew that smell, and it wasn't just the beeswax. Pine tar? I still haven't figured out where I know it from - previous life maybe?

I bought it:

I've played around with it a little and it is definitely interesting. I don't know if it will end up being a regular finish in my shop or not. I'll keep you posted.

It Is Better To Light One Candle...

2011-12-21T19:47:00.001-09:00

...than to sit and curse the darkness.

Well that's so true, but up here in Alaska on the shortest day of the year, with only 5 1/2 hours of sunlight, we like to light more than one.

Here's an easy project that is instantly practical. I made the first three-light holder at my son's request. The four-light was made specifically for Advent. The wood is a 100+ year Doug Fir 2x4 (and a real 2" by 4" too) salvaged from my friend Dave's attic remodel in Cincinnati. It was heavy, and hard as a rock! It was also just right for this project - thanks Dave!

First I transferred the angle for the ends from the original, did the lay-out, and cut the ends:

Then I bored the holes:

I scribed a line in from both sides to create the side bevel:

I wasn't trying to match the angle from the ends, as I think it looks just fine when they are not the same.

I chalked the side for easier visibility and stared hogging off wood with the scrub plane:

I'm not sure why, but the surface looks flat in the photo, but trust me, the scrub was set pretty coarse and the grooves were deep.

Once I got close to my line, I switched to a cambered #6:

The final smoothing was done with a #5 1/4 "junior jack" plane.

Complete:

With oil and wax and next to the original:

And with flaming wax:

This is a fun project for that special piece of wood you've been hoarding (come on, admit it, we all do it...) that also works fine with a nice chunk of 2x4. It's also a good project for kids.

Have fun and light a candle - or two, or three...

Spoons

2011-12-18T12:11:00.000-09:00

It's been a fun time in the school shop; we've been making spoons!

The students have been learning how to use gouges, and coping saws. They have also been learning the value of persistence, patience and willpower while sanding, sanding, sanding.

Here is a sampling of the great work being done:

Apologies for the image quality - I only had my phone handy.

Oh, and here's an example of what can be done with the "split top" bench design and student ingenuity:

I love it!

Old Spool Mystery

2011-12-09T19:58:00.000-09:00

Here's a bit of a mystery. I picked up this old spool, but I'm not sure how it was used. It has a bit of what looks like green chalk on the line, but it could just be grime. It has about 50 feet of line on it now. The hollow through the axle would most likely be for an awl - used to hold the spool in place while the line was drawn out. It has a great patina and looks like it was turned from maple.

If it was a chalk line, how was the chalk applied? If it wasn't a chalk line, what was it? Any thoughts or ideas?

Gratitude

2011-12-04T18:57:00.002-09:00

For a long while now, I’ve been thinking about all the people, and things, that have helped me on this hand tool woodworking journey I’m taking. What better time to express my thanks than Thanksgiving (or a week or two after Thanksgiving…). So here goes (and please forgive me, but there is no way I can cover it all – this is just the tip of the very large, and growing, iceberg).

My Father

When I was a kid, Dad followed his dream and opened “Jim Klauder & Son’s Country Hardware” and I used to “work” there all the time. I think he told me that he was the President and I was the Treasurer or maybe it was the Secretary. Whatever it was, I was in. I know my love of tools was fostered in that store. Dad also bought a load of old woodworking tools when we were at a Bus Mars* auction up in Vermont. He used them to decorate the walls of the store. Most of those tools were sold when we closed the store after Dad died, but I do have a few out in my shop. Thank You Dad.

*You can count yourself truly blessed if you ever got to see, and hear, Bus Mars in person – he was the best auctioneer that ever lived. The story goes that one time his helpers replaced the next item up for bid with some rocks from the ground outside – just to try to throw the old man off. Without missing a beat, Bus sold them for $20. That’s the story. I saw him. I believe it. Thanks for that too, Dad.

My Brother Jim

Jim is a great carpenter, and I learned a ton by working with him off and on over the years. He taught me: details matter, work hard and be honest, there are no mistakes that can’t be fixed (and you have to fix them), respect your tools, and always clean up when you are done working for the day. Thank You Jim.

My Brother Josh

Josh is responsible for me moving to Alaska, and he promptly put a drawknife in my hand, with which I promptly cut myself. Sometimes that’s how you learn; I’ve never done it since. Josh is also a firm believer and practitioner of the “follow your dream” philosophy, and always comes through with geek support when I need it. Thank You Josh.

Roy Underhill

In October of 2003 I got to spend two days listening to Roy talk about woodworking (and everything else – the guy is amazing). I had recently finished filling my garage shop with all the power tools I could find: band saw, table saw, drill press, router table, jointer, planer, oscillating spindle sander, etc. I did have some hand tools – mostly a couple of planes (see below), but I was at least 80% power oriented. As I sat in that room, and listened to Roy’s philosophy about working with only human powered hand tools, it just resonated with me. It was like waking up from a deep sleep – and asking “What am I doing? And why?” Less than one year later, all the power tools were gone from my shop and I was loving it! So, for teaching me to “Just say no to power tools!”, for your wonderful “Woodwright’s Shop” television program, your fabulous books and for setting me on the road less traveled – Thank You Roy.

Wayne Miller & Badger Pond

I came late to The Pond, only about a year before it shut down, but I spent a lot, a lot, of time lurking there. I don’t think I ever posted (partly too shy, mostly too ignorant) but I swam daily in the shared knowledge of others on the boards. At first it was power tool stuff, but I wandered into Neanderthal territory too. I learned how to fettle a plane there, and thanks to Scary Sharp posts, I learned how to sharpen. One of the things I appreciated most was the safe, positive atmosphere Wayne maintained (“Benevolent Dictator” indeed) at The Pond. For a short while, at a critical time on my woodworking journey, Badger Pond was my main source of learning. Thank You Wayne, and all the Ponders.

Kari Hultman - The Village Carpenter

Kari’s blog was, and is, inspirational. She was always positive and supportive, and that meant a lot to me when I was just getting this blog up and running. Perhaps you’ve noticed that The Village Carpenter link on my blog roll is out of alphabetical order – there’s a reason for that – just a tiny tip of the hat. Thank You Kari.

Bob and Dave Key

Back when I was setting up shop, I knew I needed a workbench, but didn’t know how to go about it. I started reading, in books and on web, and started planning and dreaming and my bench ideas got bigger and bigger, and more and more complex and more and more intimidating. I was just about overwhelmed, when I discovered “Bob and Dave’s Good, Fast and Cheap Bench” web page. What a revelation. I read it and I did it, and although it is far from perfect, I’m still using it and it makes me happy every day. Unfortunately, the full site is gone, but if you do a bit of searching on Google, you can find a link to the bench article that has been preserved (as it should be). For helping me cut through the bewildering amount of information and follow the “keep it simple” path to a perfectly fine workbench – Thank You Bob and Dave.

This Plane

The first plane that I owned that worked. There aren’t a lot of sources up here in Alaska. I was reading about planes on Badger Pond and knew I wanted to use them. I tried Sears – fail! What a hunk of junk that plane was – took it back the next day. I finally found this baby at a “perma-yardsale” site out on the highway. To quote the Boss, “You ain't a beauty, but hey you're alright ...” and it worked; shavings! Oh the joy! More! More! Thank You “Westlake, by Stanley” jack plane.

Celena

And finally, to the person I am most thankful for, my unbelievably wonderful wife, Celena. She is incredibly patient and supportive – from waiting while I run into countless junk/antique stores because “they look like they might have old tools”, to “I’ll be in just as soon as I finish this next part.”, to waiting months and months (years?) for me to finish projects I promised in weeks (the bed, the floor, the deck, the roof, the kitchen, the wood stove fence and many, many more). For this and so much more – Thank You Celena.

Sewing Box Christmas Present

2011-11-29T21:38:00.000-09:00

I recently finished this sewing box. It's a Christmas present for my sister-in-law Naomi. It's loosely based on an antique box I saw on the web.

Wait a minute - a Christmas present done already? Why, it's not even December yet! What gives?

Well...err...you see...umm...okay - it's a Christmas 2010 present.

But like I said, it's not even December yet...

Mystery Mallet With Roy Underhill

2011-11-28T21:38:00.000-09:00

What? It's the end of November already! Okay, okay, here's the Mystery Mallet post that was supposed to be up about three weeks ago! Sheesh!

In an effort to actually post this tonight, I'm going to keep the text to a minimum. This class was the Saturday after the Friday dovetail class. It was quite a bit smaller, and more relaxed, for me anyway. It was awesome!

The Mystery Mallet - of myth and legend - dovetailed in all directions, guaranteed to never come apart - or go together...

The beginnings of mine. Roy provided the stock, with the hickory (or was it ash?) handle already turned.

The first through mortise:

The double rising dovetails:

Jonathan, wielding his fantastic Wenzloff tenon saw:

The completed mallet head - bottom view:

And top view:

The Master, fine tuning a handle:

Due to the crazy stresses involved in assembly, clamping the handle to reduce the chance of epic failure is advised:

Layout complete - starting on my handle:

And the handle complete:

Roy, and Scott driving Scott's handle home with his "Osage Commander". His survived and gave hope to all still laboring in fear of heading home with jagged shards in a box as the day's final outcome.

My handle and head ready to go!

Roy giving my work the once over:

A very trusting Woodwright and El Kabong!

Success! Yeah baby!

Mugging in triumph!

The best day in a long, long time!

Oh, and one more shot of the mallet after cleaning it up a bit:

Dovetail Class With Roy Underhill

2011-11-01T07:21:00.001-08:00

If you've spent much time reading this blog, you've probably figured out how I feel about Roy Underhill and what he does. Just in case you missed it, click here for a brief summary of his impact on my woodworking. That first time was back in 2003. Since then, and especially after he opened his school, I've been dreaming of taking a class from him. But, North Carolina is pretty far from Alaska, and now with two little ones, spending time away is not easy.

But then, last weekend the Alaska Creative Woodworkers Association (ACWA) hosted a fantastic weekend of woodworking with Roy Underhill, in Alaska! Wahoo! Thank You!

I ended up in both the dovetail class and the mystery mallet class, plus I went to Roy's presentation at the University of Alaska. All in all, it was an amazing weekend!

Here's a photo summary of the dovetail class:

The recommended tool kit (of course I took more):

We did through, half-blind, and rising dovetails, but in reverse order of difficulty. So rising came first.

I bought a set of the new Stanley 750 chisels, and was pleasantly surprised at their quality. They don't compare to either Lie Nielsen or originals, but I think they are a good deal for the price.

Yet another awkward work holding challenge solved by a handscrew clamp - with an assist by two Gramercy holdfasts - quiet a team.

The finished joint:

Still another use for the handscrew - it makes a perfect dovetail transfer jig - especially with the holdfast keeping everything still.

My first ever half-blind dovetails. Cool!

Some shots of Roy. Check out his camera tripod!

Hamming it up!

Pondering...

Roy is a great teacher, and it was really fun to spend time with the other woodworkers. Thanks again Roy and ACWA!

I'll post the mallet class next...

FUN!

2011-10-22T07:41:00.001-08:00

Thanks for the picture Jonathan!

Sharpening Shelf

2011-10-16T19:57:00.000-08:00

Last February I posted about the movable Scary Sharp station I made for our school shop. Well, I just converted it into a permanent station:

It was just getting in the way and I had the brackets left over from an ill-fated home project. I might add a second layer with pockets for extra tiles/paper.

It did occur to me that if it had a tight fitting lid that would also contain the front edges of the tiles, I could mount it on hinges and let it hang flat on the wall. Then, when needed, it could swing up, folding brackets would swing out to support it, and the lid would lift up and hook to the wall. Cool. But rather a lot of work to gain a little space - maybe later...

PS - No, that corner of the shop is not really that neat and empty - I just moved everything out of the way to work on the shelf. We moved the woodshop down to the ground floor, which is great, but the room is a little smaller and I'm working hard to get everything to fit.

Mystery Cabinet

2011-10-13T21:11:00.000-08:00

This cabinet belongs to some friends down in Oregon. There is something about it that I just love, but there are a lot of things about it I can't quite figure out. Every time I see it, I seem to find some new detail that adds to the puzzle. I'd love to figure out a general history if possible.

I'm pretty sure it is old, maybe as early as the 1700's. I don't have anything solid to base that assumption on, so of course I could be way off. It does have many indicators of age - for example it shows a major repair and some hardware replacement on this drawer front.

The sides of the same drawer show what I assume to be rodent damage. I'm thinking that the repair on the front was for something similar. Also, on the hand cut dovetails, note that the groove for the drawer bottom was left exposed in a pin, rather than being concealed by the tail.

The inside of the upper door panel clearly shows marks from a heavily cambered plane iron.

I really like the inlaid stars.

The crown moulding is a little strange. It's a fairly complex profile, but not smooth at all. It's wavy, like it was carved and not planed. Hmm.

Finally, there are the turned bun feet. Is it normal for the front and rear feet to be different? And I don't know why, but every time I see those feet I think of Bermuda. Where did that come from? I just don't know...

Anyway, if you have any insights or ideas about this cabinet, please comment, I'd love to hear them.

Sunny Sunday in the School Shop

2011-10-10T07:21:00.000-08:00

Sometimes, working on the weekends feels good...

Rust Never Sleeps - Electrolysis Revisited

2011-10-08T08:49:00.000-08:00

So the other day while driving into work on my day off - (yeah, I know...) I stopped at a garage sale. Hiding under piles and piles of useless stuff I found two block planes! I quickly snapped them up for our school shop. Oh, and to show you how bad the rest of the sale was, it was "buy two get one free" and I couldn't find a single other item worth it. Sheesh.

Anyway, one plane was a cheap Stanley 110 in decent shape. The other was a rather nice Craftsman model (made by Stanley) but almost totally encrusted with rust. The only hint that it had an adjustable mouth was the adjustment lever. You sure couldn't tell from looking at the sole.

Time for Electrolysis!

You can read my previous post about electrolysis to see my set-up etc. And as always, be careful!

Into the tub - Zap! Wipe it off and back in - Zap-O! Wipe it off again. "Hey! It really does have an adjustable mouth! But still rusted tight. Once more into the tub - Zap-a-reeno! Wipe off and, well I think I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

If it hadn't been getting dark (I do all my electrolysis outside) I'd have done one more long zap to get every last little bit of rust off. But hey, it's a user after all...

Ultimate Dream Shop

2011-09-15T06:39:00.000-08:00

I'm pretty happy with my current shop, but while traveling this past summer I stopped by someplace that I think would make the best shop ever. Ever.

Here it is:

It's Lucy, the Margate N.J. elephant. Now before you think I am totally nuts (too late?) let me explain. First, she's made of wood - a lot of wood, almost one million pieces! She's framed like a ship - well, like a ship that stands on four legs and a trunk - but still. Second, she's historic. Build in 1882, she's the premier example of zoomorphic architecture. Third, she's roomy!

She's also full of unique character - check out this door:

It would be like having your shop inside a huge piece of art. (Speaking of which, isn't there something Edward Hopperish about this next photo?)

You could keep an eye on the surf while working at your bench:

She has an open upper deck, built like a howdah on top. Here's a shot back down the rather steep stairs that get you up there:

Once up in the howdah, you could sip cool drinks while waiting for your glue-ups to dry, or it would be the perfect place to cool off after ruining something...

In 1970, this dream shop was almost destroyed to make way for the condos visible here:

Who in their right mind would destroy this elephant to build that? Luckily, calmer, more far-sighted individuals succeeded in moving Lucy to her new location.

Here you can see the window that provides light for the steep, twisting stairs within the back leg:

Of course, those stairs would make getting wood up into the shop difficult, but I've already found a possible solution, although it might still be a pane in the...

Sorry...

Anyway, even if you don't agree with me that Lucy would make the ultimate woodworking shop, you might want to check her out the next time you are down the shore.

Shaker Inspired Medicine Cabinet - The Tool Kit

2011-09-04T08:54:00.002-08:00

The Full Tool Kit

This is the tool kit I actually used when building this project.

Left Side:
• rip saw, crosscut saw, hack saw

Center (back to front):
• #7 jointer plane, #4 smoother plane
• #62 low angle jack plane, #5 1/4 jack plane, side bead moulding plane, dropped quarter round moulding plane
• #271 router plane, shoulder plane, rabbet plane, #18 block plane
• Hand drill, awl, nail set, mallet
• square, combination square, 3/4" chisel, bit and brace
• file, round file, nippers
• marking gauge, marking knife, flush cut saw, hammer, screw drivers
• dowel plate, pencil (And yes, Dixon Ticonderoga 1388 #2 HB - one of the vintage, good ones from before they sold out!), hammer, folding rule

While working on this project, I wasn't trying to limit myself tool wise in any way. If there were multiple tool options, I tended to use the one that was either easiest or produced the best results. Of course, there are many, many different paths to the same destination. It would be possible to build this project with much less in the way of tools.

With that in mind, I though I would do something similar to my tool kit post on the Shaker Cupboard project. So, here's my take on the most basic set of tools that would create the same final result (different techniques would be required - such as forming the rabbets with a chisel rather than rabbet plane).

The Minimum Tool Kit

This is the minimum tool kit that could be used to build the project.

Back to Front:
• rip saw, cross cut saw, #5 jack plane, #4 smoother plane
• flush cut saw, 3/4" chisel, hand drill, block plane, side bead moulding plane, dropped quarter round moulding plane
• screw drivers, brace and bit, square, marking gauge, knife
• pencil, nail set, hammer, folding rule

I assumed that you would be able to find appropriate hinges and could forgo the tools I used to make my own.

As you can see, you don't need a shop full of tools to make a project. That said, I like having tool options and specialized tools that make some tasks easier, or allow for superior results.

So, will I make a second medicine cabinet using only the smaller tool kit? Well, my son can't reach the Tums anymore, and I have about a billion other projects waiting for my very limited time, so "Nah!"

Not anytime soon anyway...

Shaker Inspired Medicine Cabinet - Part III

2011-08-29T20:36:00.000-08:00

So this little improvised project was coming along nicely, and it was time for one final push to complete it.

When I first started this project, I couldn't really see how it would come out. I had only some misty, vague, ideas swirling around. I was just going to say "swirling around in my mind", but that would put too much emphasis on thinking. It was more of an exercise in trust or faith that this thing would take shape. I could "feel" it would be Shakerish, but I didn't really have any details, not at first, they just sort of appeared on their own as I worked with my hands. I'm not sure if any of this makes sense, but that's the best I can explain it right now.

So anyway, at some point, I started to realize that it would have a top cap - nothing fancy, just an overhanging top. For a while there was also a bottom, or base, but that faded away, never to return.

To make the top, I cut a piece of stock to overhang the case on the front and sides. Then I set the case on it upside down and traced around it with a pencil. This gave me the reference marks to bevel the underside of the overhang.

The beveling was accomplished with a bench plane while the stock was held with the holdfasts. This piece was too small for both holdfasts to reach, and rather than boring another hole, I rigged the setup you can see here. The work piece was held by only one holdfast, but couldn't rotate because it was jammed against a piece of scrap held by the second holdfast; it worked great.

I worked the end bevels first, so any splintering or spelching at the front edge would be planed away by the front bevel.

To glue the top to the case, I clamped them together, upside down, on the bench. This is a perfect example of why I am frequently glad I don't have a front apron on my bench.

To hang the cabinet on the wall, I chose keyhole style hangers. As I planned on using Lee Valley "best-ever picture screws" with these, I needed to bore clearance holes in the case. I also decided to mortise the hangers into the case so that it would fit snug to the wall, without any gap.

Here's a shot of the work in progress:

For the back, I used the 3/8" cedar T&G paneling scraps. It was simple enough to cut off the excess from the outside edges with a knife and plane them down for a tight fit (humidity is about as high as it is going to get right now, so I figured I didn't need to leave room for expansion; I just had to think about contraction).

The back paneling was nailed on with brads. The shelf was sitting in place to check that it didn't interfere with the back. If the shelf had been a permanent, fixed shelf, I would have nailed the paneling to it as well.

And here's the cabinet with all assembly completed, awaiting the milk paint.

I had a little trouble getting the color I wanted, and ended up mixing two reds together to find what I was looking for - red, but not too red. Also, this is the first appearance of the toggle lock for the door. It's notched to fit over the knob. Why? I don't know - it's just the way it wanted to be...

And two shots of the cabinet after hitting it with oil. I love the way this works with the paint.

And finally, two shots of the finished medicine cabinet hanging in its new home.

I have to say, in the end it came out exactly how I felt it would, but not exactly how I thought it would. It fits my definition of "Shakerish" and makes me happy on a daily basis. Cool.

Up next, a short post on the tool kit used for this project.

Shaker Inspired Medicine Cabinet - Part II

2011-08-21T19:37:00.002-08:00

So now it was time to mount the hinges, but a dilemma arose; the project and I disagreed. I had two sets of hinges ready to go (see picture in previous post), and all I needed was to decide which was best. The cabinet decided that neither set was good enough and insisted on me making new hinges. I tried for several minutes to argue - sure, this first set was a little too large, and this second set was a little too fancy looking for a simple medicine cabinet, but surely we could live with that, couldn't we?

No. The answer was no. Sigh.

It's important to listen to what the project is telling you - so out came what I needed to make some hinges for this cabinet:

A length of piano hinge salvaged from some doomed piece of furniture (not a piano, of course), and a hacksaw.

After cutting two new hinges (of the size the cabinet insisted on), I needed to add some screw holes. For this I used a punch to mark the hole location, and a hand drill to bore the hole (the punched mark helps keep the drill from skating off the spot):

I had thought that I could counter sink the hole screw heads with a slightly larger bit, thus the two in the photo. It didn't work out and I had to redo it as will be seen.

Also, you probably noticed that the hinges look different - not all shiny and brassy. I took them outside and heated them with a torch to antique them. This may or may not have made them easier to drill as well, but I doubt they were all that hard to begin with.

Now that I had my hinges, I needed screws. I couldn't find any that were right in my screw drawer, so I turned to my trusty "tiny parts" catch-all. It's an old cobbler's peg caddy, and I love it! If it's tiny, and I don't know where to put it, it goes here and I can always find it later. A close look will reveal the varied nature of its contents. Sure enough, I found the perfect screws in on of the cups.

Here are the hinges being tried on for size and spacing. I just played with them, moving them around until it looked right. The knob for the door has also appeared, I found it in the cobbler caddy - left over from some older project.

One hour later and I was back to where I had started. Finally, it was time to mount the hinges.

After knifing the edges of the hinge mortise directly from the hinge, I lightly chopped across the grain with a chisel. The router plane in the background is already set to a depth equal to the thickness of the hinge leaf, and will be used to clear the mortise.

And here's the hinge trying its future home on for size:

However, as I already mentioned, the screws did not seat properly in the countersink chamfers I had made, so I had to redo them. An actual countersink chucked in a brace did the job perfectly:

With the hinges mounted it was time to attach the stiles and door to the case. Here's the technique that I came up with: 1. clamp the non-hinge stile to the case; 2. space the door off of this stile and clamp the door to the case; 3. spread glue for the hinge stile, while it is lifted up; 4. drop the stile and clamp; 5. remove non-hinge stile and spread glue then re-clamp; 6. lift door to keep clear of any squeeze out. It worked great - but I almost forgot to take the picture. You can see the stile has already been down and I lifted it for the shot.

And the case with front attached:

At around three hours so far, this project was moving along nicely. Especially considering the whole hinge side trip...

Next up: the cap, back, and paint.

Shaker Inspired Medicine Cabinet - Part I

2011-08-17T23:38:00.001-08:00

The other day, when I asked my son what he was chewing, he happily exclaimed "Tums!"

Yikes! This project leapt from non-existence to the top of a long list; time to build a medicine cabinet.

From the outset I decided it would be fun (and faster) to just get started and let this one grow organically as it developed. So, no plans, only a vague idea that I wanted it to be "Shakerish". I knew where it would hang on the wall, so I also had some rough dimensions in mind.

I've done other projects like this, and if you haven't tried it, I highly recommend it. Without plans, there are no limits, and you are free to exercise your creative energy. You can play with new ideas that you, the tools, or the wood, might have. It's fun, and you can't make a mistake, because, well, there are no plans. You see? Freedom.

So, out to the shop to gather my materials. After about ten minutes, here is what I had dug out of the scrap pile:

Okay, so the hinges were not in the scrap pile...

A few more minutes of experimenting with the stock and I had a working idea of what I could make. I had one nice piece of 1x6 that was 16" long - that would be the door, which gave me the height for the case. The stiles would be cut from 1x3s, so then I could figure the width of the case. Time for the saw:

Alright - that should do it.

Following my "Keep It Simple" theme, I decided to set the back (cedar tongue and groove paneling salvaged from my brother's house) into rabbits in only the top and bottom of the case. So time to plow some rabbits:

At this point I was about 1 hour in - not bad. I started with my goal, just let things develop and had faith that it would all work out. Here's a quick look at how the case was progressing at this point:

I was out of time (shop time comes in short chunks these days - two wonderful kids, so I'm not complaining...) so I called it a night.

The next time out in the shop I started with the two fastest steps - the cleats to hold the shelf and the shelf itself.

First the cleats - nothing fancy - thin stock ripped narrow and drilled to accept brads without splitting:

And for the shelf I was using a chunk of leftover scrap from my nephew's folding book stand project. As usual with stock this thin, I just cut it with a knife.

Now I turned my energy to the front of the cabinet. With a plain "slab" door, I knew I wanted to add some decorative details to the front, but nothing that would look out of place - it's easy to take things too far. To help me in this process, I pulled a few moulding samples from the shelf and played around with various combinations. I did this right on top of the door and stile pieces set on the bench so I could squint my eyes and take a look at things. I could also pick up the moulding samples and hold them at an angle to the light that approximated the lighting in the future home of the cabinet. This let me get a taste of how the light and shadow would play on the mouldings when the cabinet was hung.

Here's a shot of the result of this process:

In the end I decided to leave the door alone, and put a bead on the inside of each stile, and a thumbnail on the outside edge. The two samples that are butted together in the photo represent what the right hand style would look like.

The information I put on the back of each moulding sample when I created it made it easy to find the correct moulding plane for each profile. I could also check for any notes I had left such as whether the iron might need sharpening etc.

If I had been sticking longer mouldings, I would have set up the sticking board; for these short lengths I just used the end vise and bench dog to hold the stock.

The side bead is a very simple moulding plane to use (assuming it is set up properly). It has an integrated fence and stop, so you just plane until it stops cutting.

My thumbnail plain is a bit trickier. First, it cuts with the stock on edge, which takes a little getting used to, but isn't really that different. The real challenge is that it has a fence, but no stop.

What this meant is that I had to be careful that I didn't cut a curved edge by taking more away from the ends (sniping). It also meant I could significantly alter the dimensions of the stock if I just kept planing away (which is only too easy to do - it's too fun!). If I was planing the edge profile on a wide board and then ripping off a stick to apply the moulding, it would not be a problem - the ripping would set the width. On this job the moulding was being stuck directly to the stile, so altering the width of the stile too much would mess things up.

The solution was to mark the edge of the board with pencil lines, so I could keep an eye on how the profile was forming, and stop as soon as it was fully formed.

Here's a shot with the profile forming:

And one of the complete moulding:

At the end of the second work session (a little less than an hour) I could loosely assemble the case and front of the cabinet to get a good sense of how it would look:

Not bad!

Next, mounting the hinges...

Update On Last Post

2011-08-05T16:53:00.000-08:00

Here's my brother's "enhancement" to my last post:

Thanks Josh!

"Red and Yellow and Pink and Green...

2011-08-02T13:37:00.000-08:00

...purple and orange and blue!
I can sing a rainbow,
sing a rainbow,
sing a rainbow too!

Listen with your eyes..."

Err...sorry - too much "Captain Noah" as a kid...

Anyway, it was time to decide which color to paint the latest project (full post coming soon) and once again the milk paint color sticks proved their worth. I just selected the options from the "oiled" sticks, and held them up against the wall in the future home of the project:

The winner is - "red". Which actually looks kind of burgundy in this light. Of course, that's the point of selecting the color under the actual lighting conditions.

Now, where am I supposed to send this picture?

Oh Yeah!

"Send your pictures to Dear Old Captain Noah..."

Another Box

2011-07-28T11:45:00.000-08:00

Here's a box I made at the beginning of summer - before the travel craziness set in.

It's basically a larger version of the pencil box made of sassafras instead of oak. I was planning on adding contrasting pegs, but in the end I liked the overall sense of simplicity that this box had, and decided that the pegs would just "busy it up" and ruin that feeling.

I really liked working with the sassafras - the shavings smelled fantastic!

Soon I'll be posting some interesting things I saw this summer, plus a couple of new projects that are on the bench...

New Workbench for School Shop

2011-06-10T12:39:00.001-08:00

So, I'm sure that regular readers of this blog are familiar with my total lack of time reality. But just in case you might be thinking, "Hey, that Dan guy sure seems like he's on top of things time wise!"* I give you the following example.

My self established goal was to have 7 student created workbenches in our school shop by the end of 2010. How did I do? Well, not too good by that benchmark (err...sorry). It's June of 2011, school is out for summer, and we have one bench 99% finished, and 6 more somewhere around 50% finished.

Of course, in the big picture things are much, much better than that. We now have approximately 70 students who know how to measure, saw, glue, and plane. There's more: they have also been introduced (watching only) to sharpening plane irons by hand; they can bore with bit and brace and hand drill; they know the difference between jointer, jack, smoother and scrub; they have experienced the joy of shavings; they have discovered the satisfaction of working with their own hands to make something beautiful, useful and real. And as a bonus, they can explain (and debunk) numerous theories on the infamous saw nib!

So who cares if my original goal was not met - it was entirely unrealistic in the first place. It's the process, not the product - the journey, not the destination.

Now let's take a look at that new bench:

The bench is 5 1/2 feet long and the two separate tops are each 12" wide, which with the tool tray makes the whole thing about 2 1/2 feet wide. The tops are about 28" from the floor. The slats on the shelf conceal about 120 lbs of cement pavers spanning between the "L" shaped stretchers; combined with the robust build of the bench, that makes these quite heavy.

I went with the split top with tray for a couple of reasons. First, although I don't like a tool tray for myself, I think with students, it will help protect tools from falling off the benches. Second, the tray down the center creates a boundary for each student and should keep bench space evenly divided. Of course, when needed, the tray can easily be spanned (or filled for that matter) to utilize the full width of the bench.

This bench also features an updated version of the hockey puck leveler feet. I'll post more details on this later, but here's a quick summary of the new, much simpler system. First, I bored holes in the bottom of the legs that were slightly deeper than the length of a 5/8" all thread connecting nut. The holes were sized to be slightly smaller than the nut, which was then hammered in for a tight fit. The adjustable part is a 5/8" carriage bolt which is the same length as the nut. The rounded head sits in a shallow hole bored into a hockey puck, with the square shank "nut" part still above the level of top of the puck. This allows for an open-ended wrench to slide in and turn the bolt for very easy vertical adjustment. No jam nut, no washers, no lifting of the bench and puck removal to hold the bolt from rotating... I wish I had thought of this years ago - just simple and effective.

All that remains to do (the 1%) is to plane the ends (they are just straight from the saw), have each student stamp their initials into each piece they cut, plug the bolt holes in the top, bore the holes for our Gramercy holdfasts, do a little more flattening, and make wooden faces for the vise jaws. That might seem like more than 1%, but you'd be surprised how much work/time is already vested.

Oh, and the shop wasn't really that empty - we're getting ready to move it down to the ground floor. Slab floor - no more bouncing! Yay! Exterior door - easy wood handling! Double Yay!

I'm sure I'll get some shots of the new, new shop up early next fall. But wait, that's a time related goal, and you know how I am with those...

* I have no idea why you would ever be thinking such a thing, but let's just go with it...

Birthday Toolbox

2011-05-14T13:38:00.001-08:00

Well the years are flying by! Recently, it was time for Teague's third birhtday present from the shop - how is that possible? His first present was the skunk bench, and the second his blocks and their chest. This last year he has really been excited to spend time in the shop with me, so I decided it was time to make him his own tool box and start building his tool kit.

Here's the tote style box:

And his starter tool kit:

The kit in the box:

First inspection:

Full Approval:

The boy, standing on the chair from his grandfather's hardware store, and messing with his own tool kit - life is good!

And of course, his tool kit has already grown. His extra-small eggbeater hand drill arrived this week from eBay and has been throughly tested.

Foot Stool

2011-04-19T07:25:00.000-08:00

Well, it's about time for a post!

This was a great spring project, as it was all about giving new life to an old foot stool. Well, more like an old foot platform - the original had no legs, it just sat on its cleats. I made it years ago for my Mother, who needed a 3" tall foot rest as part of some physical therapy.

I had saved it, and the time had come for it to grow into something new. I decided to add legs in the style of a Moravian chair, with the legs mortised into cleats which are let into the bottom of the two part top. The original cleats were too narrow for this purpose, and just screwed to the bottom. I removed the two end cleats, and created some 3 1/2" wide by 1/2" deep dadoes with saw, chisel and router plane. I then added larger cleats and also created a dado for the sole remaining original cleat.

Angled, tapered mortises were made with a brace, bit and tapered reamer. The legs were worked up from 2x2" stock with drawknife and spokeshave, and tapered to match the mortises.

Here it is with assembly complete and leveled with shims for trimming the legs to final length:

And a closeup of my high tech self-leveling device:

The finished foot stool:

And the boy approves!

This whole project didn't take more than a couple of hours total, but since I could only sneak in a very few minutes here and there, it took forever...

Wooden Box for Wooden Flutes

2011-03-12T12:20:00.000-09:00

My students' wooden flutes have been forced to live in a plastic tub - and that just isn't right! It was time to fix that situation...

In this first shot, I was several steps into the process, but the tools tell the tale. I'd already done the layout with the knife, square and folding rule; cut the 1x12 stock to length (with the saw you can't see...); trued up the end grain with the block plane; and plowed the grooves for the bottom with the Stanley 45, while holding the stock with the holdfasts (set with the mallet).

Then it was time to make the rabbets in the ends, which would hold the sides. I experimented with a slightly different process here. Instead of using the rabbet plane's nickers to cut the grain and thus make a clean rabbet, I marked them first with a gauge and then cut them freehand with a knife. I didn't cut to the bottom of the rabbet, just the first 1/8" or so. Once the rabbet is established, the plane continues to make a clean rabbet, even though nothing is cutting the cross grain ahead of the iron. What's the advantage? Well, if I'd used the nickers, the cut would show on the top of the finished box, as the nicker cuts deeper than the iron plows.

It was plowing those rabbets that produced the shavings shown in the last post. They made me really happy.

I had decided to put a solid wood panel in for the bottom, so I raised a field with the rabbet plane held at an angle. No fancy set-up, just tilt and plow. I checked my progress from time to time with one of the sides. Once that groove fit snugly, it was just a matter of making all the beveled rabbets the same. I didn't need to measure anything, I just made the edge where the two bevels met run evenly from the corner of the field to the corner of the stock.

The ends have handholds cut into them. I started this process by boring three 1" holes. The two outside holes form the ends of the handhold while the center hole just helps with stock removal.

I do almost all of my boring and drilling on my low bench (which I frequently refer to as my saw bench, since that was the original purpose for which it was built). The center slot in the bench makes it easy to work without harming the bench.

You don't want to bore straight through the stock - well, not if you don't want a splintery explosion as the bit breaks though. You just want to bore until the lead screw is exposed, and then flip the stock over and bore in from the other side. If you read about using a brace and bit in books, they almost always tell you to reach under and feel with your fingers for the lead screw every few rotations. What they don't usually tell you, is that by really paying attention to what the tool and your body are telling you, you can feel when the tip is exposed while you are still boring. No reaching is necessary. With a little practice, you might just surprise yourself how accurate this method can be (see picture below). Hand tools rock!

The waste between the holes was quickly removed with a chisel - again working in from both sides.

Then, just a little cleaning up with rasps and files and they were done.

I saved the final smoothing of the stock for last. I planed with the stock resting against the bench dog.

Glue-up. I really like the Lee Valley cabinetmaker's glue.

You might be wondering about the yogurt container lid that I use as a glue tray. It really isn't aesthetically pleasing - at all. But, it works great. The dried glue just falls right off when the lid is flexed and it's ready to go again. That one lid has served faithfully for the last two years. A rare case of function over form...

And three shots of the finished box:

And one with the whole tool kit for the project:

I took this into class, the plastic tub was banished, and the flutes are so much happier in the wooden box. A not so rare case of form over function...

Fun Shavings

2011-03-04T06:48:00.000-09:00

Just a photograph of some fun shavings from my most recent project (which I'll post about soon).

Update: Wooden Chalkboard Compass

2011-02-26T19:19:00.000-09:00

The compass prototype needed an improvement on its original non-slip tip, which was the eraser end of a "My First Ticonderoga" pencil. After a little digging at the local hardware store I came out with some rubber stoppers that I thought might work.

To fit the compass, the stopper had to be screwed to a short section of 3/8" dowel. I drilled a countersink just larger than the screw head, and then a smaller hole just larger than the shank all the way through the stopper. In the dowel, I drilled a pilot hole a little smaller than the shank.

I was worried the screw might split the dowel, but I guess I got the sizes right, as everything worked just like it should. Here's a picture of the final product.

You can also see the plowed guide channel for the wedge that tightens the chalk side of the compass. The dowel with the rubber tip is just a friction fit.

I tried it out last week and it works much better. It will still slip if there is a lot of chalk on the board. Or if my technique is sloppy...

Wooden Chalkboard Compass

2011-02-17T19:54:00.001-09:00

We're starting a Geometry block at school and I needed a chalkboard compass. I know I could buy one online, but where's the fun in that? So I whipped up a prototype late last night and early this morning (pre-coffee even - living dangerously!).

I tried it out today and it works pretty well. So well, in-fact, that it is probably destined to join my long line of prototypes that become users. The only complaint is that the pencil eraser is a little too slippery. I'll probably need to replace it with something that has a bit more grab on a dusty chalkboard. I don't know what that is yet...

Here's a shot of the compass with the tool kit:

And here's a shot of its first "bench test":

Quick, fun, and useful - ahh, life's good!

Granite Tile Sharpening Station

2011-02-12T12:53:00.000-09:00

I think I've mentioned a couple of times that I am setting up a hand tool woodworking shop at my new school. So far, making our workbenches has been the dominant project. My students have been learning how to saw and glue up the bench tops. We're about ready to start planing the tops flat and smooth, so it's time to sharpen up some planes!

We'll be using the Scary Sharp system, but since space is at a premium in the school shop, I decided not to make a dedicated bench station like I have at home. I also didn't want to use glass plates. What I needed was a movable station, that could temporarily sit on a bench, with granite tiles to hold the abrasive sheets.

Here's what I came up with, as well as the tool kit used to make it:

So far it has worked great! The tiles might not be as flat as glass, but I haven't noticed a difference in the results. I'm also experimenting with a non-toxic spray adhesive for bonding the abrasive sheets to the granite. I've always used, and hated, the standard spray adhesives, which work very well, but are extremely nasty. I'm hoping this new product works out (it bonds well, my only concern at this point is how long it will last).

Little Battery Box

2011-02-08T06:49:00.001-09:00

This was a spontaneous project - created to address one of my silly habits.

We use a lot of rechargeable batteries in our house. Whenever I recharge batteries, I take the freshly charged ones and sit them on the desk by the computer - where they instantly start mixing with the uncharged batteries that also sit on the desk by the computer. Hmm. Not too bright.

Last weekend, after yet another round of trying endless combinations of batteries in the camera in an attempt to come up with a charged pair, it occurred to me that maybe what I needed was a little organizational help.

So, a quick visit to the shop yielded "The Little Battery Box." Just a small, rabbeted box, made from a resawn chunk of 1x scrap. The bottom is beveled to fit into the grooved sides. The divider is housed in dados cut with saw and chisel. It has one side for charged batteries, and one side for depleted batteries.

It looked a bit too plain after it was finished, so I gave it a hint of Tramp Art with a knife. Beeswax and oil finsish (none on inside bottom - no oil on battery terminals) completed the job.

A short, useful, and fun project. Perfect.

More From Hancock Shaker Village

2011-02-05T21:41:00.001-09:00

The woodshop (set up in the Tannery):

And two giant workbenches, one of which is "the" workbench, the one featured in "The Workbench Book" by Scott Landis:

In a comment about the previous post, Wesley mentioned the research being done into the Shaker's use of bright, colorful paint. When we visited, one room in the Brick Dwelling had been restored to this original paint scheme.

Here are some photographs:

And apparently, the early Shaker preference for bold colors was not limited to architecture and furnishings - as you can see below...

Man, those Millennial Laws went a bit too far!

Finally, here is an interesting article with more information on paint restoration at Hancock.

Hancock Shaker Village Photo Safari

2011-01-30T13:10:00.002-09:00

The pictures in this post were taken several years ago, during a trip back East. I recently found them again, buried in the computer image files. Strangely, they were already edited and organized for posting to the blog, but apparently I never got around to it. At least, I don't think so...

Shaker furniture gets a lot of attention, and rightfully so, but the environment where the furniture was created is also important. With that in mind, here's a series of photographs I took during a visit to Hancock Shaker Village in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. I was trying to capture the peace, beauty and sense of simple perfection that, to me, so typifies Shaker work.

See if you can spot the not so secret theme that runs through these images...

Did you spot the theme? That's right! There's a pig in every picture!

Seriously, I love multi-light windows and the look and feel of natural lighting. In this regard, and others too, Hancock is a paradise.

Oh, and I've got to get one of those hand-cranked thickness planers! But no thanks to the scary table saw...

360° Shop Complete

2011-01-25T06:54:00.003-09:00

I can now stand in the shop and turn in a full circle and see only woodworking. Cool.

It's nothing special really, just a relatively cheap door from the home center, but it makes a big difference. With the door installed in the wall, my last view of the water heater, furnace, and random junk pile is no more (well, until I open the door). I really like the feeling I get when I close that door - suddenly I'm in the shop.

I was going to make my own door. But with time tight I went with the pre-hung option and just bought it. Of course, you get what you pay for, and in the end I had to take it completly apart and fix it - nothing was square or true. Still, it was faster.

I haven't decide yet if I am going to paint it.

Birthday Pencil Boxes

2011-01-18T06:50:00.001-09:00

This post has been in the hopper for quite a while. I took and edited all the pictures, but didn't get to the text before getting buried in the holiday hoopla. After looking it over, I almost posted it without any text at all, but in the end I decided to go with some minimal writing. Here it is; I hope you enjoy it.

At my new school, we have a tradition that as part of each birthday celebration the teacher presents a hand made gift to the student. My gifts are wooden pencil boxes. Here's how they are made.

The first step is to groove the 1 1/2" by 1/4" oak strips that will make up the four sides of the box. Here the Stanley 45 is set up in "plow mode" using the off cuts from a previous box as a template for setting the plane's fence and depth stop.

After securing the strip to the bench, the 1/8" groove is plowed in short order. The holdfast bridging arrangement allows me to clamp on the very edge of the strip without crushing the wood.

Next, the rabbets are planed in the stock that will be used for the bottom and the sliding top.

After the plowing and the rabbeting, a smoothing plane cleans things up.

Parts get cut to length on the miter box.

The sides get marked for rabbets.

The shoulders get cut...

...and the cheeks are split off with a chisel. I don't gauge for the cheeks, I just use the grooves to set the bottom of the rabbets - simply spanning the end grain between the grooves with a wide chisel and then removing the bits of waste at each end.

The rabbets in the ends of the top and bottom are cut using the side rabbets as depth gauges and then split off with the chisel. All end rabbets are cleaned up with a shoulder plane.

Test fit before glue up.

Here's the body of the box after glue up - the small scrap next to the knife is from removing the wood from the groove up in one end to allow the lid to slide on and off.

The lid has been fit, but is still extra long.

Starting the finger pull.

The lid is cut to length (this should always be done after finishing the finger pull - DAMHIKT):

The joints are trimmed with a chisel and smoothing plane.

My maker's mark is added (you may have seen this photo in an earlier post).

And here are some shots of the finished box.

Here's the tool kit for this project (minus the miter box and marking knife which somehow wandered off).

My Apprentice At Work

2011-01-10T20:51:00.000-09:00

Teague definitely has the galoot gene.

That's my boy!

Millers Falls Auger Handles

2010-12-31T18:15:00.000-09:00

After the last post about my drilling/boring tool panel upgrade, a reader (Alfred) was curious about the two auger handles visible at the top of the panel. He specifically wanted to know the range of auger sizes these handles could accommodate: "Do those handles accept the regular brace auger bits/ only the larger ones, or do they require special size bits?"

I promised to find out, and in the process my curiosity about the two handles was piqued. So here's the answer to Alfred's question and a bit more (okay, that one was not intentional ).

First up is the Millers Falls No. 2 auger handle, as described in their 1925 Catalogue:

Mine is a newer version (it has the Greenfield, Mass. address, rather than the older Millers Falls, Mass. address) but as far as I can tell it is the same as the one in the catalogue. Well, with the exception that someone seems to have gone crazy on it with some spar varnish. "Oooh! Shiny!"

This shot is the front side, with the smaller of the two square "jaws":

Here is the reverse side, with the larger opening:

It's a pretty simple device really. Just loosen the wing nuts, insert the auger, and clamp it tight, with one "jaw" holding the tapered end and the other the shank.

As their catalogue copy states, it can handle very large augers:

But it can't handle the smaller bits:

The auger in the handle is a 13/16ths, which was the smallest I could fit securely. The 4/16ths on the bench top was impossible to use in the handle.

Now on to the Millers Falls No. 4, again from the 1925 catalogue:

Mine might actually be a copy, as I can't find a single identifying mark on it, other than an owner's stamp of "Leo Putnum".

Here you can see the beefy two jaw chuck:

And from this angle you can see the ratchet control lever to the right of the auxiliary handle attachment point:

Speaking of the auxiliary handle placement - here it is:

The end part of that handle rotates on its own, much like the pad on a brace.

This is one versatile beast. It easily handles (not another one!) the biggest auger I have:

As well as the smallest:

Although, come on, that seems like using a sledge hammer to drive a 4d nail.

Drilling/Boring Tool Panel

2010-12-29T16:41:00.001-09:00

Time is funny. Just the other day I was thinking, "You know, I really ought to upgrade my drilling/boring tool panel like I did to the saw panel a few months ago." Turns out it's been almost 11 months! What?! Where did that time go? Deja-vu - I think I've said this before...

Well, regardless of my lack of time reality, the idea was a good one. The drilling/boring panel was one of two pegboard panels still hanging on in the shop (yes, intended). It was time to convert it to something that not only works, but makes me happy when I look at it. (Don't get me wrong, I don't hate pegboard, but it just doesn't satisfy me at some level.)

Here's the before shot:

Besides making it look nicer, I wanted to expand the amount of storage to include new tools (some of which don't technically meet minimum "drilling/boring" requirements - oh well, I'll deal). The new panel would be slightly wider, and a good bit longer.

Construction-wise, I followed the same process as with the saw panel, with only one difference. I used a nice set of Sandusky Tool wooden match planes that were designed for the thickness of wood I was working with (3/4"). This let me avoid dealing with the "second tongue" effect that the Stanley #49 created, while at the same time leaving the tongue offset enough for beading the front edge, unlike the Stanley #48. Hmm - I guess progress isn't always progress is it?

And here is the final result:

I think it would look even better if I had the time to make all new shelves and holders, rather than just modifying the old ones (I did add one "new" shelf, but it was just a left-over from another part of the shop overhaul). Maybe later...

That just leaves on last pegboard panel in the shop, and I'll get to that soon. Soon as in next November?

Mystery Tool - Solved!

2010-12-28T20:12:00.000-09:00

I love it when a mystery gets solved, but I kind of hate it when I should have known it all along!

After the first post, Damien commented: "Looks like a free standing handle that fits a round axle with two sides flattened at the end." I immediately got a picture in my head of a round chuck with two flats, but I kept thinking it had something to do with sewing machines.

And then on the second post, Alfred commented "I wonder if it is a wrench for an awl. Some older leather working awls have a split chuck with a tightening screw that probably fits the opening in your tool."

After reading that I gave myself a huge dope slap and ran out to the shop where I have several cobbler's awls that I use to start screws etc. Grabbing one, I tested it out and it's a perfect fit. Awesome! Not only is the mystery solved, but I have a new and useful tool. In the past I just used an adjustable wrench to change awls (sharpened nails actually) but it tends to slip off - the new closed wrench will be much better.

Just to double check, I looked in my library and found an illustration under "Sewing Haft" in the "Dictionary of American Hand Tools" that clearly shows just such a wrench changing the awl on a haft or handle.

If anyone has a copy of "Dictionary of Leather Working Tools and the tools of allied trades", by R. A. Salaman, we could probably find the actual name for this tool. Until then, I'm just going to call it a "cobbler's awl wrench".

Fun! Thanks everyone for your ideas and sleuthing! And way to go Alfred for nailing this one!

Mystery Tool - Additional Photos and Thoughts

2010-12-26T10:03:00.000-09:00

A few additional pictures of the mystery tool along with some new thoughts and observations. You can click on any picture for a larger view.

Full tool, with quarter for scale and a new angle on the "loop" to show thickness:

A close-up of the business end - note wear pattern inside opposite corners of the slot (which I think indicates it was used as some kind of wrench):

A close-up of the end of the threaded cap - showing what I previously took to be the initials "B.H." - although now I am not so sure:

My brother Josh thinks that this might have been some kind of sewing machine wrench for changing needles, which were stored in the compartment in the handle. I like that guess, but so far I have not found any supporting information.

What do you think?

Mystery Tool

2010-12-23T16:41:00.002-09:00

Well, after the last mystery object played itself out, there was a request for a new one.

So, for Philip, and anyone else who likes a mystery, here it is:

Approximately 5 1/2" long and...

...it has a storage compartment in the handle.

It's very well made with some nice details such as the tiny decorative marks on the ferrel and the rings on the handle. The only other markings I could find were a somewhat cryptic group of awl pricks on the butt end which I am fairly certain spell out "B.H." - they were definitely done by hand and not too neatly, so I don't think they are the maker's mark, but rather a previous owner.

At first I was thinking it was some kind of multi-tool, but there is no chuck, so any attachments would need to hook onto the loop somehow. Also, the storage compartment is pretty small, more along the lines of drill bits etc., and I don't see how those would hook onto the loop anyway.

Any ideas?

Owner's Mark Stamp

2010-12-12T21:51:00.000-09:00

In a previous post, I shared some thoughts and observations on plane owner's marks and I ended up wondering how to make my own metal owner's mark stamp. Well, it's been over a year, I still don't know how to go about it, but I have finally gotten my hands on an original to aid in my quest.

It was made for one "C. B. STILWELL" by "JACOBS & CO 74 WASHN.ST BOSTON".

Here's a photo of the stamp and the mark it makes:

I am hoping that by closely examining the stamp, I can figure out how it was made. It seems clear to me that files were used - very tiny files, for the exterior of each letter. But I haven't yet sussed out how the interior sections were shaped.

Here's a closer shot of the business end:

I know I could pay someone to make one for me, but that just isn't my style. I might get there one day if I can't figure this out...

Box-O-Chaos Project

2010-11-29T15:13:00.001-09:00

In my shop, some projects get completed almost as soon as I think of them, while others need to wait. Some wait a long, long time. This one has been waiting for 10 years.

Here's the back story:

We used to live in Bend OR. When it was time to move back to Alaska, we packed every cubic inch of both our vehicles, had a major yard sale, and packed everything else into the maximum allowable size boxes and mailed them. We had been going great guns for several days to be out on schedule, and some things just kept slipping through the cracks.

The afternoon of our departure I realized that there was a rocking chair just sitting there in the living room. How had we missed that? There was no way it could get added to the "take along" list. There was absolutely no room in the cars (none - I'm surprised we could breathe in there), and all possible space on top of the cars was already full. I didn't want to leave it, because while it might not be a great piece of furniture, it was the first furniture we had bought together as a couple. Nope, it had to make it to Alaska. All I had to do was disassembled it, with no tools (packed), get it to fit into the last remaining box, and make it to the post office before they closed (20 minutes). No problem.

So, I gently took that chair apart on the front lawn using a Swiss Army knife and a hunk of firewood as a club. I shoved it into the box and handed it over to the USPS with at least three minutes to spare. Then it was North to Alaska!

Back to the present:

As I am moving great heaps of stuff around in the garage I find myself looking at a large, unopened cardboard box. I was wondering what it could be, when two thoughts hit me in quick succession. First, it's got to be the missing rocker. Second, I could fix it up for a Christmas present for my wife.

So I open the box and this is what I see:

Wow. Looks like someone smashed a chair apart with a piece of firewood or something.

Oh, but wait, it's not that bad. I found the original fasteners randomly floating around in the bottom of the box.

Okay, so I've got my work cut out for me. This is going to be close - wish me luck.

PS - Just to avoid any confusion, this rocker-in-a-box should in no way be confused with the other rocker-in-a-box project I have in the hopper. They are very different. For one thing, that one is actually in three boxes. For another, it has only been sitting in the shop for slightly more than one year. And finally, that rocker is from Oregon, while this one is from... never mind.

Revealed! - The Mystery Wooden Object's Secret Identity!

2010-11-25T09:27:00.000-09:00

"Now let's see who the Mystery Wooden Object really is!"
"Why it's old Mr. Wilson - the caretaker of the amusement park!"
"Jeepers!"
"Yes, and I'd have gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for you meddling kids..."

*****

Oops! Sorry, that was from the Scooby Doo edition of this post - don't know how that snuck in here...

Okay - are you ready?

(Click here first if you haven't read the previous two relevant posts)

The Mystery Wooden Object (MWO) is...

...a Pakistani Cow Amulet! Yes! What?

Congratulations Regis! You are the clear winner:
"Looks like a cow bell. Maybe that darker square insert in the back holds the "bells" inside. Or an ornament to put around an animal's neck."How did you come up with that anyway? Email me your address and I'll send you your prize!

Okay, so when Kaija called me, she had just been to a little store back East, which she describes as being a "woodsy/crafty/chotsky with a smattering of international groovy stuff" type store. While perusing the goods, she came up short in front of a small tray full of MWOs! The accompanying signage simply stated, "Pakistani Cow Amulets."

Here's what she saw:

Well, after talking to Kaija, I called the store to pump them for information. They didn't really have much. About all they knew was that they were some kind of amulet worn by cows to help keep them safe. Hmm.

Armed with this new knowledge I called Uncle Google and had a long, long chat. It took awhile, but here's a summary of what I found out:

(And remember - "It's on the internet, so it must be true!")

Mostly associated with the Swat Valley in Pakistan (but covering a much wider region of Pakistan and Afghanistan, at least according to some sources) these amulets are believed to protect and identify livestock - possibly cows, but more likely goats or sheep. They are worn around the neck of the animal. Some are very simple, with no carving and just the hole at the top for the cord to pass through. Others are carved in ancient patterns (said to be Buddhist designs by one source). Still others go to a higher level of protection - incorporating a small chamber containing a prayer or blessing from a local religious leader. Apparently, after the animal is slaughtered, the amulet is used on another animal - which means some of the amulets are very old. Types of wood mentioned were cedar and rosewood.

Well, that explained just about everything I (we) had noticed about the MWO. I was right about the wear pattern inside the through mortise, only I was picturing it upside-down with the rope or fabric at the bottom, while in reality the amulet hung from the cord, not the other way around. And the square of wood in the back was not a cut off tenon - it is the plug to the hollowed-out chamber. Cool!

Kaija graciously went back to the store and picked up a few of the MWO's cousins for me. Here is a set of "reunion" photos:

You can see the range of details. Only one has a plug. Only two have any carving - one with a triangular design (upper left - the same one that has the plug) and one with a simple series of kerfs cut in the sides (lower left - five kerfs on one side, and six on the other). One has almost the exact same shape as my original, but no plug, no carving and is generally more "rough". In fact, all of these seem a bit more primitive than my first one.

Of course, I have a ton of new questions. Who makes these? Are they made by a specialist (town woodworker or carver?), or by the church, or are they made by the owner of the livestock? What kind of wood is it? It sure doesn't look like cedar (well, N. American cedar isn't really cedar anyway, so how would I know?) or rosewood. Are they still being made/used? How did these end up here? Why weren't they reused? How old are they?

If you have any insight, please post a comment. But for now, I'm satisfied - and the MWO is no longer a MWO. It is a Pakistani livestock amulet.

Finally, I have no idea if these things really work, but it just might explain the increased frequency of this kind of occurrence at our house:

Yet Another Use For Handscrews

2010-11-23T13:25:00.001-09:00

Here's another frequent task in my shop that a handscrew accomplishes with ease. Whenever I brand a creation, I use a propane torch to heat my branding iron. My torch is rather tippy and a handscrew gently tightened at an angle around the base, trapping the cylinder between the two jaws and the front screw, much like a bit in a three jawed chuck, holds it nicely. This setup gives it the hands-free stability I need to safely ignore it and focus on not messing up the branding process.

I guess you could do something similar with another type of clamp, but the round gas tank would make getting a firm hold, without squeezing too hard, a challenge. Also, the handscrew, with its large flat faces, makes for a more stable footprint than other clamps.

PS - The fire extinguisher is just out of photo to the left - in my shop, when the torch comes out to play, so does the extinguisher.

Real Wood Beats Plywood, But Plywood Beats Pegboard

2010-11-19T15:23:00.001-09:00

Well, at least nice birch plywood beats pegboard.

I have two of those metal shelving units (or are they carts?), the ubiquitous chromed ones, that I use for tool storage. The bottom shelves on each unit have pull-out trays, and the top two shelves are, well, shelves. A long time ago I cut pegboard liners for the shelves so the planes and other tools that lived there wouldn't be resting on the metal racks. I can't remember why I used pegboard, but it probably had something to do with having it on hand.

Anyway, it has worked fine, but has never really made me happy. Well, as part of the ongoing "get rid of stuff that doesn't fit/belong in my shop" offensive, I found a solution. I discovered some thin birch plywood that needed to earn its keep or hit the road. Well, I'm not a fan of plywood, but it does have its uses and clearly this stuff was more aesthetically pleasing than pegboard, so I made the switch.

Not hard at all, since each fitted piece of pegboard was used as a template for the new liner. Here are some shots of the upgrade.

Before:

After:

Definitely an improvement in my eyes.

The bigger picture:

It's funny how a small change can have a major impact that seems out of proportion. In this case I think the change from pegboard to birch ply improves the whole corner of the shop. Cool!

The tools:

Not much to it really: Japanese style saw for cutting the thin plywood (using a very low angle helps minimize flex and chatter), hand drill for boring the oak lip peg holes (if you spin the drill counter-clockwise for a bit, it will get you started without tearing out the thin birch veneer, then switch to normal clockwise operation), and a rat-tail rasp for creating the clearance notches for the shelving unit's railings on the back of each shelf. In the background, you can see the old pegboard liner which I used to trace everything onto the plywood. You can also see how handy it is to have your sawbench and shavehorse the same height. This is especially true when working with full sheets of plywood.

The next pegboard to be removed will be the backing on my tool panels, which will be replaced by real wood. I already did the saw panel, which you can read about here and here, but it's time to finish the rest.

A Short, Easy Project in Seven Steps

2010-11-13T22:55:00.002-09:00

The other day I had about one hour to spend in the shop. Now, I've got dozens of projects that I need to work on (with building a door for the shop at the top of the list), but none of them are the kind that one hour would get very far into. So I decided to reload the CD player with some fresh jazz while I figured out what to do.

As I was listening to Roy and Diz, and puttering around the shop, I kept going back to the CD case to find out the name of a tune, composer etc. After about the third time the thought occurred to me: "Hmm, it would be nice to have a little stand thingy to hold the CD up at a convenient angle for reading." And there it was, a short easy project that I could complete from start to finish in what was left of my hour.

Here's how to make something useful (sort of) in a very short amount of time - in just seven steps.

Step One - rustle up a chunk of suitable scrap:

I just grabbed a short length of 1x3, but something fancier would be fun.

Step Two - clean up all the surfaces of said scrap with a smoothing plane:

Step Three - select a moulding plane and stick a decorative edge:

In this case, after digging through my moulding samples I selected a small astragal and cove profile made by "I. Cox" (which coincidentally is the very same plane featured in the previous link). Now that I think about it, it might actually be a quirk, bead and cove profile. Wait, maybe it's a fillet, bead, fillet and cove. Oh bother!

Step Four - plow a groove wide enough and deep enough to hold the CD at the desired angle:

I just guessed and plowed a 5/8" wide groove, which needed to be 1/2" deep for things to work out right.

Step Five - cut to length:

Step Six - Optional - decide to fix a flaw in the moulding profile (created by sloppy, rushed technique) by planing a bevel with a shoulder plane:

A side-by-side comparison between the new profile of bevel, quirk, bead and cove or is it fillet, bead - (oh never mind) and the original sample on the right.

Step Seven - oil it up and admire the final product:

Not a very necessary creation of course, but since when has that been a consideration? Do you really need a reason to have fun in the shop? No.

And the complete tool set (minus the sticking board):

Really, this project could be made with only four tools: smoothing plane, plow plane, moulding plane and saw. Or even just three if you skipped the moulding and just went with a bevel. The Phillips head screwdriver is for adjusting my sticking board screw-stops, while the slot head screwdriver is for adjusting the #45 multiplane - neither would be needed if you used used a different plow and work holding system. There really is no layout required, as you can size everything with the CD case itself - so the folding rule, the square and the marking knife could easily be left on the shelf. And of course, if you were more careful than I was with your moulding plane, there would be no need for the shoulder plane.

Solved! Mystery Wooden Object Identified - Teaser.

2010-11-10T21:00:00.000-09:00

"Make Way! Blow the trumpets!" The Mystery Wooden Object has been identified! Yes!

I've said before that I love mysteries, and I love them even more when they get solved. This one took over two years, which only makes it that much sweeter.

Back in July of 2008 I wrote a post about the Mystery Wooden Object and asked readers for help in identifying it. Some interesting ideas were bounced around, but there was no breakthrough.

Then, a couple of months ago my niece Kaija (of Kaija's Project fame) called me from the East Coast with the big news: she had a hard lead on the answer, in fact she was standing in front of a small pile of my Mystery Wooden Object's cousins!

Well, after talking to her and doing some additional research, I now know quite a bit about the MWO - which I will share in a future post.

I thought it might be fun to see if anyone wanted to take one last shot at identifying it. As an incentive, I'll send my spare copy of Making Authentic Craftsman Furniture to the first person who pegs it, or to whoever gets closest before I spill the beans.

Here are some newer shots to mull over:

And one of the prize:

Good luck! And one hint - forget about the East Coast connection. It's more than a bit of a red herring...

More Exciting Shop Changes - and some thoughts on books.

2010-11-07T12:45:00.001-09:00

Progress! Wahoo! It's really starting to feel like a shop again!

The big ex-government desk was moved into place (thanks to my brothers) and became the focal point for the "office" end of the shop. Three new shelves were installed and the ever growing woodworking library was relocated to the shop, where it belongs.

It's pretty amazing the energy that those books possess - when I step through the doorway they just turn my head and make me smile. Have I mentioned that I love books? It was pretty cool, just yesterday I was watching the latest Woodwright's Shop on PBS and Roy was talking about influential woodworking books. Of the books he discussed, I have all but one in my collection.

I love learning, and am thankful for the internet and all I have learned through it, but nothing compares to holding a book in your hands. Plus, with older books, there's the whole "Who has held this book before me?" question to ponder and you have a tangible link to the past. It's a little hard to explain maybe, but it's similar to the difference between electric baseboard and a woodstove - both will heat the room, but there's just no confusing the two energy wise.

If you are a complete book geek like me, you may want to check out the detailed list of my library: click on the "View My List-O-Books" link in the left navbar or just click here. As always, questions or comments about books are highly encouraged.

Anyway, here are the shots:

There's really only one drawback to the library; it occupies the same wall where I would like to add a window in the future. Here's what I'm missing in that department:

Hmm, I might just have to figure out a way to have both...

Handscrews

2010-11-03T10:49:00.000-08:00

The other day I posted a picture of the new clamp storage in my shop, and Gye commented about my wooden handscrews. By chance, I was at the same time working on a quick project that presented a particular work holding challenge - one that I solved with the use of handscrews.

The project was a low platform style bed frame for our guest room. I had sworn I would get this done before Celena's mother arrived for the birth of our daughter. Well, Mom's plane arrived, Celena went into labor three days early and we are celebrating the birth of our second child while the unfinished bed frame sits out in the shop and Rebecca is gamely sleeping on the floor - well, on a mattress on the floor, but still.

I needed to joint the edges of some Doug Fir 2x12s for the frame. I do most of my edge jointing in the face vice, but these were too big and heavy for that technique to work (although, if I had a deadman...). I will also edge joint on the benchtop with the stock pushed up against a dog, but this requires the stock to be rather stable, and on the narrow side so that the plane is closer to the benchtop. These boards were neither stable nor narrow, and the resulting wobbliness combined with the plane being close to shoulder high made things awkward.

Handscrews to the rescue! One handscrew clamped to the stock flush with the benchtop stabilized things considerably, and a second clamping the first to the bench made things very solid.

The dog is keeping the stock from sliding, but you could probably do this with the clamps alone - although if you had a knot to plane like I did, the dog is definitely appreciated.

Anyway, just a quick example of the versatility of handscrews. Gotta love them!

Blank No More!

2010-10-28T06:19:00.000-08:00

The slate is blank no more! Progress has been slow, but things are shaping up. As every little piece falls into place, the shop takes one small step towards finally being functional again. Small steps, but noticeable. Yes.

Here's what I accomplished last weekend - Clamp-O-Rama!

For the first time ever, my clamps (of which you can never have too many) are actually making me happy. They used to be a jumbled mess that made me crazy if I even looked at them, but no more.

The clamps on the lower rack are clamped on firmly, while those on the upper rack hang loosely, trapped behind a raised lip on the shelf edge.

Louis enjoys his newly relocated shop nest.

Blank Slate

2010-10-21T07:10:00.002-08:00

Back in August, in my post about the New Wood Rack, I outlined my plan for the Total Shop Overhaul:

Phase 1: New Wood Rack
Phase 2: Remove Old Wood Rack to make room for the wall
Phase 3: Partition Wall w/ door
Phase 4: Window Installation
Phase 5: Rearrange Shop

I'm happy to report that Phases 1 - 3 are complete and I will be jumping to Phase 5 as soon as I can! Wahoo! The Phase 4 window installation is probably going to have to wait a bit, but I think I can live with that.

The main thing is that the partition wall is complete (okay, the door isn't in yet, but again, I can live with that). It's open at the top to allow heat into the shop, and open at the bottom because - well shoot, okay it's not totally done yet. Actually, it will have some sort of venting at the bottom to allow cold air return - otherwise I'd be working in a deep freeze all winter. I'm not sure what my plan is for the bottom venting yet, so I just left room.

You might notice that I used cheap, and not very smooth plywood. Hopefully, that won't be as noticeable once things are in place, otherwise I will regret saving the money...

So now it is on to the fun part - rearranging/reclaiming the shop! Options, options!

The next step is making about 30 feet of French Cleat...

Frankenchest - An Argument for Painting Wood

2010-10-13T06:54:00.000-08:00

Before I even get started on this post, I should point out that the majority of projects that leave my shop (and those that stay) are not painted. I really like the look of wood, either unfinished, or oiled/waxed. But sometimes paint is the finish of choice and here is a perfect example of why.

I finally finished dismantling the old wood rack. But what to do with the wood? I didn't want to store it and it didn't feel right just burning it in the wood stove - "Well, thanks for the years of yeoman's work old rack, now it's off to a fiery doom for you! Muwahahahaha!" And we did need some kind of firewood storage for on the front porch, so...

Enter the Frankenchest!

This was a down and dirty salvage build, so material wise nothing is particularly nice about this project. The 3/8" plywood is rough CDX salvaged from the old rack's shelves. The 2x4 internal frame also comes directly from the rack. The skirting is birch ply from the long gone CD shelves, and the 1x stock for the upper trim was pulled from the scrap pile. In short, the wood is a mismatched hodgepodge. However, the proportions are not bad - maybe even nice, which is why painting this monstrosity makes sense.

Paint unifies the design, hiding the wood's grain, texture (somewhat) and coloring, and thus allowing proportion to dominate the viewer's perception of the final product. This is, I believe, the reason Windsor chairs were traditionally painted. Of course, we're talking about a Frankenchest here, not some fine Windsor chair, so the results are not exactly the same, but I think you can see the difference:

Yeah, it would take more than paint to make this baby shine, but it does take it from rather hideous to "not too bad", which in my book definitely does "Give it more juice!" (NOT a woodworking related link, and jump to 8 minutes for the scene with the quote - spoiler alert if you haven't seen this movie yet...)

And yes, this is the second, huge, green chest I have built recently - I think I should be good for a couple of years at least. Although, a huge, blue chest might be nice...

Shop Update Part II

2010-10-02T10:46:00.002-08:00

Well, after a small prescribed burn, I have at least one corner of the shop decent enough for some pictures.

First is the new wood rack doing its job quite nicely:

I didn't realize how much 6' stock I had picked up. This was mostly because the old rack couldn't handle 8' stock in an easy manner. Now that I have a much better rack, I can go back to buying longer, and thus more versatile, stock.

As I mentioned in a comment on the previous wood rack post, I added plywood "decking" to the second and third shelf to both increase the racking resistance (earthquakes) and allow for easier storage of shorts. Also, I added sliding trays under the bottom platform to handle even more shorts.

And here is the GGTC - Gigantic Green Tool Chest:

The body of the chest is made of 3/4" birch plywood that I found buried at the bottom of the old wood rack. I don't use plywood very often anymore, but this was leftover from my table saw days and much too nice to send to the landfill.

This is going in to my school shop to safely keep unsupervised hands away from sharp tools.

Now it's back to the shop overhaul - next up, the new wall!

Shop Update

2010-09-30T22:40:00.000-08:00

You know things are going crazy when a good day is one that you don't talk about burning down the shop.

I think there might have been one day last week that I didn't say it.

The shop is still a royal mess, but I guess progress is being made. I filled the new wood rack - it works great. I'll post on it when I can. I have partially disassembled the old rack, but I wasn't quick enough and it started to fill up again with random stuff looking for a horizontal surface to land on. Where does that stuff come from?

I also managed to finish two projects for the new school shop I am outfitting (I get to teach 6th grade AND hand tool woodworking - yes!). First, I made some adjustments to my sawbench design and completed one of the two we will need. Someday I will post about the Sawbench Mark II (mostly the same really, I just tweaked the dimensions a bit). Second, I just finished a gigantic tool chest to hold the school shop's tools (which still mostly need sharpening, fettling etc.). Next up is the small matter of building six workbenches, but the students are helping with these...

No pictures from either project were taken, as I have no intention of preserving the present state of the shop for posterity. It's just too painful. I want to forget it as soon as possible. I will however try to take some of the final products.

The tool chest should go into school this weekend, and with the room that frees up (did I mention it is gigantic?) I think I can start to make more progress on the shop itself.

Or I could burn it down.

Deep in Chaos

2010-08-25T06:29:00.001-08:00

Well, my shop is in a state of utter chaos. I'd post a picture, but it's too depressing.

I mentioned last month in the New Wood Rack post that I was overhauling the shop. Well, it has been creeping along, feeling like it will never be finished. I'm only on "Phase 2" and it looks like a tornado went right through the shop.

What I find most disturbing is how unusable the shop is in its current state. It's hard to even move out there. Every time I have a few minutes to work on it, the sheer enormity of the project just overwhelms me. I need to keep plugging away at it, but it's hard when I can't see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Alright, enough whining! Back to it!

Rocking Chair Repair

2010-08-10T21:13:00.002-08:00

Here's another old furniture repair post, and also a lesson on the importance of grain direction.

This old rocker had a broken runner:

A closer look revealed how the sawn runner split down the grain. If the runners had been bent, with continuous grain, this couldn't have happened.

I didn't need to disassemble the chair; it was easy enough to loosen the screws and rotate the broken parts to get at the surfaces needing glue. The brown fuzzy strip is adhesive backed felt to protect the bamboo floor.

Here's the clamp swarm holding things put after glueing:

The glue probably would have been enough, but just to be sure I removed some of the felt and drove two finish screws across the joint. To insure that the screws pulled everything tight, I bored two different size pilot holes. First I drilled a small pilot hole (the size of the screw's shank) the full depth of the screw, and then bored a larger hole (the size of the threads) just as deep as the break. This way, the clamping effect was between the threads of the lower part and the head of the screw.

To replace the felt, I squished the new felt with clamps until it was the same thickness as the older felt. Although I am confident this repair will hold, I didn't want to tempt fate by putting a lump right under it. Confident is confident, but safer is better.

Oh, and although I already pointed out that bent runners would not have failed this way, I also concede the point that these sawn runners lasted almost 100 years. So there you go...

New Wood Rack

2010-08-07T11:52:00.000-08:00

Here's what has been absorbing any free time I've had for the last two weeks:

It's the long overdue, long planned, new shop wood rack - and it is finally done! Wahoo!

The posts are three 2x6s laminated together with glue and screws. The arms are 2x4s, set in mortises created by missing sections of the center post lamination:

I debated using 2x6s as arms, but decided I'd try the 2x4 arms first. If there are any problems, I can make 2x6 arms with a cut down tenon to fit the mortise and a supporting lower shoulder.

This is really the first phase of the "Total Shop Overhaul". For some time I've been wanting to change things in my shop, which is in one half of our two car garage. When I stand facing into the shop half, everything makes me happy. But when I face out of the shop half, I am looking at all sorts of things that just don't feel right: recycling bins, hot water heater, boiler, kitty litter, random storage, exercise area etc. In short, I've been wanting a 360° shop.

I thought about moving the shop out to the small shed in the yard, but it's unheated and has no windows and no real door. Then I thought about building a new, dedicated shop structure in the yard. This was more exciting, but I finally realized, with a lot of help from my wife, that it just wasn't going to happen this year. In the end, I decided to go with an idea that my brother Josh championed. I'm going to build a temporary (it will need to come out at some point) partition wall down the middle of the garage. This will solve the 360° shop issue, and also give us more storage (shelves on the non-shop side) for our teaching supplies/materials that are currently filling a rented storage unit (my wife and I are both teachers, and are moving to a new school and have way too much stuff that needs an accessible storage space - i.e. NOT the crawlspace).

Here's my tentative plan for the Total Shop Overhaul:

Phase 1: New Wood Rack - complete!
Phase 2: Remove Old Wood Rack to make room for the wall - pending.
Phase 3: Partition Wall w/ door - planning.
Phase 4: Window Installation - planning.
Phase 5: Rearrange Shop - dreaming.

I'd love to think that this will all be done soon, as the shop looks like a bomb went off and is almost unusable at the moment. It's like being in the middle of one of those sliding picture puzzles - move this, to move that, to move that, to get to that, to reach that. Frustrating! But the reality, especially with the new job, is that it is going to take a while.

Sigh.

Old Dresser Drawers

2010-07-28T23:43:00.000-08:00

I've been repairing some old family furniture lately. This oak dresser with mirror was in great shape except that the drawer bottoms were falling out.

The drawers were made with Knapp joints (also called pin and crescent):

This machine cut joint was popular for about thirty years (approx. 1870-1900), before machine cut dovetails took over. The pins are not dowels, instead they are formed out of the drawer front. There are some interesting resources on the web - just google "Knapp joint". Apparently, it is a strong joint. These have held up fine for over 100 years of use.

What didn't hold up were the drawer bottoms. Made from a single piece of thin, solid wood (much more appealing to me than plywood)each bottom fit into grooves on the front and two sides and was nailed into the bottom of the back. Unlike plywood however, the solid wood shrank. Eventually, the bottom shrank enough for the front to pull out of the groove. It then sagged under the weight of the drawer contents until it started pulling out of the side grooves as well. Not good.

On my recently completed candle till, I am hoping to avoid this problem by setting the nail in a saw kerf to allow it to move, while the front is glued into its groove. Of course that drawer is so small it really isn't an issue.

Here's a shot showing how the bottom has shrunk about 1/4" and pulled out of the front groove:

I thought about repairing these drawers with the technique from the candle till, but instead I decided to try the least invasive approach first. So in the end I pulled the nails from the back edge of the bottom, reseated the bottom in the front groove, and then renailed the bottom.

My thinking was to see how long this would hold up. If I get another 100 years out of it great! If not, I can try more drastic (well, not really drastic, it's just a little glue...) action later.

There's one mystery about this dresser that I haven't figured out yet. While I was working on it, the grain on the front of the drawers didn't look quite right to me. I started to think that it might have been "grained" with paint or stain. Now, looking at the fourth pin up in the first shot, you can see that the drawer front is actually a glue-up of two separate pieces (two grain patterns) but on the front of the drawer, the grain appears continuous. I'm pretty sure it's been "grained", possibly to hide the glue line or to give it a more uniform grain pattern. The top half is quartersawn but the bottom is flatsawn, so if it is white oak, the ray or fleck would not be the same. Hmm.

I think I need to look at the drawers again...

Candle Till Part VI

2010-07-26T10:32:00.000-08:00

Well, it's finally finished! I like small projects, but it always surprises me how they are not much faster than large projects - at least for me.

I really had only two tasks left at this point: the drawers, and the hanging mechanism. Both of these had problems I had never faced before, and this made things interesting. I tackled the drawers first.

Way back when I designed this candle till, I made sketches of various drawer designs. I decided on overlay drawer fronts as they gave the lower case an unbroken, unified appearance that I liked. This meant I could build the drawers first, and then attach separate fronts. Earlier, when I had been dividing up the stock, I set aside two pieces with the grain pattern I wanted for the drawer fronts.

To get the stock for the drawers, I resawed a 1x4 into two boards of equal thickness. After losing some wood from the original 3/4" to the saw kerf (which is quite minimal with the bandsaw blade I use for the web), and then a little more after planing the rough side smooth, I ended up with two boards that were each 5/16" thick. I felt this was about right for tiny drawers like these.

The next thing I should have done was plow the groove to hold the draw bottoms while the stock was still full length. But I was over-eager and skipped that step - cutting half of the stock into the shorter lengths needed for the drawer too soon. Oops!

I don't have a bench hook for crosscutting smaller stock, instead I use this set up:

The scrap piece protects the bench, while the dog holds everything steady. Sometimes I use two dogs. The small piece on the right is the leftover stock. The front and back pieces, and the longer sides are matched up just to the left. Two of the pieces in the stack just behind the saw handle are the drawer fronts.

Before I plowed the grooves, I needed the material for the drawer bottoms. I would be using a 3/16" iron in the combination plane to plow the groove so I resawed a panel 7/32" thick to make the bottoms. This would be beveled to allow it to fit into the slightly smaller grooves.

First I set the marking gauge off the iron and did the lay out for the resawing:

After resawing, I cleaned up the stock with the jack plane. I was not trying to make it prefect, it's the underside of the drawer bottom - just enough to keep things flat.

Then it was time to plow the grooves. Here's the drawer parts that I cut too soon. Notice the chalk reminding me where to plow the grooves. If I had marked them earlier, I probably would have remembered not to crosscut them before grooving. Hmm.

With the parts already cut short, I was only able to use one holdfast (without drilling a new hole in the bench), which made it a little tricky. But it worked, as long as I really set the holdfast tightly, with a solid blow from the maul. The thin wood cushioned the stock so it didn't get dented.

With the longer stock, everything was easier as the holdfasts work much better together.

At this point here is what I had: grooved sides, fronts and backs; bottom stock waiting to be sized; and the actual overlay fronts.

I cut rabbets in the side pieces with my standard saw/chisel/shoulder plane method, and then dry fit and clamped the drawers together. This allowed me to measure the drawer to fit the bottom.

I cut the bottoms to the correct width with a knife (much easier than a saw on such thin stock) but left them long length (depth) wise. I built the drawers slightly shorter than the case was deep and I wanted these extra long bottoms to support the drawer flush to the case front while I worked on attaching the overlay fronts. Then I would plane them back a bit to allow for expansion later. (I think this will make more sense in a few more steps...)

I planed bevels on three sides of the bottom to allow for a snug fit in the grooves. They might be hard to see in this picture.

I only needed bevels on three sides because the drawer back got cut off just at the groove to allow for the bottom to pass under it and allow for expansion. Again, it was simple knife work.

Glue up:

And the finished drawer waiting for fitting:

After getting a very tight fit by careful planing, it was time to set the drawer flush to the front. Here's where the extra long drawer bottoms helped me out. I pushed the drawer in as far as it would go - until the bottom hit the back of the case. Then I used my folding rule's extension to transfer the distance the drawer stood proud...

...to the back edge of the drawer bottom.

After planing off that much of the bottom - Bam! - a perfectly flush drawer. No messing around with repeated fittings etc. Cool!

Oh, and yes, I did figure out a way to get the snug drawers back out again. I drilled a small hole in the back of the case and used a short length of dowel to push it out. As a bonus, this hole lets air out as the drawer is pushed in.

To align the overlay fronts, I used two nails driven through from the inside of the drawer. Once I had the overlay front in the position I wanted, I pushed it firmly onto the nail points. This created a physical registration for putting the fronts back on again later, and also kept them from sliding around while I glued them.

My original plan called for small turned pulls, but in the end I switched to simple curved pulls, that echoed the curve of the pediment. Here's a shot of the almost complete till:

Now all that remained was to create a way to hang the till on the wall. I ruled out screw eyes and wire, as I wanted the till to hang closer to the wall. In the end I decided to make a notched metal plate that would be mounted over a hole in the back of the till. This would fit over a Lee Valley picture screw.

I fashioned the metal plate from the flattened bottom of a soup can. Here's a shot of the finished hanging plate and the tools I used to make it. The picture screw is also visible.

The vertical positioning of the hole was somewhat arbitrary. Horizontally, I wanted to be on the center of balance, but of course that would be changing with the contents of the till and shelves, which is why the hanger has three notches. After doing the layout for the hole in the back of the till, I drilled holes through from the back, and then flipped it over and chopped it out from the inside, removing the angled till back first, and using the holes as a guide.

Another challenge was how to fasten the hanging plate to the 1/2" thick back. I thought about tiny screws, or clench nailing, but in the end I dug up some copper tacks for a Shaker box project that hasn't happened yet. I wasn't sure if they would be strong enough, but I tested it out on a scrap piece and they held like crazy!

The hanging plate mounted:

The chuck of 4x4 was used to support the underside of the back while I hammered the copper tacks. The needle-nose pliers were used to hold the tacks, which are very tiny and extremely sharp.

Finally, the completed candle till hanging in its new home:

I'm very happy with the outcome. Obviously I decided not to paint it - once again changing plans during the course of the project.

My Old Toolbox

2010-07-07T10:03:00.000-08:00

I've rediscovered my old toolbox. I made this tote in an Industrial Arts class my freshman year of high school, which I believe makes this the oldest woodworking project of mine that still exists. I have no memory of actually using it.

Somehow this thing followed me up to Alaska (I don't even remember packing it), spent some time in my brother's shed, and more recently moved into a funky corner of my garage (on the fringe of my shop space), where it promptly got buried under layers of junk.

A few weeks ago, my brother Josh was out in my neck of the woods harvesting spruce poles for a sod house he will be building on his remote property. I was heading out to help, but needed some good way of taking a small kit of tools along (axe, hatchet etc.) What I needed was a large tool tote...

Hey! What about that one buried over there? I quickly dug it out (finding the hardware for the never completed treadle lathe and a perfectly usable brace in the process - how many of these do I have?)and cleaned it off.

It is very simply constructed - nailed butt joints - but apparently I was very proud of it, because it has my name handwritten in pencil all over it. It was fun to see that - back when I went by "Danny".

I loaded it up and off we went. Here it is in the field:

It easily held my axe, hatchet, disassembled bowsaw, file, sharpening stone, drawknife, hammer and punch (for bowsaw pins), gloves and some snacks.

You could tell it was happy finally getting to do yeoman's work after almost 30 years of sitting around!

*** The Candle Till is finished, but the post isn't. That should be coming up next...

Candle Rack - Part V

2010-06-28T14:38:00.000-08:00

Okay, time to get this candle rack finished. Well, almost finished :)

The front of the case has two rails: one at the very top and one at the bottom of the candle till...

Wait! Stop the presses! That's it! Candle till! CANDLE TILL! That's what this thing is! The name has appeared! Yes!

...just above the drawers. I decided to mould the inside edge of both rails for some visual interest, but I didn't want to get too complex because the candle till :) design is rather understated, in a "Shakerish" kind of way. In the end I went with a simple side bead, and was quite happy with the result.

Here's the tools I used for this step:

The #3 smoothed the surface and edge prior to the moulding being stuck. The 1/4" side bead plane by Andruss (Newark, NJ 1821-41) did what it was made to do over a century and a half ago - amazing!* The Veritas medium shoulder plane I used to clean up a little tear-out in the quirk shoulder by adding a very tiny bevel to the arris. In front of the planes is the finished rail.

* Side note: I'm pretty sure this is one of the original group of planes that started me down the moulding plane path in a big way. You can click on the new "Moulding Plane" link in the "Post Categories" section in the left navbar for more on this topic.

The rails were glued to the case while it was being held in the front vise, allowing easier clamping. Here's a shot of the bottom rail being attached.

The next step was the pediment. In my original plan, the pediment was going to be an ogee or cyma curve. But now I was reconsidering.

I created the blank...

...and toyed with the idea of just going with that. But it didn't feel right - too plain and it didn't fit with the curved front of the case.

So I wanted a curve, which I could have worked out with a batten, as I did with the front, but instead I reached for some curve templates:

What? Doesn't everyone keep a Crock Pot lid and an angle food cake pan handy in the shop?

After tracing both curves on the blank and looking at it on the case, I chose the elliptical curve (Crock Pot). Then it was just a matter of shaping the curve with a drawknife and spokeshave.

After that, it just needed to be glued in place. The only tricky part was I wanted it to be attached before the back went on, so I could use the underside of the top to clamp it. As I wanted the back and the pediment to be flush, this meant I needed to make the back so that I would know how thick it would be and then give the pediment the appropriate overhang.

So, time for the back. I brought the thinner stock left over from resawing the case sides (roughly 1/4" - the sides are 1/2" thick) over to the bench and transferred the dimensions directly. I left it slightly oversized and would plane it flush after it was attached.

I also needed the thin stock for the angled back of the till section, so I made a cardboard mock-up to determine the correct size. The short hunks of dowels, with orange paint streaks from their days as part of a pipe clamp rack, are standing in for candles.

Once I was finished adjusting the cardboard to get the correct angle and fit, I used it as a template and cut the stock with a knife.

This worked great, much better than trying to saw the flexible wood, but I was a little to aggressive and split off a chunk that ran inside the line - drat! Oh well, the candles will hide that reminder to take it easy.

I glued cleats across the back of the stock to stiffen it and flatten out some cupping it was developing. Because this was cross grain, I only glued the middle couple of inches - a bit of an experiment really, we'll see how it works out.

You can see the pediment, waiting in the background, asking "Weren't you just about to glue me on about an hour ago?"

Yeah, yeah. So I did - and then the back.

The back was nailed on, and here's the tool set for that job:

"What's that? Why yes, that is a 30.06 On A Stick™ and serial #000001 to boot! A true collectors item - thanks for noticing!"

And there it is - just waiting on the drawers...

Final Part VI coming SOON!

New High Caliber Woodworking Tool

2010-06-21T22:47:00.002-08:00

"Necessity is the mother of invention." - Plato

"...but scrounging is the father." - Dan Klauder

- Begin Infomercial Announcer Voice -

Who doesn't love woodworking? It's fun and relaxing.

(Smiling man hammering nails in clean, well lit shop)

Until...oh no! That nail didn't drive straight!

(Smile turns to look of distress)

And it's down in the bottom of a very tight space! A hammer and nail punch simply can't reach it!

(Man tries unsuccessfully to drive nail back out with hammer and punch - hits own hand - drops tools and winces in pain)

Trying to pull it from the back will only make a mess!

(Man hammers screwdriver into the back of the case, splintering wood - throws tools down in disgust)

That project is finished!

(Man throws candle rack project into trash bin and turns out the lights)

But wait! All your hard work doesn't have to be ruined! Now there's a custom tool to fix this problem! Introducing...

The 30.06 On A Stick™!

This custom handmade tool, in the classic combination of hardwood and brass, will allow you to enjoy woodworking again!

Simply place the brass driver head, with the non-slip engraved pattern (Winchester 30-06 SPRG) on top of the errant nail, give the fully adjustable (saw not provided) hardwood shaft a brisk blow with your hammer of choice, and Bob's Your Uncle! The offending nail is driven back from whence it came and is now easily removed by hammer claw, pliers or other nail pulling device!

(Man - holding 30.06 On A Stick™ - slowly nodding head and looking at completed candle rack project with proud, self-satisfied expression)

Order before midnight tonight and we'll send you The .22 On A Stick™, perfect for travel or job site use, at no additional charge! Call now!

- End Infomercial Announcer Voice -

I'm hoping that maybe InventHelp will help me market this to Lie Nielsen or Veritas. Or maybe even Stanley, now that they appear to be interested in making quality tools again.

PS - It is critical to operator safety that the 30.06 casing be EMPTY before adapting to this use!

Candle Rack Continued (Part IV)

2010-06-15T09:37:00.000-08:00

Time to get back to work on the candle rack (I'm still not happy with that name). Last time I worked on the dovetails and now I needed to make the dados that house the drawer dividers. After that, the case could be glued.

First the layout. I made sure to mark which side of the line the dado was supposed to be on. It's too easy to make a mistake if I don't do that.

I didn't actually lay out the lines with the sides in this position. I marked them separately and then book matched them just to double check that I had everything right.

I prefer using a dado plane to create the dados, although there are a lot of other ways to get the job done. To guide the plane, I nailed a batten across the stock aligned with the layout line. The batten must be to the right of the plane, as the left side has the depth stop. I had to be sure the stock was oriented correctly so that the small nail holes from the batten were located on the inside of the drawer openings.

Job complete:

The Gramercy holdfasts kept everything locked down tight - they are great. I used the medium shoulder plane to tweak the bottom of the dados, which were slightly out of square. I need to reshape the iron of the plane a bit to fix that problem. It was a replacement, and it isn't quite right yet.

One more check:

At this point, I glued up the dovetails, then measured dado to dado to determine the divider width. After that, I cut the dividers to the correct width but left them deeper than needed. This allowed me to leave them proud and plane them flush, front and back, after glue-up.

Hey, it's starting to look like something!

Next I'll work on the back, the angled candle rest, and then on to the drawers.

Rainy Day Project

2010-06-06T23:19:00.001-08:00

Well, I should have the back deck, phase two, completed by now, but no. Actually, "phase two" is just another way of saying "all the work I didn't finish last summer like I planned." Hmm.

If things had gone like they should have, I'd have cracked on like smoke and oakum and we would now be enjoying the midnight sun on the back deck. But sunny day after sunny day slipped by as I did this and that. When I did try to work on the deck, I first had to figure out what the heck I was thinking when I last stopped. That took most of one day. Then, I had to undo some mistakes I made after misinterpreting what I had been thinking when I last stopped. That took another day. Then I realized that I never ordered enough decking. So I ordered it. It came. So did the rain.

So, I worked in the shop instead. Yea!

While rethinking the deck, I found I had an unneeded pressure treated 4x4. I decided that it should replace the street address post at the end of our driveway - which truth be told was a 1x3, sharpened to a point, driven into the ground with our address scrawled on it with a Sharpie (or possible a Sir Marks-A-Lot). This new post would have spiffy reflective numbers and a decorative cap. The numbers came from the Borg, but the decorative cap was going to come from my shop.

I wanted this to be a quick project, so I worked rather fast and loose, which was actually fun. First I needed to create a horizontal element. For this I wanted a square that would overhang all the sides of the post evenly. Instead of measuring, I used the sliding extension on my folding rule to capture the difference between the width of the stock and the width of the post...

...and then directly transferred that to the face of the stock (marked a line, set the post section to the line and added the extension distance) to determine the correct length to cut. Could I have measured? Sure, but it would have been slower and no more accurate.

I should point out that I wasn't concerned by the rough edge of the board I was using as I planned to round it over. In the end I didn't like how it came out, but if you look closely you can spot it in the background in a later picture.

As the stock I was using was an off-cut from the deck, it had kerfing on one side. This wouldn't do. Time for the scrub plane!

The scrub, followed by the jack, and the stock was ready to go. I used to clamp everything I planed between a bench dog and the vise dog in my end vise. Over time, I've switched to doing most of my planing with the stock just butted against a bench dog, as shown here. Even with side-to-side adjusting (not needed as often as you might think) it's much faster.

Next, I wanted to make a pyramid to top the cap. Some quick layout, and sawing, followed by the trusty jack and there it was:

It was at about this point (no pun intended) that I scrapped the rounded over look for the horizontal square. I decided to make another, and wrap it in mitered moulding. So I dug out the sticking board, selected a profile and got to work.

My sticking board has a built in miter box in the fence, which is handy, if not too accurate.

Lurking in the background is the stair nosing plane I used to round over the edges of the first square.

Since my miters were not great, I needed to adjust them with a chisel. The sticking board made a handy fixture for this.

It is also great for holding the work while drilling, such as for these pilot holes for the nails in the moulding. The fence holds the stock securely with no need for clamping. I do this often, as you can tell by the number of holes in the sticking board.

In the left background is the first square I made, in the right background is the second one, with the first piece of moulding already in place.

I added two more layers of moulding - a thumbnail above the square, and a dropped ogee below it. They came out a little rough, a combination of fast and loose working and not so great stock selection (I ripped some sticks from another decking off-cut). Here's the final cap with all elements in place:

And here it is in place on the actual post at the end of the driveway:

The tool kit used on this project (missing the sticking board).

One of the things I liked about this project was the reminder about the place of perfection. There is a lot more going on in a piece than just perfection of each part. Imperfect parts can be put together into a pleasant whole; perfect parts can be assembled into a ghastly whole. I think the whole (including proportion, character, sense of place etc.) has the overriding influence. Of course, perfect parts can help create a better whole...

P.S. - If you are sharp eyed, and a bit of a photo details nerd (like me), you may have spotted the elusive candle rack on the bench in several photographs. Yep, I'm still working on it...

Birch Windfall

2010-05-30T15:53:00.000-08:00

Well okay, not an actual windfall (as it was cut to avoid that) but a windfall of wood nonetheless. Our Alaskan birches don't tend to get very large, at least around here, because they either blow down or get crowded out by the spruce. This big guy was too close to the house of some friends and was making them nervous - which is why I found it on their lawn.

A call to my brother Josh, (who took the smaller stuff for his wood stove) and here was my haul:

My idea was to air dry it (I love the way air dried wood works with hand tools) and use it for all sorts of projects. The challenge is to avoid checking (splits) as the wood dries. If the wood is dried in the round, it will almost certainly check, as the wood shrinks tangentially to the grain much more than radially. In other words, as the outer rings of grain try to shrink into smaller rings, they can't move inwards enough to allow them to stay whole, so they split apart. The easiest way to do this is to split the wood into halves or wedges, which allows the wood to move freely as it dries and shrinks (the angle of the wedges become more acute as they dry).

Here's a photo essay of the splitting process.

Step 1: Start a split with the axe.

Step 2: Use a sledgehammer and a sharp wedge to open the split farther. I scored this old logging wedge down in Oregon and it is perfect for this step.

Step 3: Open the split wider with a larger wedge.

Step 4: Leapfrog the sharper wedge and advance the split again.

Step 5: Add another large wedge. A lot of the time I can leapfrog the large wedge to the new position, but this log was not in the mood to cooperate. The grain from the large branch (cut flush) complicated things and the first large wedge didn't release.

Step 6: Split complete.

Alternate Step A: Make a glut. I think traditionally these are made from some tough wood like dogwood. But seeing as I was at least a couple thousand miles away from the nearest dogwood, but only about ten feet from a scrap lumber pile, I made mine from an old 2x4.

Alternate Step B: Use the glut like a huge wedge (which of course is exactly what it is :) to split logs that are particularly large and/or ornery.

And here is the final result after a few hours of work.

And the tool kit:

I don't have any particular projects in mind for this wood, but I'm sure something will come to me.

Jamestown Joinery

2010-05-20T05:51:00.000-08:00

More from our school trip back east. Here are a few pictures of the reproduction furniture at the Jamestown living-history museum in Virginia.

It was fun to see the furniture in its actual setting (or close anyway). I'd like to know more about these. Who made them? How were they made? What were they based on? If I ever get back there I need to dig around a little and see if I can't find someone to answer these questions. Next time...

Slow Progress on the Candle Rack

2010-05-16T21:29:00.000-08:00

Every fall I think the start of the school year has got to be the craziest time of the year. And every spring I change my mind. Hands down, the end of the school year is the craziest time. It seems like every minute has at least an hour's worth of work to get done.

So after spending four hours of a beautiful Sunday in my stuffy classroom (the air circulation is shut off on weekends), I came home and hid in the shop for about an hour. It wasn't much, but I did make some progress on the candle rack.

First, I had to remember what I was working on - finishing the dovetails. Then I had to double check that I was working with the right parts in the right orientation. All stuff that just takes care of itself when you aren't breaking your project up into tiny amounts of time spread over weeks.

I did the layout on the tops of the sides by eye. If you look closely, you can see that I changed my mind a couple of times:

After cutting the tails, I transferred the layout to the pin board, cut it out and what do you know? It went together the first time:

It was fun to see the case for the rack coming together:

Not much progress, but better than nothing. And a nice hour in the shop with something to show for it is never bad. Actually, an hour in the shop is never bad, whether there is something to show for it or not.

Colonial Williamsburg Joiner's Shop

2010-05-09T14:38:00.001-08:00

Last week, two other teachers, four parents and I, took forty 7th and 8th graders on a 6 day trip from Alaska to Jamestown, Colonial Williamsburg and Washington DC. It was awesome! And no, I'm not totally crazy - our kids are great.

I didn't have much free time at Williamsburg, as chaperone duties kept me pretty busy, but I did get a few minutes in the joiner's shop. Actually, I thought I was going to the gun smith's shop, but I guess they moved it since the last time I was there.

I'm not sure what the interpreter was working on. I didn't have time to talk to him, but one of the things on the bench in front of him sure looks like part of a bellows to me. Anyway, here are some random photographs from my whirlwind tour.

I'll have to go back someday on my own and really spend some time there. I also took some pictures at Jamestown and a few other places that I will try to get posted soon.

Block Project Finished - For Now

2010-05-03T20:28:00.001-08:00

So Teague's blocks are finished - I was aiming for 50 and ended up having time for 46. Not too bad.

They're unit blocks, with the basic block having 1x2x2 dimensions. Making these blocks, and their larger siblings, was pretty straight forward - just dimensioning the stock really (well except for a few of the "special" shaped blocks), but it was fun practice.

The width of the stock is very close to the final width of 2 inches, so after planing off the finish (they are old library chairs) it doesn't take much more work to get there with just a jack plane. The thickness is another matter - too much to remove with the jack, and too little to resaw - well, I suppose if I really wanted some thin oak veneer...

I tried my scrub plane, but wasn't happy with the results. Just too much tear out to get close to the layout line. I switched to a #6 fore plane with a fairly cambered iron. It was the right tool for the job, fast, but clean, stock removal. Here's a shot showing two pieces of oak - the right is the "before" and the left is the "after" example.

After the fore plane got things close, it was quick work with the jack to finish removing stock down to the line. It was a little wasteful, but a definite time saver.

I tried to take a picture of the fore plane iron to show the amount of camber:

Here's a shot of work on one pair of ramp blocks:

I had to leave extra wood at the ends to adjust for the kerf and flattening of the angled plane. After everything was true, I cut the ends square and to length. I experimented with several different saws for cutting the angle and ended up liking the Japanese style rip saw the best.

I had anticipated having to do a lot of work with a plane to clean up the cut, but in the end it came out pretty clean straight from the saw. Just a few minutes with the plane, and it was fine.

Chamfering the edges of the blocks was much easier by pulling them over an upside down plane - once again the jack was pressed into service:

The final test of the set before the birthday boy got his hands on them (what can I say, they're fun!):

In action - I think he liked them, and the chest too:

I'm sure I will be making more to expand the set as time goes by and his construction skills grow.

Progress on the Candle Rack

2010-04-14T10:06:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been slow, but progress is being made on the candle rack - or is it a candle shelf, or candle cabinet? I don't know what to call this thing. Hmm. It's a candle thing! Maybe candle thingy sounds more precise...

Anyway, I started the dovetails on the candle thingy. First, I did the layout for the tails where one side joins the bottom. I used a marking gauge set just slightly more than the thickness of the pin board (bottom) to mark the baseline for the tails. Then, using a small bevel gauge (visible in the background), I just eye-balled the tails. I added the variations in the middle just for fun.

It's always temping to skip the "mark the waste with an X" part, but don't do it! Just trust me on that one.

After marking the tails, I ripped the lines with my dovetail saw. I should probably say I ripped using the lines as rough guides. It doesn't really matter if you saw to the line or not on this part, but it will later. Up to this point, this was my standard approach, but now I wanted to try a couple of new techniques.

Normally, I rip the tails with my saw, then move directly to removing the majority of the waste with a coping saw, clean them up with chisels, and then use the dovetails to layout the pins. The first new technique I tried helps with aligning the tail and pin boards for a more accurate transfer. This is the well known "shallow rabbet" technique. Basically, I just planed a very shallow rabbet on the inside of the tail board. When it was time to align the two pieces, the rabbet catches on the edge of the pin board and keeps everything square. It worked great and I liked it.

The second new technique was a different way to transfer the shapes of the tails to the pin board. Before I cut out the waste between the tails, I transferred the layout with the saw itself, running the front teeth (or tooth) down the kerfs in the tail board. I'd read about this in books, and seen Roy do it, but I'd never tried it myself. It worked okay - I think the juries still out on this one. I wasn't totally happy with the quality of the lines I created. Not enough pressure, and the line was very faint - too much pressure and the line was clear but there was some tearout in the face of the pin board. I need more practice before I decide if I like this one or not.

Here is a shot of the tail board aligned atop the pin board:

And here's a shot after the transfer of the layout using the "saw in kerf" technique:

After those two experiments, it was back to my standard routine. I used a coping saw to remove the waste between the tails:

And then chisels to pare to the baseline:

After that I repeated the same process with the pin board - although this time the lines really are important. You have to stay on the waste side of the line or you will have gaps in the final product. Watch, I'll demonstrate that pitfall. I believe in being thorough :)

It came out okay - if you look closely, you'll see a couple of gaps where I wasn't careful enough with the sawing of the pins. Wait, I mean, you'll see a couple of spots where the new "saw in kerf" technique really let me down. Yeah, that's it!

The dry fit:

Not too bad - it should look pretty good after gluing and cleaning it up with a plane. Just three more to go and then on to the dadoes etc.

A Study In Character - Rebecca's Shelf

2010-04-10T13:46:00.000-08:00

Sometimes it's nice to be reminded that our work doesn't have to be perfect. The value or worth of a piece is not only measured by the quality of its construction; character counts. Sometimes, character is the main attribute.

Here's a case in point. Rebecca has a small wooden shelf in her kitchen. It sits on the counter next to the stove and keeps her most used items close at hand.

But it has flaws - a lot really. When seen from the standard woodworker perspective, it has serious problems. The top is warped - badly. The joints have failed and been repaired numerous times; it's nailed like a kids' tree fort and has awkward corner brackets. And it seems so plain - just four sticks and two boards, four dados and four rabbets.

And yet, there is another way of seeing it. It has character - a lot really. Its plainess is part of its charm. Sometimes simple is better than complex. The top, although warped, is stained with cooking oil and sauces from thousands of home cooked meals (and Rebecca is a fabulous cook). The nails speak of someone caring enough for this piece to not throw it in a landfill or burn it in a fire. It's made of wood, not plastic. Its surface ages gracefully, absorbing life and reflecting it back. It's around for the long story, not the short, disposable life.

This piece has character, and it counts. Rebecca says "Those shelves have been in every kitchen I've had." I'd love for someone to say something like that about one of my pieces. Yeah, it's not always about perfection - character counts too.

The New, New Project

2010-03-28T21:17:00.001-08:00

So about a week ago I finally got moving on a new project - a knife holder. But then things changed. I started thinking about how my son has developed a real interest in the happenings up on the counters and how he likes to move the dining room chairs over so he can see, and grab, things off the counter. I decided that it would be better if the knives continued living in a drawer with a child lock. End of the new project.

So, it was time for a new, new project. And after resawing the stock for the knife holder, I was darn well going to use it. I settled on making a candle shelf. Using the dimensions of the stock, I designed a set of hanging shelves - well really a shelf/rack with two drawers underneath. Here's a shot of my plans:

The first step was to true one edge of the stock. I held it in the face vise and used a jointer to straighten the edge.

Then I marked the final width with my panel gauge riding on the trued edge - flipping it end for end to mark both sides.

There was less than 1/4 inch to remove, so I opted to plane it off rather than rip it with a saw. I started with a scrub plane for fast wood removal, and then finished up with the jointer. As I got close to the layout lines, the thin strips of wood started lifting up. If I was working square to the edge, they would have appeared on both arrises at the same time. As you can see in the photo below, only the near side was showing the curl, which meant I was high on the far side and needed to adjust my angle. This technique works a lot better than continuously bending down to look at the lines.

You can also see that I never really smoothed the resawn face of the stock. For the knife holder, this was unnecessary as the inside faces would not show. For the new project, the inside faces will show in the upper section, and I needed to spend some time smoothing those surfaces.

My design called for a curve on the upper half of each side. To lay out a true curve, I used a thin dowel. With one end clamped to the stock, I could flex the dowel until the curve was the right shape, and then trace it onto the stock.

After cutting the curve with my turning saw, I used a convex sole spokeshave to clean up the curve.

Instead of trying to replicate the same curve with the dowel for the second side, I just traced the first side. Here's the pair:

Next, I'll start to work on the joints: dovetails for the top and bottom, rabbets for the back, and dadoes for the shelf and drawer dividers. After that, I'll make the two small drawers.

The Vagaries Of The Hunt (for old tools)

2010-03-24T20:29:00.000-08:00

Rule #1 in the hunt for old tools is: “Things are not always predictable.” This rule is often expressed as “You just never know.”

A corollary rule (let’s call it 1A), is “Be persistent.” This rule is often expressed as “Let’s stop here. They look like they might have old tools.”

Let me illustrate these two rules by way of example.

Last year, I was down in Southern Oregon over spring break. I saw that the annual Antique Show was being held on the weekend. It cost $4 to get in the door, and catered towards the collectors. This should NOT have been a good place to look for old tools – but, being a big believer in rule #1, I went. And I scored big. I found a Stanley #62 low angle jack in great shape for under $100 dollars. Not cheap, but a very good price on this plane in this condition. And it's also where I found the infamous cigarette "nib" card. Sweet! Totally worth my time and $4 door fee!

Here’s the #62:

Flash forward to this year. Again I am in Oregon for spring break (family). Again the Antique Show is being held. Again I go, pay my $4 to get in and – strike out. There is nothing, NOTHING, there worth buying. In fact, one of the only hand tools I can find is a battered Stanley 120 with a tag attached explaining the page number in a book that set the price of this junker at $85. Wow! I’m out the door in 20 minutes.

That’s Rule #1 – you just never know…

Now, on the way home Rule 1A came into play. After the disappointment suffered at the show, all I wanted was to go have a burger and a milkshake. However, as I cruised down the road I came across a mini-storage complex with a “flea market” sign at the side of the road. Hmm. I slowed down for a closer look - mostly clothes, videos and car tires. Not a chance. But maybe…

I turned around, went back and parked. I started walking the rows of the complex and it was not looking good. Lots, and lots of junk. And, it was incredibly random. There would be a table set up in front of an open unit – and on the table would be a shoebox full of used plastic cigarette lighters, a bag of sand, a pile of plastic picture frames with no glass, empty perfume bottles, some jugs of anti-freeze and a flat of fresh limes.

But I kept walking, and eventually it paid off. I found “the tool guy”, and although I didn’t get anything amazing, I did get some nice old tools at a great price.

I scored: four old wood handled screwdrivers, a nice pair of 6” Sargent & Co. dividers, a pencil sharpener, and a Stanley #42X saw set in pretty good shape. And the total price was $9. Awesome!

Rule #1A rocks!

On Shop Inertia And A New Project

2010-03-22T06:18:00.000-08:00

It's been over two weeks since I've done any woodworking. So, finding myself with some free time yesterday, I eagerly headed out into the shop - only to run smack into Newton's First Law of Shops: "A shop at rest tends to stay at rest."

Maybe you've experienced this too, but I just couldn't get focused. I swept up some shavings hiding under the bench. I filed a few cardboard templates that I had left sitting out. I put away some leftover hardware. I cleaned and oiled the new marking gauge that had just arrived in the mail. In short, I puttered my time away.

No matter how hard I wanted to get things moving, it just wasn't happening. I had been away too long. The problem was certainly not a lack of projects: the partially finished set of blocks, the Arts & Crafts lamp, or even the long dormant bench. Nor was there any lack of potential projects I could start: the file box, the traveling tool chest, the small box, the shaker shelves or the wall cabinet. I could even work on tools: the chisel handles, sharpen the saws, fix the dovetail saw, or replace the missing boxing on the moulding plane. No, a lack of things to do was not the problem.

Finally, with almost no time left, I got things moving in one direction. I settled on making a new knife holder to replace the one that arrived broken. Two Christmases ago I placed a large order with Lee Valley. One of the things I ordered was a knife holder with plastic rods that hold the knife blades. Well, Lee Valley packs their stuff well, but not always well enough to insure survival through whatever the Alaska division of the USPS does to boxes. The box was practically crushed, and while everything else made it out alive, the knife holder did not.

Here's a picture of the broken holder:

Now, Lee Valley has some of the best customer service ever. And I know that if I had asked, they would have replaced it. But the thing was, I didn't really like the way the original wood looked. So I decided to just keep the plastic rod innards, and build a new case - a simple, fast project that I could have done in no time.

And then it sat there. And sat there. And months went by, and then a year. In the meantime, I saw (I think over at Schwarz's Woodworking Magazine Blog) a version that used bamboo skewers instead of the plastic rods. I liked that even better.

So now that I have had this broken holder for over a year, I finally decide to scrap the whole thing and build a new one from scratch. Sheesh!

I decided to use pine for this project. And so the first step was to resaw 3/4 inch stock to 1/2 inch. For this I use my frame saw. Here's a shot of the process:

And another - this time "sawyer's eye view":

After this, I decided that I need to make a longer frame for a longer web. I also need to file some more aggressive teeth on the next web. The bandsaw blade works fine most of the time, but in a long, wide board like this one, it's too slow.

So in the end, I only got through step 1 in the new project. But I did finally get things moving again in the shop. Now I just hope that the other part of Newton's Law will apply: "A shop in motion tends to stay in motion."

Moulding Samples

2010-03-10T09:36:00.000-09:00

When I last posted on my expanding moulding plane shelves the better part of a year ago, I mentioned that I had created a smaller shelf for storing short samples of the mouldings cut by the various planes. I've been slowly adding to these samples and since I find them very useful, I thought I might post about them.

Here's a shot of the almost full shelves:

That lower, center shelf holds the moulding samples:

I make these out of scrap 1x2 pine, and find these useful for several reasons:

1. They allow me to see the positive moulding profile, rather than the "negative" profile on the plane itself. It's funny how different these two versions of the same profile can be - especially for a profile that I haven't used before. I always think I know what the moulding will look like, but somehow my brain never sees it quite right. It works out much better to just work with the positive version.

2. It gives me a three dimensional moulding with which to play. I can see how the light and shadows change in various orientations. The shadow lines on a piece of moulding are a major aspect of the moulding, and they can look very different depending on where the moulding is used. With the sample, I can very easily try the moulding "right-side-up" or "up-side-down" (of course these terms are pretty meaningless - but I think you get the idea). When I'm deciding on a moulding for a piece, I pull out the samples and try them out in their final position. Visualizing is good, but actually seeing it is better.

3. I can stack the samples to see how they would work in building up a compound profile. This isn't perfect, as each moulding would not have to be stuck on a 1x2, but it works well enough to get a good idea of how they would look combined.

4. I use the back of the sample to record information about the plane. I write/draw the maker's mark, the owner's marks, any indicated sizes, and anything else stamped, carved or written on the plane. Then I record the name of the profile, which is sometimes a challenge. I also make note of any quirks in the use of the plane, or reminders to sharpen the iron. Besides being interesting, these notes help me locate the plane in my growing collection.

In the future, I'd like to include the approximate age of the plane on the back of the sample. And of course, I will probably need to make another shelf for the samples, as I underestimated how much room I would need... But what else is new?

Block Progress

2010-03-03T20:56:00.000-09:00

Since I finished the chest, I've been making progress on the set of blocks that will live in it. It's been slow going, but mostly because I have only had short blocks of time in the shop. Sorry - bad pun.

The wood is from the dying library chairs that I first posted about here. This works out great, as the salvaged oak is all short lengths - making it perfect for blocks.

These are "unit blocks". The basic unit is a 1"x2"x2" block. All other block dimensions are fractions or multiples of this unit.

Here's what I have so far, with the chest in the background:

I only have 25 blocks done, but I still have some time. I'm shooting for at least 100.

Old Pencil Box

2010-02-24T21:38:00.000-09:00

I recently picked up this old pencil box, because I like old things, boxes, pencils (don't get me started on the Dixon Ticonderoga 1388...) and mysteries. This box is a mix of all four. What really struck me was how similar it was to Roy Underhill's grease box.

The sliding dovetail lid reveals a upper storage compartment:

It also unlocks the pivoting mechanism allowing the lower compartment to be reached:

On the underside of the swinging section I found a date - cool!

And it's easy to see where some past owner or owners checked their spelling and arithmetic:

Here's the mystery. The bottom isn't really the bottom. It has a full length dovetail that connected something else to this box. What was it? Another level with more storage? Has anyone seen a more complete version?

For one of my next projects, I'm going to try to make a reproduction of this box, but I'm not sure what to do about the missing section(s). Any ideas?