A New Post, Wherein;

~ Our narrator, succumbing to the vain allurements of folly and fashion, steps into frame ~ The gross effects of holiday overeating are revealed and laid bare for comments, criticisms and judgment ~ A new sawing technique is demonstrated for the first time (in these annals) ~ A brother, unspoiled by praise or blame, heroically takes up the camera and performs admirably ~ A stout oaken plank is bent to the will of the craftsman ~ A dogsled is returned to trail readiness ~ And - Only Hand Tools Are Used!

Umm...sorry. Got carried away there. A combination of Rex Beach's "The Silver Horde" (1909) and "Fifteen Thousand Useful Phrases" by Grenville Kleiser (1917). Dreadfully sorry. I shall endeavor to contain myself...

Earlier today I responded to a comment on a previous post where a reader had stated that I clearly enjoy all aspects of making something out of wood. I agreed, saying that sometimes I enjoy the process more than the product. This post is a perfect illustration of how the process can trump the product - which in this case was nothing more than a rectangular stick with a half-dozen holes drilled in it.

My brother Josh, a recreational dog musher, asked if I could help him fix one of his broken sleds, and I happily agreed. So, the week before Christmas, Josh and his daughter Kaija came over to visit the shop (Kaija actually had her own project to work on - but that's a future post). One of the oak sled stanchions had broken after an abrupt meeting with a spruce tree. Actually, it's more complicated than that, but Josh isn't here right now and that's my version of what happened.

Here's a shot of the part to be replaced:


Josh brought a lenght of oak that was just big enough to form the new stanchion. The main job here was ripping, so the trusty Disston D-8 was called for:



This was one awkward board to rip - hard to hold on the edge of the saw bench, and too narrow for the slot down the middle. I ended up starting it at an angle across the bench and had to stop frequently to readjust - and avoid cutting into the bench.


As I got closer to the end of the rip, I reverted to my normal stance. When discussing the use of this saw bench before, I've tried to describe this position in words, but a picture is better:


At the very end of the board a chunk had been cut out for some past project. The gauge line almost, but not quite intersected this void. Of course, I could have stopped ripping and just planed this slightly wider section down to the line, but where is the challenge in that? Time to put theoretical knowledge into practice! I decided to flip the saw around, sit on the board, and try my hand(s) at overhand ripping:


Hmm, I have been eating too much...

Anyway, it worked better than I would have guessed:


After that I cleaned up the rip and straightened the edge with a jointer plane.


Hey, isn't that a plump grizzly bear chowing down on an enormous cream cheese covered bagel on my shirt? Fitting - isn't it...

Josh provides the obligatory shavings shot:


I used an awl to transfer the holes from the existing part to the new one...


...and then bored the smaller holes with a hand drill...


...and the larger hole with a brace and bit:


After that it was just a matter of bolting it into place. Here's Josh working on that:


So, a thoroughly enjoyable process that yielded a completely mundane product. Cool.

Of course, when joined to its other mundane friends, that part becomes a sled capable of the extraordinary process of mushing. Hmm.

Making Handles for New Tools

Wow, the holidays sure are crazy! I've been so busy that I haven't done a post in almost two weeks. Ironically, I've actually been in the shop quite a bit working on several projects. In the beginning I was taking pictures to use for a couple of posts, but by the end, I was so crazed trying to finish up two Christmas presents that I didn't slow down enough to even think about taking pictures. Maybe I'll do a short "final product" post on those gifts...

But today I could relax in the shop, and I used my time to make handles for three new tools my wonderful wife gave me for Christmas: two Japanese milled-tooth files and a Nicholson #49 pattern maker's rasp. Yes!


I dug up some birch for the handles...


...and split it into rough blanks with a hatched and maul.


I cleaned up the blanks with a scrub plane and spokeshave. Then I found some copper fittings to use for the ferrules, and transferred the diameter to the handle stock using pencil graphite.


I carefully (sort of) sawed around the shoulder and then pared the tenon with a chisel. I did the final rounding with the rasp itself - it would have been much easier to use (safer too) if it had only had a handle - hmm...


I don't really have a "design" for my handles. I just make them feel comfortable in my hand. I tend to end up with some variation on a general theme of tapered octagonal prisms.

Here's a shot of the finished handle, with ferrule and final shaping complete. The chamfering of the end was done with a chisel, while the tiny chamfers on the shoulder (not visible in this shot) I did with a knife.


After making the first handle (for the #49 rasp) with the copper left bright, I decided to experiment with giving the next ferrule some patina. My attempt at using heated mineral oil created a mottled look that I actually like very much. It's different than the uniform black I created on the bolts for the turning saw project. I'm not sure if it's a result of using mineral oil instead of linseed oil, or if it has something to do with the copper.

Here are two final group shots:





Oh, and how do they work? Fantastic! Especially the rasp - what a revelation! Thank you for the wonderful gifts Sweetie!

The Woodwright's School

You may have seen this already, but just in case you missed it: Roy Underhill has launched The Woodwright's School website and it includes online registration for the Winter 2010 classes. It also has some great downloadable plans, including the folding book stand I recently posted about.

Man does that make me hate living in Alaska just now. Well, that and the 5 hours of daylight - come on solstice!

You can check it out here: The Woodwright's School

Planes and Shavings: Four Portraits

Stanley #49 Tonguing and Grooving Plane

"Andruss" 1/4" Side Beading Plane

Millers Falls #4 Bull Nose Rabbeting Plane

Stanley #3 Smoothing Plane

Folding Book Stand Revisited

One of the very first posts on this blog was about a folding book stand I made for my wife. In The Woodwright's Workbook, Roy Underhill writes about this stand, which he calls a reading stand. It's in the Domestic Devices chapter of that book, which is a must read if you are interested in hand tool woodworking - as are ALL his books.


As I stated in the original post, it was the first true hand tools only project I attempted. I also helped my nephew James create his own version (which you can read about here, here 2 and here 3). I think it is a fun, and challenging project with some "wow" factor as it is made out of one piece of wood.


A while back a blog reader, who has made some awesome book stands of his own, asked if I could post some more detailed pictures of the hinge layout that I used. This post is the belated (sorry Craig) response to his request.


The first step is to lay out a square on the edge of the stock. Then, divide this in half both vertically and horizontally. Finally, connect the four mid-line points to make a diamond shape (okay, okay - so it's really just a rotated square - sheesh, Shape Police!). This then gets transferred across to the other edge and replicated. Lay out an odd number of hinges and start chopping and paring. If you work on the hinges closest to the edges, you can use the side layout to help guide both your angle and depth. Use these as guides for making the rest of the cuts. Then it's just a matter of sawing down and up to the hinges - look for the sawdust falling out from the hinge openings. If you worked carefully, the only thing holding the stand together at this point is the thin web of wood between each hinge. Use a very thin knife blade to cut these free and the stand will pop open. Fun!

Here's a close-up of the closed joint and layout lines. As you can see, I was not particularly careful with the rip sawing coming in from the left. I over-cut into the edge hinge. Doh! But it all came out okay - just be careful on the last couple of saw strokes.


After that, it's just deciding what shape to use for the legs and decorative top. The one in Roy's book, from Andre Roubo's Art of the Cabinetmaker, has a kind of double ogee top. I decided to base mine on the shape of old tombstones I used to see back east.

One last note - Roy mentions that Roubo describes creating a circular joint for this stand. I can see how that would work, but I've never tried it. Maybe on my next one...

Replacing A Moulding Plane Wedge

The other day I successfully replaced a broken wedge on a side bead moulding plane that I bought on eBay. This was an almost "perfect" project. What made it special was a combination of many of the things I especially enjoy in a project: an old tool brought back to life, using shop-made equipment (successfully), finding a suitable job for a special stash of wood, applying my developing skills to overcome a lingering mental block, and a full and complete project in under two hours. That's a rare single project combination in my shop!

I'd had this plane for a while, but had not been able to use it because the wedge that holds the iron had broken off the very first time I tried to remove it (and yes there is an embarrassing story there, and no, I'm not going to tell it now). I successfully removed the remainder of the jammed wedge from the plane by turning it upside down, clamping the stump of the wedge in the bench vise and lifting the plane body off of it. But that is when the mental block came into play. For some reason I was intimidated by the idea of making a replacement wedge. I'm not sure why, but I convinced myself that this would be a hard thing to do. Stupid. And so this poor plane had been languishing on my desk; the island of misfit tools.

Here's a shot of the original wedge:


The first step was to prepare some stock. I was going to use some oak, when I remembered that my good friend Dave had sent me some hunks of salvaged beech wood, which would be much more appropriate. Thanks again Dave! After cutting a piece and resawing it to approximate thickness, I planed it to final thickness by working against one of my bench dogs. This is a handy trick for thin stock. I also traced the outline of the original wedge (after piecing it back together) on the new blank.


Taking it over to my saw bench, I used the slot in the overhanging end as a birdsmouth and cut out the shape of the wedge and finial with a coping saw.


To ensure that the straight edges of the wedge were true, I used a plane. It's difficult to secure small pieces and accurately plane them, so in this case I found it much easier to hold the plane in the vise and push or pull the wedge along the plane. Kind of like a miniature power jointer - only without the power :)


I cleaned up the finial curves with a file, and after some trial and error adjustments to the wedge angle, I had what looked and felt like a good fit. But there was only one way to be sure. A quick trip to the Scary Sharp bench, and the ca. 1850 Winsted plane was ready for a test drive on the sticking board; it worked great!


And here's a final shot of the now happy plane, ready to join its brethren on the shelves:

More Books...

Just wanted to mention that I've updated my List-O-Books link in the left sidebar. It's under the Woodworking Library heading. I also made the link font bigger (thanks Josh!). As always, my favorites are in bold. If you see anything you'd like more information about, feel free to post a comment here or email me.

Here are a few of the latest additions to the library with accompanying notes:

How to Make Mission Style Lamps and Shades - I've been eyeing this book for at least a year at a local used book store. As I think I am getting ready to try my hand at making a lamp, I thought this book might prove useful.

Making Chair Seats from Cane, Rush, and Other Natural Materials

The Craft of Chair Seat Weaving with Cane, Rush, Splint and Rope - These were more of a long range purchase. I'm sure at some point I will want to learn how to do this, but the books were available now.

The Best of Fine Woodworking: Beds and Bedroom Furniture - Full of good ideas. Most of the techniques are power tool oriented, but I bought this more for the design information.

Country Pine Furniture - This is a book written for the "collector" - I have a number of these in my library. The text of these books I find frequently strange, sometimes interesting, and occasionally flat out wrong (IMHO). They do however, tend to include nice photographs which I love to pore over.

Williamsburg Reproductions - Now this one is really odd. It's a catalog from the early 1970's. It covers reproductions of everything: furniture, china, wallpaper, lamps, trivets, candles, silver, pewter, paint etc. While it does have some photographs of historical pieces (including a paneled chest which also appears in the Country Pine book above - synchronicity!) it is almost entirely devoted to listing and selling reproductions - but I still found it an interesting potential resource for ideas.