This week I had to take a day to maintain some of my tools and to re-flatten my second bench (the community workbench). Since being made the top has dried some and had moved a lot. I realized this when I was trying to level a little stool by using the bench.
In the end I got the two ends flat again, and the middle part of the bench “flat enough”
After that it was long overdue for me to disassemble, clean, and sharpen my planes.
about 20% there…
So, not the most creative of days in the shop, but it ended up being satisfying anyway. On to the next project: building a hot wire foam cutter; this is to quickly render prototypes of my pieces in 3D.
Working through some of the projects and ideas in the new book by Chris Schwarz. Here are a pair of saw-benches made using the tapered tenon staked joinery method he describes. It worked very well, I think. And I’m more in love with these pieces than I expected.
The seat is yellow pine and the legs are ash. The seats were finished in Danish oil, and the legs finished in a neutral wax. Hide glue and a wedge for the joinery. The bottom picture shows the second stool/bench prior to applying the finish. FYI, the angle of my photo distorts the apparent degree of splay on the second bench.
I moved my shop into a shared maker-space 14 months ago. This turned out to be a transformative experience for me. Being around other woodworkers and makers of various sorts has been incredibly inspiring. One of the things I was recently inspired to do was construct some gear for the community of makers in our shop.
In our shop I am the only woodworker with much hand-tool experience. My bench was moved to the new space, though was not really available for others to use. If you have ever tried woodworking without a good bench, you know how miserable this experience is, particularly if you are attempting to use any sort of hand-tool. There were in fact several worktables available to the woodworkers in our shared space, but none suitable for serious work holding. After the recent FWW article on the low-budget Nicholson workbench, I became obsessed with the idea of building one. However, I wanted it to be available not just for myself, but for the other members and any students coming through the shop.
Nicholson Bench in the foreground. My first bench (split top with face and tail vise) is hiding in the background under a mountain of toolboxes and debris.
So I managed to build one of these benches, spending less than $200. And it has been a joy to use. I have also been happy to see others making use of it and enjoying woodworking more because of having access to it. This ended up leading to a desire on my part to put together a shaving horse as well, as we do have a growing contingent of spoon-carvers at our shop.
The shaving horse design is 1/2 based on Peter Follansbee’s design, found here. The legs are different because my reamer hasn’t arrived yet, so I took a design cue from my saw-benches (Chris Schwarz’s design) for the back legs. The front leg pitches forward to allow the clamping apparatus to travel appropriately while in use. It also apparently makes it look like a motorcycle. I’ve heard people at the shop refer to it as a ‘chopper.’
Next I’ll be making some adjustments to my tool-chest, and I think I’ll begin prototyping some cabinet designs I’ve been dreaming about. Next month we are scheduled to move the shop to a new and better location.
One of my favorite things to make is a Japanese toolbox. There is a simplicity to the design that I find appealing, and there is a clever locking mechanism for the lid that is remarkably satisfying to use.
I’ve been working on further adjustments and refinements to the design of some of my earlier Japanese boxes. The first one I built was a large tool chest, which I still use. Then, earlier this year, I built a pair of pine Japanese boxes for storing shop supplies. The box pictured below was made on a whim, out of some scraps, but I took pains to handle the material in a thoughtful way. I think it turned out fairly well.
Poplar, hide glue, wrought nails. The bottom is series of shiplapped boards, which sit in a groove in the lower edge of the box. Interior finished with beeswax, exterior finished with danish oil.
These side tables were completed a few months ago. They were installed in our master bedroom, each under a hanging pendant in leu of a lamp. I hadn’t got around to photographing the final product until today.
Cabinet out of pine, painted caviar black by Sherwin Williams. Drawer front in curly red oak finished in natural shellac.
I am planning some experiments with veneering and also with leatherwork for later this year. So I crafted a veneer hammer. I was inspired to make the hammer instead of purchasing one, after seeing some posts by Tom Fidgen on his website. This hammer took some cues from his, though departs from his design in several ways.
I couldn’t find a suitable piece of brass for the tip(s) of the hammer, so I made do with a piece of brass from a door hinge. Time will tell if this is going to work or not. If not, I may end up replacing the brass that I have.
The hammer was made from some scraps of maple that I had in the shop, and a little walnut wedge in the end of the tenon. Curves were cut on the bandsaw, though everything else was done by hand with a chisel, saws, and rasps. It was finished in danish oil & armor-seal.
I find again and again that I really hate metal-work. However, I imagine that it is similar to wood-working in that any misery and frustration in the work is due to (or at least directly proportional to) poor planning, lack of knowledge/skill, and inappropriate tooling.
I’m looking forward to posting some pics of the veneering experiments in the coming months.
Working through ideas for potential projects meant for a small woodworking class, focusing on hand-tools.
This is one of the ideas I prototyped earlier this fall. I wanted a project that allowed students to practice hand-cutting dovetails, make an object that was actually attractive or useful, and could be completed in a single session.
It’s made of clear white pine obtained from the local home store. Nothing fancy, but sometimes beautiful things can come from ordinary beginnings.
We’ll have to mill the parts to final thickness and length, but I think even a beginner should be able to complete the box quickly.
A few months ago I found myself in need of some better storage options for some of my woodworking gear. Many of my tools and supplies were hanging out in various cardboard boxes, which was both unsightly and insufficient for the purpose of protecting my tools.
Furthermore, I could spare only a day off my schedule to make these, so ease of construction was a consideration in the design.
I had been examining/studying Japanese-type tool boxes off and on for some time, and had constructed one Japanese influenced tool box already (link is at the end). However, that box was large, made entirely by hand, and had “real” joinery holding it together. It also took me about 60 hours to make.
So what could I do in 8 hours or less? Increase efficiency by working with some careful design constraints:
find material that didn’t need milling, and was already at an acceptable width
use pocket screws instead of hand-cut finger joints and dovetails, etc.
Here is the result:
The lid slides and locks in and out of place due to the mechanism discovered by Japanese woodworkers long ago:
In the locked position there is a very small amount of the length of the lid that extends under the far handle. There is also some wood extending under the handle closest to my hand. The distance from the batten closest to me (where my index finger is) to the handle closest to me determines how much freedom of movement the lid has (the amount the lid can slide to open the box). This sliding distance needs to be slightly more than the length of the lid that is hidden under the far handle (the amount of wood that extends past the far batten).Sliding the lid toward me pulls the far edge of the lid so that it no longer fits under the far handle. The lid can now be swung upward. The nature of this joint means that the battens are NOT equally distant from each end of the lid. For this maneuver to work, the amount of the lid that extends past the closest batten under the closest handle needs to be a bit longer than the sliding distance of the lid.
If you size & place your battens carefully, you can make the boxes so they stack securely.
Design considerations:
I picked up 3 aspen/pine panels from Lowes that were 1x12x72, at about 15$ a piece. The actual dimension was of course, 3/4 x 12 x 72. This will yield 2 boxes. If you want to make just one box, buy 2 panels. (Each box uses close to 1 & 1/2 of such panels).
Using this particular material resulted in a box that is designed around the 12 inch width of the board.
All the components that form the 6 faces of the box are the same width (12 inches). The bottom & sides are the same length, the front and back are the same length as one another, and the lid length (top) is cut to fit close to the end of the project. Make 2 boxes at once.
Two strips of wood (I think of them as handles) that are between 2 &1/2 and 3 inches in width can be made of the same material, or found from scraps in the shop. The battens on the lid and on the bottom of the box can be made from scraps found in the shop, or cut from the same material.
If you want the boxes to stack and lock together (as mine do), you will have to use thinner material for your battens. You can use thicker/wider material for your battens, but you will have to change how the tops and bottoms interact by repositioning the bottoms further toward the middle. This may make the box more wobbly, so I would use thinner material (1/2 to 1 inch width).
The bottom is joined to the sides like so:
This determines the width of the finished box to be
(the panel width) + (thickness of side A) + (thickness of side B)
12 + 3/4 + 3/4 = 13 & 1/2 inches
the height of the finished box will be
(the panel width) + (thickness of the handle/top-strip)
12 + 3/4 = 12 & 3/4 inches
the length of the box is arbitrary. However, I picked about 16 inches in length to make a pleasing shaped box that did not require me purchasing more materials to complete.
the length to cut the front and back of the box is
(the panel width) – (the thickness of the bottom)
12 – 3/4 = 11 & 1/4 inches
The length of the handles is the same as the total width of the finished box (see above). The width of the handles/top-strips is somewhat arbitrary; they need to at least as wide as:
(the thickness of the front/back panel material) + (the amount of offset/recess you gave the front and back) + (the sliding distance of the lid) + a smidgen for error
In my case this came out to be a little less than 3 inches
To make the handles I set the table saw fence to the finished width of the box (13 & 1/2 inches), then cut the aspen panel to that length, then ripped them into strips a little less than 3 inches wide each.
The pocket holes are placed in the bottom board and the front and back boards.
The handles may be screwed in from above (as I did), nailed in place, or you can try placing pocket holes on the upper inside edge of the side boards (more aesthetic but more annoying to install if you are pressed for time).
The front and back faces need to be recessed a little from the front & back edges of the box (see the first picture above) This allows the top strips to function as handles. You can certainly make the front & back flush to the sides, instead of recessed, but will sacrifice utility.
To recess the front and back boards, I just used an off-cut from the same panel to reference the edge a distance of 3/4 inches when attaching the pocket screws.
The lid is a little longer than length of the remaining part of the opening after you attach the handles. Technically, it can be any length between “slightly longer than the inner opening” and “the distance from the inner face of one end and the inner edge of the opposite handle.” I took a story stick, abutted it against the inside of the box on the front face, then registered the location of the closest edge of the opposite handle, then cut my lid length a quarter inch shorter than this distance.
The lid is constructed by attaching two battens across the width of the lid in such a way that the lid can slide just enough to create a gap at one end of the box.
The relationships between the battens, the lid, and how much protrudes past each batten is a little complicated. It is definitely a challenge to explain in words. The most fun thing to do is play with it for a while and figure it out yourself.
Here is my attempt at instructions, however:
examine the pictures of the movement of the lid again, and review the captions
now consider the following drawing:
I made ‘x’ to be a few thousands of an inch wider than the battens themselves. This was so that I could interlock the boxes when stacking. (The foot/lower batten on that end of the second box registers into the gap where ‘x’ is in the closed state).
Make the differences of the distances between x, the near edge and the far edge more than “a few thousandths.” If you don’t, the wood movement of the handles will potentially either lock you out your box for part of the year, or fail to seal completely for part of the year.
Attach the bottom battens and you are done.
Closing thoughts…
Smaller or larger boxes can be made, using wider panels or by changing the length you cut the bottom and sides.
In reality, except for measuring the initial length of the bottom board, I didn’t measure anything while making these boxes. I used the boards and offcuts and workpieces as references, along with a story stick to set the table saw fence whenever I needed to.
For Japanese boxes with more authenticity, check out the blog at Lost Art Press.
To see my earlier and slightly fancier version of such a sliding lid box, check out my old site at Lumberjocks.
Before moving on to the next “real” projects I needed to de-clutter my shop space. I rent a small area in a larger shop, so I have to pick up after myself at the end of the day and condense my gear back into a small footprint each day. Toward making that easier, I put together a storage unit to store some toolboxes, my larger clamps, and some jigs. It now rests at one end of my bench, with enough space around it to avoid collisions with the planes or saws when I’m using the face vise.
I’ll post some pictures and instructions for the toolboxes in the next few days.
The storage unit was constructed over a few hours, using off-the-shelf softwood boards sized 3/4″ x 12″ x 6 feet. The shelves sit in dadoes that were cut by hand, then fixed with screws. The bins they form were sized to accommodate the jigs and tool-boxes, and the top (after giving it a subtle curved profile) was cut with grooves to accept the clamps.
I used a story stick to lay out the distances from the bottom of the panels to each shelf bottom, (done on each inside edge of both panels). The two marks were then connected with a marking knife, to form the bottom margin of each dado, before sawing. The set-up to determine the location of the top margin of each dado, using the future shelf as a reference for the width of the dado. Close-up view of how I positioned the fence. The results were perfect. Patience, careful set-up and a steady hand won the day. None of the 8 dadoes needed to be adjusted or finessed to fit the shelves tightly but smoothly.
After this the depth of the dadoes was achieved using a chisel and a router plane set to 1/4 inch depth.The feet were painted to help protect them from moisture; after they were painted I realized it would look a bit better if the top matched as well.
The storage unit looks pretty good, fits my gear well, and keeps things out of the way. Setting up and breaking down my work-space is now much faster than it used to be.
At this point the chest is finished. Here are some pics of the final result, with all the hardware in place and the finish on the chest.
The chest got 2 coats of danish oil. The next day I rubbed on some garnet shellac, followed by wax.
Now, on to the commentary…
The chest turned out better than I expected. I was unhappy with the quality of my work at several points along the way, in the construction of this piece; however, the end result ended up being quite beautiful once cleaned up and finished.
Having said that, it is worth sharing some mistakes and lessons I learned along the way:
The good
Hand-cut dadoes (at least not stopped dadoes) are easy as long as you pay attention to what you are doing. This was my first time to make this particular joint and it went really well and the dado was tight and easy to fit (the floor of the top compartment is essentially a shelf whose front is obscured by the top half of the chest’s front).
My hand-cut dovetails are getting better and better. (At least my through-dovetails).
This chest is indeed easy to build, as Mr. Schwarz advertised. Two or 3 days in the shop for most people should be enough, exclusive of painting/finishing, etc…
My first time to place hinges went much more smoothly than it should have. The pessimist in me fears it will never be so easy ever again…
Very proud to say that no power tools were used in making this project.
The bad:
If you look at the bottom edge of the side, you can see that I laid out my tails on the bottom board and the pins on the sides, which is the opposite of what I intended. Ultimately it will make no real difference (that joint carries only half the weight of the tools inside, and the dovetails were done well). The downside is that it looks like a funny finger joint. Oh well.
I underestimated how wet the wood was. I should have stickered the boards and let them dry a little before starting. (In reality this would have been impossible. In all honesty, however, even if I had the option at the time, I would have barreled along into the project without properly accounting for the dampness of this wood. This was a mistake I would have made even if I was in full control of the situation when we started the project.) Pine doesn’t move a whole lot, compared to most woods I use, but I was astonished at how much movement I have seen in this piece so far. Most of the construction was done in February. Five months later my tongue and groove joints on the back are almost (but not quite) at their limits. Also some of the wood has threatened to split, in ways that weren’t apparent back in February.
There are some fairly epic depths of tear-out in a few places. Partly due to the wood itself (lots of switching grain directions), but mainly due to my own impatience and lack of paying attention. In the end I opted to accept some of the tear-out; this was meant to be a working chest, not a show-piece, and I needed to finish things and move ahead to the next project. However, it was a good lesson for the future. Discipline is important.
The chest looks nice, but in retrospect I would have used more blonde and less garnet shellac. This is a taste issue, but it does annoy me.
A fun and useful build. I recommend it to anyone, even if you don’t have need of a tool-chest. I had a lady come by the shop and ask if it was a toy-box. I suppose it is, in a way.
Tomorrow I move my man-toys into the chest, and begin a new project…
southernhandworks 