Wood Notes

New Horse in the Fence

2010-04-09T13:24:00.006+02:00

Pedder and Klaus made this panelsaw for me. Pedder made the research and the adaptation of the handle design and the toothing, meanwhile Klaus shaped the walnut handle. I got it yesterday. I'm highly impressed, not only by eye but by its performance too. The saw cuts smooth and fast, the way I never held a better one in my hand. (Rake 20°, fleam 30°, 10 tpi, not tapered, no breasting, minimal set) The handle is finely worked with perfect craftsmanship, the finish is deep and appeals to my skin. It fits my hand very well. One couldn't have done better.

Filling Stock

2010-03-01T19:54:00.006+01:00

Yesterday we had a storm over here in Luxembourg. I had one victim - my locust tree (Robinia pseudoacacia). Chances were high it would damage the neighbour's barn roof. Actually the trunk inclined dramatically and drifted. The rootstalk came up. So during this breezy moment, the local fire brigade felled it. Sniff, I had it for my twenty fifth from my brother and it was witness of so many magnificent and not so magnificent moments of my life. Thought these tree tips would survive me.

Now what to do with the wood? Sigh nearby.

M/T

2010-02-21T19:49:00.003+01:00

Work calls, shoptime vanishes... One can't show brainwork in a blog. And if so, I could show you a lot of detours I made to finally debark on a modest not so elegant M/T joint. In the photo above, the mortice for the foot rail is finished - the chips of the end cuts yet stacked up in. The tenons will be fixed by drawbored pegs - one sided, so they won't show up. The peg holes be drilled on the other mortice face. Get it?

Now this won't work for the removable side rails. Brainache ahead...

Bandsaw Cuts

2010-02-18T18:50:00.004+01:00

First cut started, the mark line hit, grin on my face.

Two cuts done, the kerf is frayed, but the cut lines are satisfying. The band is a bit coarse maybe, but all in all I'm happy.
Cut off with the Old Ladies' Leap Frog. The surface merely needs some filing. All posts done, mortising coming next...

45 Degree Sled for Bandsawing

2010-02-17T18:18:00.006+01:00

Wow, second post of the day! Did I already have this? As I dive deeper in the work, it gets more and more of me, can't release. Mh, just wanted to take a look at the Speed Triple and the Ducati Superbike this week - can they wait?

On the legs, it is necessary to have a 12 cm rip cut, heavily chamfered part of the two inner edges of the leg. Those faces will get mortises and will make the joint to the foot and head rail. I thought these cuts be finely made on this gorgeous bandsaw I call my own (indeed I think it rather belongs to the dogs than to me) So I built a sled, a jig holding the legs in the right position for the saw and the later mortising.

See the pattern of the legs in the photo...

Bed Legs

2010-02-17T11:58:00.003+01:00

I know, one should call them posts, not legs, but I like the idea of legs more... Yesterday time passed by, planing, gluing, bandsawing and smoothing again those walnut blocks - I won't tell you what book I'm reading nor the music I'm listening too. I reached for harmony in the grain pattern. Man, if one leg will fail, I will have trouble finding ersatz. For an invisible glue line I chose to plane a slight hollow on two opponent glue faces, like David C teaches. I photographed the steps once here in English and once here in German. The result is quite good, now on for the pattern. There is sapwood to cut off...

Warmed up

2010-02-15T15:03:00.003+01:00

After the holder warm-up, why not spend some days working on that longagoputbehindleftouttasight bed project. Sure design has changed since then. A bit of the new legs in the first photo. It reveals 8 cm thick legs. My walnut store didn't provide this, so glue is the master of the moment.
Peter Galbert , chairmaker of fantastic Windsor chairs, settees and... showed in his blog how to compose the grain. Well this to be an experiment to me, I chose these flat sawn piece you see in the pic above. Currently the second leg is drying, work ahead...

Coffee Capsule Holder II

2010-02-14T11:26:00.004+01:00

As I was on for the capsule holder I figured out, how to stop all the capsules falling through down. So I needed a stop and one idea was to install a bamboo feather in the groove. For this I had to prepare my Ioroy chisel... Never needed it during 6 years... Reinstalling the upper ferrule, the chisel came apart. I would not dare hiding you the anatomic photo. Do I have to bring up the idea wasn't worth a dime?

Instead I drilled a 38 mm hole with a spacer and a 6 mm dowel underneath it. The stop is effective in the end...
The holder in its place just above the coffe machine, best place I thought...

Coffee Capsule Holder I

2010-02-14T11:07:00.007+01:00

You maybe know George Clooney and his love for coffee? Well he got me... I looked for a holder and came up with this prototype. I realised the definitve model in American walnut. Cross section of the slats being 25 mm by 30 mm. First I planed 1/8 inch grooves with the small Rapier.
Then I made a another fence for the Veritas rabbet plane and marked the angle. The fence worked fine, because the outer edge of the plane could move in the groove.
The 8 slats profiled as they will come together later on. The oak batten fixes the distance between two profiles at 1 inch.
In order to fix the slats I doweled them. Each dowel had to pass through the plate as I wanted to avoid torn slats.

Shaping Ends

2009-11-06T14:49:00.003+01:00

Definitely I worked on the headboard yesterday. First thing was to cut the upper ends at the right height and then to establish the round end shape with a compass.
I used a micro plane rasp - thanks Urs - for this job. It took kind of tiny shavings very easily without scratching the surface. Nonetheless I'm not sure of the longevity of this tool. Time will show.
After a bit of sanding the ends looked like in this photo. I thought I would not push further this work until the headboard was together.
So I went on marking the mortises for the upper horizontal board. A pattern helped to transmit the position from the board's tenon to the leg's mortice. Both mortises are done at the moment, so the tenons will follow one of these...

On Curves

2009-10-13T19:22:00.003+02:00

Somewhere in dark October I decided to go for slight curves paired with vertical slats for the headboard. The shape isn't quite final, it can increase a bit inbetween the given limits, i.e. the current legs in the photo above.
The head rail was jointed by those two nice longish gems. Number 8 made coarse work short, the try was a joy to use on that lovely board.

Tablets in Walnut

2009-09-14T22:24:00.003+02:00

Last week I made two tablets outta virtual scrap wood. You remember the bed in Walnut? Yes, I went through the boards and thought I could easily see future scrap wood, that would make up for two nice tablets. First picture shows how I clamped the shallow sides in order to plane 1/4 inch grooves. The Rapier worked fine as always, just a bit tiny in my hands. I'm eyeballing on the new Veritas version.

Gluing the second tablet. The session was quite smooth, not as on the first one. The panel was oiled before I put the clamps...

I made 4 mm dowels of walnut with hatchet, chisel and dowel plate. The riven stock has to be near the final diameter. Otherwise it is a tedious job. In the background the first tablet.

I positioned the holes, drilled the same with the following tools... The eggbeater is smooth and entirely destined to this kind of job.

The final projects measure near 33 by 53 cm. The sides are 2 cm thick. Thought this to feel right as they aren't high...

Slats

2009-09-05T19:21:00.003+02:00

Today I planed and thicknessed the slats that will (probably) make the head piece of the bed. I jointed by hand, the number 8 worked fine, after I applied a coat of auto polish and one of liquid wax.

The slats will have a 3mm center flute and slight bevels on the side edges...

For the legs I won't tell you, that I made another pattern, better respecting the grain. I won't tell, because it can happen that I'll draw a 4th version. Guess, yes, I'm nuts on this bed design. Anyway I ordered narrow blades for the bandsaw, so I will have the possibility to saw any pattern until all the wood will be gone in sawdust and single legs.

Legs

2009-09-01T21:25:00.002+02:00

As I intended to leave straight and square lines, I thought beginning with the legs. The first pattern remembered too much curves - dog curves - I thought. I went on for a further model - the left in the picture.
The first leg being bandsawn, it needed lots of rasping, filing and machine sanding. Yes, you understood right corded sanding. Spokeshaves failed, the work piece was to thick. More to come one of these...

First Steps

2009-08-02T11:18:00.002+02:00

Here's the famous walnut, 7 planks, 4 of them bananas, 3 straight and so the latter easily were chosen to be the subsequent rails.
The bananas come to form the legs. Here is one piece on the thicknesser to be planed on the sled. It came out fine...

More to come the next days...

So, What's a Good Bed?

2009-07-24T22:05:00.004+02:00

After several months of severe woodworking deprivation, I'm on a new project. The title says it all, I'm wondering what makes up for a good bed design. Some questions almost appear by itself, some answers emerge naturally. As usual I'm thinking long on the former before I dare start the project. So first answer, the wood is in the shop, no hesitation on that anymore. It was easy to chose Amercian walnut. It won against cherry, teak, mahogany, sipu, French walnut, fumed ash, fumed beech... So American again. I bought a trunk, in order to have matching colors all over the piece. And did I tell you yet, I love the dark color. It reminds me a pair of brown eyes, mh... Despite seven 2 inch planks, it was hard to find four long pieces for the rails. The bed will take 2000 mm by 1800 mm, interior measures.

Second answer, yes it should be sturdy, that's why I got 2 inch planks. It should be mobile too, not that I intend to move, but one never knows... So I will install "Berliner Betthaken". They were recommended by the fellows of the German messageboard. Fourth the design should be elegant rather than show mass.

Now I'm tackling the headboard, after the legs and the rails are in my imagination. I don't know if I should go for one, as I'm kind of clueless. If it is absolutely vertical, that would look maybe severe. It should not be straight and square either, no it will be very demanding to construct the right shape, one whole board with some bent, back slats like on a sleigh bed, turned slats... Well I have to sleep on that question one night more...

Should the piece have a fault? Prudently built in as a strip of sapwood in the side or head rail. Now I'm really aren't in beds anymore, so what?

A Shelf for the Molding Planes

2009-03-16T21:01:00.003+01:00

Tools pushing, shoving and scrambling in the tool cabinet, it was time to build a dedicated shelf for the molders. It is of spruce, finely jointed, well no, just screwed, but despite I was convinced a decent bracket shape would go with the antiques. The spruce makes a fine contrast to the walnut and I think it will dominate all the new further shelves.

The woodie jointer entered the cabinet door. It'll be its final place. The saws will leave for an additional storage...

Next project is a chest of drawers, the wood should be American cherry, but I'll maybe switch to the European counterpart. Design is not clear yet, no drawings at this stage.

The Plates of Roubo

2009-03-16T20:42:00.004+01:00

A friend, woodworker and bookbinder thought it be cool to have the Roubo collection of plates. Completely aware those aren't running the street, he made a portfolio. I like it, it is great. He wasn't quite satisfied with the quality of the prints. So he bought a 2nd edition of the original. Guess what, he wants to scan all the plates. I will stand first in the row asking for a copy :-)

New Addition Lie-Nielsen #7300

2009-02-21T19:41:00.004+01:00

Or should I say another tool seeks a rest? Well this one is pretty large. The LN medium shoulder plane always was a favorite of mine. Some friends convinced me, one could not live without the large counterpart. I didn't know it was this large. I put my nylon mallet next to it, so you have an impression what chunk this #7300 is.

New Rests in the Tool Cabinet

2009-02-21T19:32:00.003+01:00

Often enough I don't have a clue how I should fit another plane into the cabinet. Then some lightning occurs out of the dark and one or two tools find their place. This week three favorites found a home: the #164; the #62 and the #5 1/2. They are stored horizontally; it is what distiguinshes them from the other bench planes. A #7 will follow soon in the left side and then... I'll have to remodel the door - once again. So far the results of this week are pleasing.

Work Table Finished

2009-02-07T19:26:00.002+01:00

Practice

2009-01-31T19:32:00.003+01:00

Today the legs got the mortises for the low aprons, half inch wide by 40mm long. Then the very same workpieces got tapered on the bandsaw. It is a smooth process, marking by a long sliding bevel and cleaning with the junior jack.

The aprons got tenons, rip cuts were made on the bandsaw, crosscuts by hand. Cleaning it up with a 2 inch chisel was fast and easy as there were only tiny bits on the intersection of the sawcuts. No shoulder plane involved, I guess practice pays...

Now waiting for the good size drawbore pins...

Walk the Plank

2009-01-31T13:57:00.002+01:00

Someone told me to upload my videos on youtube, it should squeeze out a higher quality. So I tried this here - watch the video on youtube by clicking on the title or watch from blogger by clicking below...

Walnut

2009-01-29T18:09:00.004+01:00

This photo gathers three tools in walnut. The file is German Walnut, both saws should be American black walnut. I'm not sure on the saw in the center, it looks to be closer to European walnut. Is there a knowlegeable reader on this entry, who can confirm?

I got an answer yesterday, it says the saw in the center to be black walnut harvested in Iowa and the other one being Claro walnut from the west coast. Mh, I don't know, but am still curious.

Instead of a Negative Entry

2009-01-29T17:57:00.003+01:00

This diary has always been a place where I intended to give a description of my woodworking. Actually an angry sigh on toolmakers and shops in the web would pull down this place. So I deleted every word and present instead an old picture of my tool cabinet.

No Fuss

2009-01-25T19:54:00.003+01:00

The legs' mortises got finished today. The Sorby sash mortice chisel did a good job after a sharpening session on the Tormek and the waterstones. For some weeks I use to work on several stones, not only the 800 King and then on an 8000. No, I enjoy the Tormek, then the 800, then 4000, then 8000, then 10,000 and finally 12,000 grit stones. It gives me the impression the blade will keep its edge quite longer. Oh, yes, and sometime I include a couple of passes on honing compound.

The new dovetail saw was fine on oak, although I think oak isn't good for 20 tpi. I'm thrilled how the little gem will deal with drawer dovetails.

I made all the tenon rip cuts on the bandsaw. What a nice feeling of no binding in the cut. That was a great day. The tenons had some clean-up by a shoulder plane and a chisel. Now I'm waiting for those AIs drawbore pins I bought from Joel. Thought these joints would perfectly meet the demand of a work table.

Work Table in Progress

2009-01-10T23:05:00.002+01:00

This week I succeeded in working an hour or two in the shop during the evening. I finished the table top of the work table in oak. Why oak? Well, I had already two glued shelf boards and the office space is all in oak. The top got breadboard ends, screwed in, holes closed with oak pegs.

I did the smoothing this morning. An old Stanley #5 and the #62 did an excellent job. I had to scrape only two or three tiny spots.

During the session I sharpened the iron of the low angle to 45°. It was the first time I used the 12.000 Naniwa super stone. I went through the grits from the 800 King, over a nameless Japanese 4000, a 10.000 Naniwa and finally the superstone. The latter polishes highly - under 3x magnification quite a difference to the 10.000 grit.

Sigh on the bandsaw and the thicknesser afterwards bringing the legs and the aprons to shape... So more enjoyable tasks for the next week. Hopefully the table comes to an end, oak can be dusty.

Between the Years

2009-01-01T23:13:00.000+01:00

The season from Christmas to New Year is commonly called between the years. Actually there are calm and relaxing moments in it. Gearing down seems the thing to do. I for this stopped the headache on the no-more-folding-campaign-table and was caught by small projects.

The gardening unlidded toolbox needed to be replaced. Fine old spruce from a biergarten table was welcome. Spruce is planed very well, it gives nice translucent shavings... The box is rabbeted with some beach nails. The meranti handle - a recycled piece too - is tapered. Nothing fancy, just for use. Its futility is balanced by its lightness. 14mm thin boards, 20 inches long, about 10 wide and 6 high.

The "current addictive tool" suffered from the changes of humidity. It didn't work properly anymore. That was especially sad as I use to pick it up once a day just in order to take a shaving or two. The sole had to be trued. There is still a gap just in front of the mouth. I will watch this after the dry season has finished.

Then there is some bandsawn holly, which I prepared for inlay. The bandsaw worked fine, it just got me thinking about alining the wheels - a job that didn't match these contemplative days...

Finally all sits on an oak panel which will be part of a drawing, work, multi purpose table, not sure about the legs yet. Well, legs seem to haunt me.

Please Pass by, Nothing to See...

2008-12-28T23:05:00.000+01:00

I should have brought up a story about marriage, fusion and bull... That would not have been me. No, please, dear diary, keep in mind, the tray didn't match the legs. Stop, that's all. So the tray will have other legs, maybe with a drawer or two. I don't know yet. Drawer? There was Lebanon Cedar in the garden, wasn't it? Mh...

Meanwhile I started a simple project, an open tote chest for garden tools. I had some spruce drying - indeed it was a biergarten-table...

Legs' Frames

2008-12-26T18:08:00.001+01:00

The folding legs are made by two frames, one short, inner and another longer outer frame. I first built the short one in order to adjust the longer on it. It worried me that I didn't know how to turn round tenons on square stock - the rails. All the time I tried with a turning tool, spindle gouge, skew chisel, the result always was a splittered edge, at least one. So I remembered an old online article where the tenons were first sawed in. That's what I did and what shows up in the first photo. Then I grabbed the spindle gouge, roughed off a bit and cut to depth with the parting tool. That's the actual stade on the pic. I followed with a large straight scraper to clean up.

This pic shows the finished lower short rail. The center is turned and polished up to 1200 grit followed by a horsehair polish.

The rails being finished I returned to the stiles. Tenon holes had to be drilled on the drill stand. The pivoting point of the two frames is made up by 40 mm brass screws and a threaded insert. It deviates from the original in so far. As to drill the holes, they had to be absolutely square, no problem on that. These tiny inserts though tend to follow their own path not necessarily that of of the drilled hole.

I forced the insert to go vertically in by screwing it in on the drill press. Just man power, no electrons involved. They came in clean.

Final stage after some smoothing and chamfering was the gluing table for the narrow frame. I then finished the other frame too. Currently the glue's drying. Tomorrow I will plane two stops and then nothing will retain me from an oil finish.

p.s. The logic of the pics' appearance at blogger? Well, it's like in the Bible, the first will be the last and the last will be the first.

Bitholder Repeated

2008-12-25T15:49:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I made another bitholder for a woodworker, the second one in marbled American walnut. Three steps of the progress right here on the pics. #3 roughing out the shape mainly with the roughing gouge, # 2 then polishing up to 1200 grit paper and #1 the finished holder with stayovers.

Didn't check blogger's logic on uploading the photos, must be more emphatic.

Smoothing the Legs

2008-12-11T18:38:00.001+01:00

Today I had an hour shoptime and I cut off the legs. 36 inches long with a 39° angle at the ends. The small LN crosscut performed well, it didn't hook that often. It showed me to cool down from work and go on smoothly, letting the saw fall into the cut. I then marked the wholes for the hardware - the screws - in the center of each leg. Finally I started smoothing with the #164 and chamfered with a standard angle block plane. Both planes performed well. Although I didn't sharpen the low angle, it took shavings a 4/100 mm thick. The Veritas clamp did a fine job as of being my new planing stop. I must give it a better place, hiding in the drawer under the bench is beneath it.

Fake

2008-12-07T22:18:00.001+01:00

Okay this is the picture where I've finished the legs on the lathe. Sigh, I took photos all over the whole process, ripping on the new bandsaw, thicknessing and turning on the lathe. No, I joke, I merely pictured the work on the lathe, but my camera didn't want to play with me. So on the first pic are the 4 legs, each in two parts. Mario Rodriguez proposed to do so in three. The lower ends are on the left, the upper on the right side. First I sawed and planed stuff to 1 1/4 inch square. The part with the tenon I made first. Attention had to be paid on the right size, I got with a scraper tool and a test hole to check. The other part was drilled first - well all of them - anyhow I had to rechuck (is this the right term?) all of them. Then I shaped the mortise side with a 3/4 inch spindle gouge, cut to depth with a fresly sharpened parting tool and shaped the round part with a roughing gouge - it is astonishing how nice this tool cuts when sharp. The ends of the round parts were finished by the spindle gouge again.

Now this pic shows how I checked the depth of the mortise. A pencil mark and a small rule controlled depth.

Heading for the rails on one of these rainy days...

Finally

2008-11-30T19:46:00.000+01:00

So here's my new bandsaw, wheel diameter 600mm, cutting height 385mm, weighing 275 kg, an Italian beauty. You think it is too big? You're not that wrong, you know. But it is all they had immediately available in their shop in Trier - an exhibit. A good discount made me swallow the price. A gentle technician installed the blade on Saturday morning. First cuts revealed to be promising. As shop time has been heavily decreased, this machine will speed up things a bit :-)

Well I hope. Closed doors view. Please ignore the mess in the background...

Walnut

2008-11-22T23:15:00.000+01:00

Okay the prototype in holly had to make place to a walnut serial bitholder. This time I went through the grits up to 1200. It was well worth the effort, the wood is shiny, seems real deep and has a nice touch.

Repeater

2008-11-22T18:23:00.001+01:00

Another bitholder came out of the pipeline today. What that means? No bandsaw has yet entered the workshop :-( Wood is holly, dried in the workshop during nearly two months. The grain is dense and fine and cuts easily and smoothly on the lathe. The color is less than convincing. I now know why holly was used as an inexpensive Ersatz of ebony. The shape comes from old screwdrivers I saw in an antique web shop. I drilled the shank hole with a 6 mm wood drill and opened it with an 6.5 metal drill in an eggbeater, thought the dense grain would split otherwise. All in all I like the shape and will certainly give it a go again in walnut or pearwood or...

Bitholder in Cherry

2008-11-17T20:04:00.000+01:00

Well waiting for the new bandsaw and having just one hour shop time, I spent the latter in turning a bitholder and not ripping the table legs. I had made a very rough one a year ago or so. It was plenty of Nürnbergers and all, so I decided to replace it by a new cherry one. The hardware was recycled, so the old one had to die. Cherry is soft enough to drill a 6 mm hole, first thing I did, then I turned the ferrule part down to its required thickness, stripped it over in the Record vise, tight fit, no epoxy or others. The shape was all made by a 3/4 inch spindle gouge from Crown. Not bad the Crowns but I have the impression they dull quicker than the Sorbys.

Planing the Legs

2008-11-11T18:52:00.000+01:00

Today I planed the legs, sawn out of 2 inch thick lumber. The 27 inch long Clark & Williams performed superbly. The try plane took out the belly of the center. It is the right tool for stock longer than 1 meter.

Then I turned the lower part of a leg. Mario Rodriguez divides the legs in three parts. I hope doing it in two. The tenon on the left will fit into the square center part. I had my doubts on turning and thought one moment to leave the legs all square. I came back to the original as it feels more delicate.

The Tray

2008-11-09T19:45:00.000+01:00

Now I finished the tray, first part of the folding table. First there are these stiles, rails and floating panels. One thing to remind, I made stub tenons on the medial stile and rail. This allowed me to easily adjust during the hysterical glue moment. Everything passed finely, so I got on with the sides.

First I made the dovetails, mitered at the upper end. The curves were sawn out by a fret saw and then smoothed with my favourite spokeshave which are the LV low angle and the LN concave sole. The latter shaped the "molding", well made kind of a light bow in the cross section. The concave part of the curve was finished by a Nicholson file and a scraper card.

This is how the dovetails came out and the last picture allows a look in the tray.

Now just one of the pics can be magnified by a click on it. I just don't know why. If anyone has an explanation, it would help me avoiding this mishap.

This Old Lady

2008-10-28T19:22:00.000+01:00

Today I met an old lady the first time. She comes from "Old Ladies", a Spear & Jackson Leap Frog, tuned with a new handle in pearwood. 14 inches long, open handle and bites like a bullet.

But take a look yourself...

Not this Season

2008-09-28T11:07:00.000+02:00

You remember last September, I dived into oblivion of blog writing. This year it won't happen, even if there is lot to do on the job side. So what did happen lately?

I planed the tongues on the panels of the folding table. As the new skew rabbet excels at its task and I don't have to sigh along the fence to adjust it properly anymore, I decided very quickly it be the tool of the moment. And look those end grain shavings. They fell off quite beautifully without additional sharpening or honing from my side. Well, that's a new definition of "right out of the box".

Then I made some turnings, handles for files and a rasp - a gift. One of the files hides in the picture, German Walnut handle.

Yesterday I cut, split and rough turned some new lumber from my brother - Red Cedar (Thuja for our German readers) from France - hey what a fine smell - and Ilex (http://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bild:Illustration_Ilex_aquifolium0.jpg&filetimestamp=20041030001845) a very dense and heavy wood. I'm looking forward to see how it will perform as handles and knobs. It should be easily polished.

As the season is going on to get colder, I put the fireplace back to use and started with the scrap bins. Pearwood, Walnut, Cherry... going to be firewood. Though I have to admit, grasping each piece I'm wondering if it could possibly become anything else than heating of the living room.

Working on the Top

2008-09-02T21:16:00.000+02:00

The frame parts being planed to their final dimensions, the next step was to plane the 1/4 inch groove. The petit Rapier helped through the job.

Following a magazine project is a no-brainer. No, that's not true. As the project in the mag is done with machines, problems occurred at the very first joint. The author made stub tenons on the stiles. I didn't. So the cutting list was to be read carefully. Add two inches to each stiles, if you want to make real old tenons.

Folding Campaign Table

2008-08-29T20:02:00.001+02:00

Started a new project this evening. It is a first time thing. First time I work from a magazine project (August issue - Popular Woodworking). Mh, I really don't know, if I won't make any changes. As there is not much machinery around, hand tools have to take over implying some modifications...

First time I used my new Clifton #7 - it planed with masterfulness, the sole well polished gliding on clouds. Delicious.

First time I realize a project in imperial measures. Good I have some rules for that. Despite that my thicknesser and my Starrett rule are scaled imperial, I can't avoid mental math. Mario Rodriguez measures in 16th, Starrett in 32th, the thicknesser in 8th. I don't know how you folks on the Isle and over the pond manage. You have all my respect.

Tomorrow a German fellow will pick up his wooden ULMIA moving filletster.

The New Veritas Skew Rabbet Arrived Today

2008-08-28T18:06:00.001+02:00

This afternoon I picked up my new rabbet plane, first one modern metal in LV quality I got. Right out of the box the iron was sharp and I took some nice shavings. After a moment I added a Padouk fence (my thanks to Pedder :-) ). And look at that picture below, dead square. I've never seen that with so less tuning effort from my side.
The plane has a nice grip, the set screws are very helpful with this plane as the iron is held on merely one side. The fence is easy to set up, the collets locking system works fine, no tedious handling with a screwdriver. Now LV did that very fine, great.

Going now and making some curly shavings in the shop...

Oiled

2008-08-27T18:17:00.000+02:00

The handles for the beech wall cabinet are finished. I will install them one of these days.

Handles Again

2008-08-27T11:24:00.000+02:00

After a woodworkers' small bash I often have the impulse to make some tools or accessories. Now this time, it has been three Cherry handles with brass ferrules from LV. New experience was that with a really sharp roughing gouge one can do more than coarse shaping. The ferrule end, the thumb hollow up to the other end were all shaped with it. Just the palm end was the work of the spindle gouge.

The Finished Table

2008-08-16T22:15:00.001+02:00

The sofa table in its natural living room, shortly after its oil finish (mix of tung, camelia and orange).
A detail, the chamfer I copied from Jim Krenov (The Impractical Cabinetmaker) and the molding.
An impression of color...

Final Steps

2008-08-16T21:56:00.000+02:00

The last few days I worked on the top and the circumferential molding. The top is built by battens (24mm x 6mm x 62 cm) tucked to two long strips. The pic explains it all, above all look at the straight edge, it gave the whole a square hold. Two scrap pieces (3.6mm thick) helped keep the right distance between the battens.

A look under the finished table shows that those long strips are supported by two braces running on the length.
Now the molding caused some headache. None of my planes nor the corded router wanted to make the job. So I chamfered an edge on both sides with my block plane, working almost a round bullnose on it. I finished by scraping with a beading iron from the #66. It worked fine and faster than a router. Finally I cut off the molding with the circular saw.
I used the trick with the tacks to fix the molding: Marking the center line on the rail, hammering nails in equal distances, pinching off the heads and pushing the molding onto the nails. That provided a fixed place for the molding and I had the time to mark the ends with a knife. I then pared the ends to miters on a block with a small cross cut saw and the chisel plane. Later on I glued the molding to the table.
The finished table will come a tad later, really a tad, believe it :-)

Handles

2008-08-14T22:24:00.000+02:00

Remember the beech wall cabinet? There weren't handles on it. I made a mock-up out of beech. The customers wished dark wood. I proposed walnut... First I thought to shape the form with a router, but finally decided to whet two 6mm strips (48 hours), dry them in the same pattern and glue them after two days drying. The first one in the foreground of the pic turned out fine so far. It needs shaping of the ends. The second is in the MDF pattern.

But what about the sofa table? I smoothed the top frame this morning, chamfered the edges - I was lightly inspired by a table detail of J. Krenov. This afternoon I worked on the "panel". Tuesday I was so sure to pose glass in that frame. Yesterday morning I had already noted some adresses where to get that etched green glass. But then I saw this fancy cherry board in the shop and decided to go on with that wood.

Some photos later on :-)

Today

2008-07-20T13:30:00.001+02:00

As planned I installed the stiffening blocks today. Lots of drilling and screwing... The fixing cleats are sitting just losely in the mortises. Before I will screw them in, there is smoothing ahead - lots of. So, where's that honing compound?

Yesterday

2008-07-20T11:26:00.000+02:00

I glued the table - rails to legs and top frame, followed by sawing off the horns, smoothing and leveling.

The stiffening blocks are made of German beech. I drawed the shapes on a board, cutouts, holes and angles marked. The center hole was drilled on the drill stand before the pieces got out of the board by the jigsaw. Happily enough I have a plane or two. The corded saw doesn't work square.

Fitting in the stiffening blocks today...

Evening Come

2008-07-17T20:43:00.000+02:00

Shop days are good. The work progresses rapidly. I did some cleats to fix the table top. I did that by sawing alot. I used the dovetail saw, the rip backsaw, the small tenon cross cut saw and the big one with 13 tpi...

The evening come, an assembly kit laid on the bench. It lacks the profile batten. That's the job for one of these days...

Status of the Day

2008-07-16T20:13:00.001+02:00

Today's progress after an hour shoptime ends with a dry fit of legs and rails.

Legs Mortised

2008-07-01T17:16:00.000+02:00

Two things about mortises I think are worthy considering. First beginning a new mortise near to oneself, chisel faced as in the photo, it is important to make a small cut, just one maul tap at the marking line, in red here. Why? Levering out the chips to come, there is not much room, because these chips are compressed and the first one will pull out the very end. Now the one tap cut is a release cut, it will stop the tear out action exactly at the cutting line.

Another thing is square side walls. Most carry them out by putting a square or a mirror at the right place. I like to elongate the mortise markings as in the photo and align the chisel's blade edge to one line by eyeballing. This gives me consistably squareness. In the photo the chisel should be moved a tad to the right. Now all mortises are done, let's face the rails. There is some planing ahead...

Going On

2008-06-29T20:54:00.000+02:00

The legs are shaped, brought to length at one end - the foot. Let's mark the mortises and set them up as they will be in the table later on. Just to be sure each marking has its correct place.

Mortising with the Robert Sorby 1/4 inch sash mortice chisel. The maul worked fine, it is a fantastic tool. The mortises are not placed central in the leg, but on its side. The rails will be flush with the legs. I chopped the mortises as usual with a variation. In order to prevent twisting of the rails, I wanted the mortises to be haunched and thought it be smart to make them secret haunched. Why? I'm not sure anymore, it was tempting to try out and let stay a tad more wood on the legs' upper ends. I used a guiding block with fence clamped to the leg to asssure the correct angle of 45°.

The last times, the Sorby chisel often chipped out, so today I ground it back at 27° on the Tormek and honed a 35° microbevel on the edge. No chips after two mortises, I was stunned by the good result.

Square Legs

2008-06-23T18:25:00.000+02:00

Judith Miller published an excellent encyclopedia on period furniture. I dived into it and came up with an early 18th century George II table leg (plate 108/109 New Forms). It has a quadrangular cross section with one side relieved. Without saying I will adopt further elements of the style to my table. It reasonably well goes with the colonial book shelf.

First I cut out a pattern on 3 mm plywood and transferred it to a test dummy, the second one. I then took the draw knife to rough out the shape. It is a #7 from the Swiss tool smith Fitzi who has retired last year or so. It confirmed to be the tool of choice for the curvature too. I had in mind the LV rounded spokeshave, but its sole has a radius too wide.

So the tools of refinement were a block plane, a rasp, a file and I avoid - 240 grit paper. Luckily enough I made a scrap piece, it has several severe dings. Working a draw knife demands practice and full concentration. The real legs hopefully won't get battered...

These Legs

2008-06-17T19:20:00.000+02:00

What do you think? You know, I bore in mind a woman's legs when I turned the first shape this afternoon. Mh. Please do not consider the finish, nor the Nürnberger, nor the fact that the contours are soft nor... all the details. Just the shape. I went wrong, the leg isn't well balanced. The upper part - that between the mortise piece and the bead - is too long. It is too gracious. That won't fit a man's sofa table, right? Even Mex turned away...

Let's dive into shapes, where's my Furniture Encyclopedia?

Now

2008-06-08T21:12:00.000+02:00

Now again, definitely a long tad later I come back to my sofa table in spe. Today I had an hour of shop time and rabbeted the table top frame. Nice work again of the Ulmia moving filletster. With the help of some tool friends, which are the Sorby paring chisel and its sash mortise companion I fitted the mortises to the tenons. The frame comes losely together, sits tight if clamped. No glue now, I want to have the frame in all its separate parts, as there will be one or two braces to be worked under it. So up to the next step...

Legs come next, that means, some planing by hand and corded thicknessing followed by turning. Finally I will have to determine the legs' shape. Should I think of women's legs? Let's see...

About

2008-05-14T21:56:00.000+02:00

No, I'll never forget about the japanese saws, let it be ryobas, dozukis, katabas, temagoris or maebikis. They all have one merit. They pulled me to handsawing. But I never succeeded that much. It always lacked a tad. My temagori was fine, I could sit in the saw teeth myself, pulling and fihting, the game always was chance. I have to avoid I changed the sides. I'm European, maybe it is the reason, I got on well with a western saw. Western saws were a revelation to me, they are great. Look at this pic - a tenon:

I followed the markings, no problem there. Mike, the saw I won, is a little dull, I have to admit. And the holy cow, I do not appreciate to sharpen it. I guess, you have to leave the continent - big smile on my side. No, being serious again, I'm - despite read knowledge - astonished on the backside of the cut. You saw the top, the front and it will leave you the back straight - without any look at it:

The saw cut always follows the marking. I don't know why, but it always is accurate, if you use a western saw. Let it be. Finally I have to admit I failed to the japanese saws. What I have to acknowledge is, I made the shoulder cuts prior the rip cuts in order to release the latters. Hey, it works okay. Delimitations are more accurate, depth is reached more easily.

More a tad later...

Folies

2008-05-13T12:23:00.000+02:00

Working on the table top yesterday I discovered some advantage of collector's behaviour. Some time ago I ordered a 2 inch bench chisel from Sorby and because the paring chisels looked that cute I went for a 1 1/4 too. I sharpened it, hang it in the cabinet and - forgot. Til yesterday when I was choping 1/4 inch wide mortises. Having to recut a side I grabbed for the LN bench chisel, it was too thick, far over 1/4 inch for my 5 cm deep mortice. Now that was a great moment having in the pocket my paring chisel - flexible blade, very thin, ideal for paring into the depth. So folies have a their good sides and I will never again blame me for Lustkäufe again.

Sofa Table Starting

2008-05-01T20:06:00.000+02:00

No time for tools anymore, a whole day - Labor Day - has to be spent on a bigger project. The first pic shows the American cherry I got last week. 4,20m long and 27mm thick - some nice boards I tought. One thing though, cherry tends to have small inclusions of bark. The latter often ends into cracks. Thank God I bought enough :-)

Second pic shows the rough blanks of the legs. I paid attention to chose a plank that got me bastard grain on the legs without much resawing. Bastard grain runs from one edge to its diagonally opposite counterpart. The legs - well the planed part, not the turned one - will look uniformely, not changing grain frome one face to its adjacent one. On the pic the good planks are those 4 on the right, the other three on the left will be test dummies...

There is weekend ahead :-)

Fitting in the Door - Halftime

2008-04-27T22:43:00.001+02:00

After some shortage in shop time, I got finally 2 thirds of the tools fitted into the door. More than half of the space is filled, I will add a rack for diverse tools, marking gauge, combination square, hammers, squares a frame for the spokeshaves etc. I'm quite dissatisfied with the saws' display but now they take up less room and reach into the gap under the japanese chisel frame of the main cabinet. The best solution I could figure out. I'd like to add my eggbeater drill, it is very handy. Maybe under the saw rack?

Tool Cabinet Again

2008-04-19T20:18:00.000+02:00

There is a little work ahead before I can start with the sofa table. I have all these wonderful tools cluttering my work space and hiding where they shouldn't. So I decided to change the interior of the tool cabinet door. I threw out the saws and will install a chisel board the next days. Let's see if all the tools go into that tight space saws included.

Yes, the left part of the tool cabinet. There are many tools, mh...

Planing Rabbets is Fast.

2008-04-15T18:40:00.001+02:00

A friend has to be convinced. It is fast to plane a rabbet, sometimes it is even easier than corded routing. Look at the video and you will see. I used a new Ulmia with a wider fence. The rabbet is 7,5 mm wide by 5mm deep. The board is 70 cm long. It took a minute to establish the rabbet. Sure it will be less fatiguing to work on 20 rabbets with a router...

The result is fine, the rabbet is square and consistent through the length.

Mirror - last one

2008-04-04T14:05:00.000+02:00

The mirror hanging on the wall, I wonder if the upper knobs aren't too big. Mh... Nonetheless. The upper rail has a knot midway I wanted to pick up in the lower peg board. Next project is ahead, maybe it'll be a sofa table in colonial style. I'm not sure yet. Let's see...

Mirror - third one

2008-04-03T13:37:00.001+02:00

This morning I turned the 3 tiny knobs on the lathe, same method I used when I made the big ones. A wooden MT2 made up for a missing chuck.
I turned no shoulder on the knobs, looking at the pic you'll notice why. The profile is sloping, a precise work compensated for the missing shoulder. The mirror frame hangs now, it only awaits its mirror...

Mirror - second one

2008-04-02T23:37:00.000+02:00

Got the frame done on AFD and am shaping the peg board now. I used my #6 fore plane with heavy camber after establishing the cross section of the profile and went on with the standard angle block plane from Bernhard - well LN. Some tearout persists but will give in tomorrow by the only sight of my scraper card. The board will have 3 pegs for holding key bunches and small stuff alike. The lower pegs will be tiny, tiny... See you on the lathe.

Mirror - first one

2008-03-31T22:31:00.000+02:00

Sure it'll be Shaker style and it'll fit the entry room. My inspiration comes from Ch. Becksvoort's book - The Shaker Legacy - last page on which you find a pic. I added two pegs on the styles, but more of that later on. First there are the styles with the mortises, made with an 8 mm Sorby sash mortice chisel, a wonderful tool... I fiddled around a bit in order to make the rabbets for the mirror. As I like big deep fences on rabbet planes and alike, I came up with this solution, fixing one style with the Veritas hold down and a conventional clamp, the workpiece losely on it, the stop being a thinner board held in the front vise.

The rails got some fancy tenons, the tricky part was to cover the planed rabbet. The recess had to be chopped out with a chisel. I like those parts of the work.

To be continued...

Une cache pour la sonnette

2008-03-29T10:54:00.000+01:00

There is one friend who when stepped in to my home, rised his sight to his upper right, shook his head and used to say: - As long as you won't cover that odd plastic bell and that butt ugly transformer with all the wires, you won't have finished your home. Well, this week I remedied to the spot. I dovetailed a box and covered it with a frame on which I dadoed 6 slats. The dadoes are set at45° to the edge. Mike's saw worked like a bombshell.

Fitting the slats to the frame, one at a time on the shooting board with the #9.
The slat frame is fixed like a table top. Four mortises catch four cleats screwed to the frame.
And here it is in all its beauty :-) The bell's new walnut cover. I invited my friend to have a mug of coffee. Curious what he will say...

Done

2008-03-09T17:51:00.000+01:00

Today I finished the paintwork in the entry room. I'm quite satisfied with the argile colour shade.

The next job is in sight, some odd plastic covers of the house bell will profit from hiding it to the world. There is framework ahead.

Some dimensions of the pegboard: The Shaker hooks are 3 inches by length. This way the coats touch the wall merely slightly. The dome and the end of each peg are a tad smaller than 1 inch. The board itself measures 9 cm in width, 23 mm in thickness and the tree boards come up to a length of almost 4 m. I fixed the boards with 5mm strong and 60mm long brass screws. The two beads are 3/4 inch wide. There are 11 pegs all in all in the boards, 7 on the 2 m long piece and always 2 in the sides.

Finally finally finally

2008-03-02T23:36:00.001+01:00

After some block plane strokes the miter looked fine, just plane frome top to bottom, don't do it from edge to edge...
The knobs were to be installed. I sawed off the tapers, sorry Beat, and sawed in a kerf.
This is what the kerf is for, a wedge.
That finds its place...

Some pictures will follow a tad later, maye at the end of next week. I have to repaint the entry hall.

Inbetween

2008-03-02T23:23:00.000+01:00

As promised...
I worked the edges with the #212...

And mitered one end with my old lady backsaw...
As she hasn't that strong and long back anymore I had to attak from both sides...
Which finally gave this result, not fine but nothing one couldn't remedy with the help of a decent block plane...

to be continued...

Finished

2008-03-02T22:56:00.000+01:00

You know, it is that simple. Some planing, some turning, some drilling, sorry just a joke.

Today I got finished the new Shaker peg board. I started with the last of three boards and scratched in the profile - a side bead. Scratching was good, as my #45 had a problem. I discovered that the half inch iron was presumably self made. The skates are thicker than the hollow of the iron allowed. It was redundant sharpening the iron and flattening the skates. But who knows about the tools new job. As Rob Lee told me, an additional feature of a tool can diminish its "value". How right he is.

I dodged to the LN 66, good for this wild grained american walnut, it needed some effort not in comparison to a plane or a tailed router. The profile seemed to success beautifully if I could go this tad deeper, the fence prohibiting this cut - except for the last photo session , sure what else.

But, but, but, as easily seen the #66 isn't a perfect tool or its craftsman isn't working it corretly. Some passes brought along bruised side walls. The side rabbet #98 helped to remedy.

to be continued...

New Tools

2008-02-27T20:57:00.000+01:00

Just for Urs - an update of tool additions of the recent past. Let's look at it from top to bottom. On the walnut board a brush - natural horse hair what a difference. Then the most impressive tool I got to get - a maul, perfect for chisel work. Never a striking tool felt better in my hand. The Boggs concave spokeshave follows, it will help bringing forward my next project. Two mortice chisels from Sorby and a LN squirrel tail plane with curved sole. On the left side, a plane brush I thought I'd never get, but ... never order by phone, it will raise the bill in terms of seconds. Finally a Record # 077A I won. I forgot to photograph the new Tormek T-7 a real help in woodturning tools' sharpening. That's it, nothing more, just those.

Knobs

2008-02-16T21:32:00.001+01:00

Got done these today. Using a template the correct sizes for copying is a no problem work. Only the taper of the MT2 is submitted to high concentration, as is the dome. One distracted moment can annihilate the work of almost half an hour... The MT2 will be parted after the final oiling and polishing session.

New Project: Pegs for the Entry

2008-02-15T21:14:00.000+01:00

After I got angry about the mess of accessories and tools around the lathe, I got a first go at storing them. The second will arrange the turning tools... To be continued. Current project is the Shaker pegboard I want to install in my entry hall, which is quite small. An article on the web told me how to turn the knobs. Well, a good friend told me how to do better, by how to turn a taper that fits the MT2 and sizing the dowel part. I will give serial production of 30 pieces a go tomorrow and the day after and maybe the day after and...
The dome is well shaped by an oval skew, followed by sandpaper and oil. This lesson from my friend not only put me to a higher level of precision but to try to get to the bottom of articles and alike.

Final Installation

2008-02-07T21:01:00.001+01:00

Final trimming of the slats bridging the frame to the walls. The edge plane clamped to the front vise, I pulled the slats through in order to trim them to the correct size. It worked fine.

The top now installed, the handles not, but the site is nomore under heavy construction. It is a delightful feeling to have finished a long term project. G. Step to the next one, it s already waiting.

Over the Top

2008-02-05T21:27:00.000+01:00

Last part of the beech cabinet touched! The glued panel existed already in the final place, so I recycle it. As the panel is made of very small pieces, not respecting grain direction, I had the choice between sandpaper and scraping. The #112 was the tool of the moment, because of its large blade.

Gluing a new front piece to the top. Soon its face will be shaped to a smooth profile.

Beech Wall Cabinet

2008-01-27T21:59:00.000+01:00

Damped beech is darn well to plane, little tearout, not to hard but, yes but this hangover to wind up after planing sessions. Anyway, this is the stage at the momentum.

Just a frame with two doors. The doors got a rabbet with an Ulmia rabbeting plane fitted with a larger fence. It makes a whole lot of difference. The rabbet is square from the very first touch to the last thoughtful shaving, even on endgrain.

Tomorrow the hinges will be finished and Tuesday maybe back on the lathe to turn two handles, no knobs, some modern handles with Edelstahl...

Gloves on the Jointer

2008-01-16T18:08:00.001+01:00

I read a posting on a blog which recommends to wear gloves when working on the jointer instead of using pushsticks. Yes I mean, the machine, not the plane. Last time I did so - it was in 2004 - my gloves as well as two finger tips suffered:

Please never wear gloves, do not work on the jointer or any other machine when you are tired, drunk alcool and make a break from time to time.

New Scraper Chisel

2007-09-13T23:04:00.001+02:00

The two 4 mm skew chisels are finished. Another addition is a 16 mm Kirschen with a 70° bevel. It works nicely for chamfering and paring difficult grain in confined spots. I ground the bevel, then honed with a Richard Kell guide for short blades. It worked okay, the blade could be hold at the tip and the chisel only pulled. Next thing will be to replace the copper ferrules by brass ones and change to pear wood. A first try in the fruitwood revealed to be fine, above all the fine grain makes a shiny finish. Further news soon. Ah, yes I ordered a router plane today
:-)

Skews Part 2

2007-09-10T13:47:00.000+02:00

The first one of the skews is finished. Handle is London pattern copied from Alf's homepage - thanks Alice. The curve at the lower end sits near to the ferrule. I dropped the other ferrule, because the tool is for pushing only. Wood is american ashe.

Skews

2007-09-06T21:56:00.000+02:00

Got a new small project, seems to be the year! I ordered three Kirschen chisels, 2 4mm which will make my skews. I stripped off the varnish in an acetone bath. New with Kirschen is they are not polished when you order them by Dieter Schmid. Hallelujah! Second problem is the handle, I will change it for ashe ones, maybe London pattern? Don't know yet. The third problem still is the bad face of some chisels, not all. I tried to flatten the face of one which now has a slight hollow as I used almost every waterstone I have. Hm. The skews (20°) were fast made on the grinder. More the next days, maybe not this week yet, we'll have a small woodworker bash on Saturday.

Batches

2007-08-22T21:31:00.001+02:00

Batches are a whole other thing than single work. First there is much more practice. Good thing, because the skills will improve. Next you do a lot more in less time. Another good thing! But is there enough fun? Definitely yes, if ...limited! Only drawback: What will I do with all these handles? Friends, files, countersinks etc.

New handle shapes from the lathe

2007-08-19T22:33:00.000+02:00

After some research here are some new handle styles. The ashe one is for the big grip, the walnut for a file and the octogonal shaped - well don't know yet.

Small Projects

2007-08-09T13:15:00.000+02:00

It simply isn't a good start in the morning when you cross the door to the porch with a tablet that's too large. You will rip your knuckles, blame the dog and spread knives and spoons all over the floor. That's why I built a tablet just for this task - avoiding torn open eyes too early in the morning. The tablet features dovetails with a mitered lower corner hiding the grooves for the bottom. Wood is American Walnut. The curves on the handles' sides are from a LN rabbet block plane. Kind of perverting purpose of a plane.

Second project is a handle for a small bitholder or screwdriver. Thought that would be a well worth little idea for a first lathe work. The ferrule is part of a copper flange. American Walnut again. More bitholders will follow, lathe-work is addicitve.

New additions

2007-08-03T21:30:00.000+02:00

Two new additions to the tool family, one old manpower kind of and one tailed. Here they are, an old lady called FAGAN, made the other side of the Channel. It is a present from a friend for my ...iest birthday. Look at that fine cut! Excellent!

The other one, yes, guess another present, that's how I like birthdays. It speaks of his own...

Waiting over a year to come to a lathe, now awaiting - no being very eager to have the turning tools next week.

Woodworker Gifts

2007-07-29T13:54:00.000+02:00

After a long time, back again. It doesn't have to mean, I did no woodworking, no... Here are the latest projects. First a gift I hastily build for someone passing by. It's actually the one I do when I'm invited to dinner... Leave an oak offcut outdoor and after 2 or 3 years, cut off one end, plane the eng grain, sand a little bit and drill as much 40mm holes in it you want. Et voilà!

Another small project was a handle for a 2 kg hammer. I enjoyed using my Gransfors splitting axe, so I decided going for the same profile. I chose a straight grained piece of american ashe, copied the profile and went on with a hetchet, a drawknife, a spokeshave, a rasp and a scraper blade.

At last I added some grip to the end of the handle with a 10 mm gouge. It fits finely the hand and it has turned out to be my favourite small big hammer.

Treffen

2007-06-03T22:11:00.001+02:00

Heute mal in Deutsch, es wird mir einfacher von der Hand gehen.

Treffen sind wunderbar. Was ich in meinem letzten Treffen fand, waren natürlich eine Reihe Werkzeuge, die wunderbarerweise den Weg in meine Werkstatt gefunden haben - entweder während oder danach.

Da ist ein Ziehmesser (links) von Fitzi aus Trimmis, noch selbst geschmiedet, nicht vom Nachfolger Christian Schwarz. Der genaue Beobachter sieht, dass unter dem Ziehmesser ein Etui liegt, vom Sattler handgemacht für speziell dieses Werkzeug. Das Innere ist hinterfüttert, die Schneide wird geschont. Es ist genial wie einfach und genau beides aufeinander passt.

Dahinter stehen die Feilen und Sägeschärfutensilien jetzt wohl geordnet und geschützt, sonst lag alles querbunt in einer zu kleinen Pappschachtel. Auch eine Folge des Treffens. So macht es Freude, sich ans Schärfen zu geben. Die Kopfbandlupe steht noch aus, sie wird demnächst 13 tpi und kleiner wieder ermöglichen.

Weil ich gerade Ordnung schaffe, die neuen alten Schlangenbohrer fanden in eine alte Lederrolle.

Der Clifton #5 1/2 etwas ganz besonderes! Nein, nicht nur, weil es ein Geschenk ist und von einem guten Freund und Holzseelenverwandten, sondern weil es ein Werkzeug mit Geschichte ist, schön hergerichtet, die Sohle plan und glatt, die Tiefeneinstellschraube geölt und das Eisen, das muss nur abgezogen werden, keine Spiegelseite muss poliert werden, alles schon getan. Herrlich!

Der Holzklüpfel steht für das Fieber bei solchen Veranstaltungen. Eigentlich hat uns unser Sattler mit einem amerikanischen Maul geködert. Ein wirklich ergonomisches und extrem ausbalanciertes Werkzeug, das so keiner von uns bis jetzt besaß. Wir haben dann eine kleine Serienproduktion veranlasst. In Erwartung der Dinge konnte ich dann aber nicht mehr und hab mir einen Klüpfel angeschafft. Ein reiner Spontankauf!

Dann gibt es da noch die drei Kanalkinker im Bild links - auch ein Geschenk! Es haut in die gleiche Kerbe wie der Hobel. Warum? Nun jemand hat sich hingestellt und zwei Stunden lang die Klinker eingeebnet. Wenn das nicht ein Freund ist? Dann weiß ich nicht. Ich muss sagen, ich bin derlei nicht gewohnt in meinem Leben. Vom gleichen Kerl, der gerne von sich behauptet, er habe ein Schandmaul, habe ich die Idee des Bambusstöckchens abgekupfert, das dazu dient, Öl auf die Eisen zu geben. Das machte ich natürlich mit dem neuen, feinen Ziehmesser.

Dann liegt da auch noch ein Stück Leder. Leider ist nicht gut darauf zu erkennen, dass das Leder ein Eichenblattdekor hat, Carving nennt man sowas. Ein Musterstück bleibt eben immer gerne mal liegen. Ein Anlass zum Erinnern und es soll in der Werkstatt liegen bleiben.

Ich könnte jetzt noch weiterfahren, sicher gibt es demnächst wieder eine Fülle von Lernkurven, die ich dank der neuen und alten Freunde nehmen werde. Ich kann einige absehen, etwa verdeckte Zinken, um nur eine Kurve zu nennen. Das was mir aber am meisten und öftesten geschenkt wurde, ist Zeit, Zeit, die jemand sich nahm, um etwas zu finden, Zeit, um etwas herzustellen, Zeit, um Gedanken zu fassen, Zeit etwas zu richten... Das wärmt die Seele und dafür ein großes Danke an alle!

Broom Day

2007-05-20T20:16:00.001+02:00

Today's been the day where I checked the chaos from yesterday. The broom should be the tool of the day, but better leaving the LA in the showcase. I installed the top in the morning and made a photo just to show you the stage we're in at the moment.

They are highlights for me, putting together the first frame, after having planed a whole bunch of boards, installing the panels makes the shelf an entity. Laying the top on all that wood makes it more a furniture. The missus thinks practical, she already has the books to come into and the standard lamp to come onto.

Moldings on the Top

2007-05-19T22:54:00.000+02:00

The top of the bookshelf should have the molding as seen on the following photo. It is made by two boards glued together. The top one is 55 mm wide and should have a rabbet on top and a quarter hollow on the lower edge. The lower one ,positioned vertically, will be made by a molding plane cutting in one run the whole length.
I made the hollow with a LN beading tool - great performer.
The top rabbet was well made by an ECE rabbet plane which has an extra wide wooden fence, the rebate's side been smoothed by the LN rabbet block plane.
In order to glue the two parts together and avoid the pieces from slipping during camping, I used some nails , pinched off their heads and hammered the upper board gently on the lower by guiding with the combination square. Sounds complicated, but indeed is very easy and comfortable.
Then came the molding plane to action. It isn't easy to control, or should I say, I do have my problems. You see the chatter marks on the photo below. Whether you have those, because the wedge isn't long enough and doesn't support the blade or your wedge is long enough, but the mouth opening is clogged after one run... I had both.

After gluing the crown molding to the top panel, a little smoothing and scraping session gave this enjoyable photo of the grain:

The top's now in the finishing section and a first coat of an oil mixture is drying... more to come the next days.

Bench in a Day

2007-05-12T18:22:00.000+02:00

Today's been a bench day. Nothing against an early start in the morning, some spruce an oak plank and A.A. Watson's "Hand Tools and their Ways and Workings".
The glue-up was fast and furious, thicknessing later on in the corded monster. The oak board's cheesy after a small attack with a 20 mm drill - the best measure for Veritas holdfasts and benchdogs.
And after a little chaos of spruce and many tools I normally leave in the shelf...
We have a nice spruce bench with an oak inlay, well more an insert.
The new tool needs a little planing, the top isn't flat enough. The aim of the game was to have a sturdy bench or working table, on which I can plane but above all do all the sharpening just in face of the only window. And if stock is very long I can now put the two benches together, both have the same height.

2007-05-10T08:10:00.000+02:00

Back again with a pic of the bookshelf sitting on its final place. I damaged a little bit the right edge of the red fire place wall, it'll be easily repaired... The power plugs will have a walnut cover, so I can reach the whole unit and pull it out by necessity.

Let's do the top...

Tonguing

2007-05-08T20:51:00.000+02:00

Finally I got the bookshelf onto its place. No it is not finished yet. But after a little T&Ging, smoothing, chamfering and finishing of the panels, one can get an idea of how it'll be one day... with a top, a cornice and some shelves. I'll post a pic later on, when daylight will be better.

Fence Wood

2007-05-02T15:01:00.000+02:00

Yes, another little detour before coming back to the bookshelf. I made plywood for two fences for two planes I needed for a T&G job - for the bookshelf. I glued three layers of 5mm walnut in order to withstand any distortions by season's changes. The plywood allows to have a relatively thin fence, which makes you feel the board through the fence. Contact is straightforward and not wobbling on an edge. The Rapier got an extra long fence, in the way the plane will have good contact with the board before the blade even touches wood. I have seen that here on Jake's posting in an Australian Forum: http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/showthread.php?t=33429 Thanks mate!
The #45 got a wider fence, because the Rosewood one that came with it doesn't prevent wobbling. The #45 is a big combination plane with a high point of gravity, that can be successfully mastered by steadying it with a wide fence.
After planing a dozen or so boards and always changing the plane after each board, I have to admit I prefer the #45 despite its tendency of wobbling now non existing. Whilst the #45 planes much by its weight, the Rapier has to be pushed all over the whole length of the board. It is much more exhausting.

Saw, Hammer and some nails

2007-04-29T11:36:00.000+02:00

You don't need much to make a box, some time, a hammer, nails, a saw and a square will make a fast and useful object. Sure these on the photo aren't pretty, they're rough, nothing to do with planed boards, no joints, just a thought and here you go. Being in a long production process, this helps redirect my thoughts to come to an end and not to make a detour in working out another useful feature in a neverending story... i.e. a bookshelf in the moment.

Efficient and fast made Device

2007-04-07T21:13:00.000+02:00

Really a ten minutes can change a lot in clamping. The device I installed today, a single hole and a holdfast on the bench leg. Great, why do I not have done that earlier? All the fuss with clamps and scrap pieces in the end vice - gone with the wind. I will end up, drilling other holes in different heights, it will make the leg look cheesy, but who cares? BTW, the holdfast has a new place to stay, out of harms way and always ready to go. Why not earlier? ...I can't tell you

Jointing with the Thicknesser

2007-04-06T20:44:00.000+02:00

I fine tuned the sled. I glued two 8 mm dowels 1.5 cm deep for each rail in the torsion box. The rails got two 9 mm holes 2.5 cm deep, this way they slide up and down and cannot move sideways anymore. The device works great now. It needed more of 3 hours to build it. I guess I saved some shop time for more enjoyable work.

The second pic shows the afternoon work. 18 boards planed on one face. Funny thing is what digs up after one or two passes through the thicknesser. One drawback of buying boards instead of whole trunks is, one gets a whole bunch of boards that are all very differently colored. And you can't see it until it is planed, hm... I had luck here, but nonetheless it'll be tricky to compose panels.

2007-04-04T21:06:00.000+02:00

Today's not been a wood day definitely. I just came to make a pic of the tool cabinet as it is now, catching the rest of the daylight. The sled in the foreground will be improved next.The rail's profile is to high, they tend to skip, so I think to stabilize them in their position with two dowels each. The dowels will allow moving the rails in height, but not sideways. Well that's what I hope. Next wood thing today, my E.C. Stearns hollow auger arrived. I'm curious to see how it works with the brace.

Wood Notes

New Horse in the Fence

Filling Stock

M/T

Bandsaw Cuts

45 Degree Sled for Bandsawing

Bed Legs

Warmed up

Coffee Capsule Holder II

Coffee Capsule Holder I

Shaping Ends

On Curves

Tablets in Walnut

Slats

Legs

First Steps

So, What's a Good Bed?

A Shelf for the Molding Planes

The Plates of Roubo

New Addition Lie-Nielsen #7300

New Rests in the Tool Cabinet

Work Table Finished

Practice

Walk the Plank

Walnut

Instead of a Negative Entry

No Fuss

Work Table in Progress

Between the Years

Please Pass by, Nothing to See...

Legs' Frames

Bitholder Repeated

Categories

Smoothing the Legs

Fake

Finally

Walnut

Repeater

Bitholder in Cherry

Planing the Legs

The Tray

This Old Lady

Not this Season

Working on the Top

Folding Campaign Table

The New Veritas Skew Rabbet Arrived Today

Oiled

Handles Again

The Finished Table

Final Steps

Handles

Today

Yesterday

Evening Come

Status of the Day

Legs Mortised

Going On

Square Legs

These Legs

Now

About

Folies

Sofa Table Starting

Fitting in the Door - Halftime

Tool Cabinet Again

Planing Rabbets is Fast.

Mirror - last one

Mirror - third one

Mirror - second one

Mirror - first one

Une cache pour la sonnette

Done

Finally finally finally

Inbetween

Finished

New Tools

Knobs

New Project: Pegs for the Entry

Final Installation

Over the Top