Accidental Woodworker

drawer prep......

 I got all the stock prepped for the drawers. That was the last thing I did before killing the lights. I thought I would get to maybe one drawer done but it didn't happen boys and girls. Started feeling crappy after lunch and it didn't improve any when I went on my walk. I made it through prepping and said No Mas. This is the 3rd day in a row that I have had this queasy, crappy feeling after lunch. I'll have to change up the menu tomorrow and see if that is the cause.

 back

Before I can do the drawers I have to do the back. That is needed because the back will determine the depth of the opening and the length of the drawer sides.

 frame

No bridle joints or miters. Instead I'm going to half lap at the corners and the vertical stiles.

 road test

No differences in the Grizzly tenon jig vice my old Delta one. I do like the provision for the sacrificial  vertical stop - that was lacking on the Delta. I used the Grizzly to do the half laps for the corners and the stiles.

sawing the shoulders

I chose the tablesaw and the Grizzly because I didn't want to devote a lot of time doing this by hand only.

 good fit

This side of the half lap won't be seen after it is installed in the back. I plan on gluing the half laps together and then I will nail the frame to the back. This way it can taken off if any repairs are needed down the road.

 stile half laps

I labeled which face gets the waste removed from. Sawed the shoulders and then cleaned it out with a router.

 one vertical stile fitted

Got a good fit on this one and it is flush.

dry fit of the frame

I could have used one more small C clamp but I managed without it. I got a snug fit of the frame and it was on to making panel inserts.

 gappy fit

Fortunately for me this isn't the show face. I had a stray line and I didn't lay this one against the other to check it. Paid the price with ugly gaps on either side of it.

 back dry fitted

This will get nailed in place after the drawers are made and fitted. I didn't have any 1/8" baltic birch plywood and I had to use this chinese crap. The last time I put shellac on it, the plywood turned green. I got 12 more sheets on order that is B/BB grade 1/8" baltic birch ply. That price has almost doubled since the last time I bought it.

bought six

This is a replacement for the metal insert. It is still available on ereplacements but it costs $40. These are made by Carter and I didn't know that they were made by them.

sibling is MIA

I can't remember where I put the second one of these. I looked in the 3 spots that I hold things like this until I need them but came up empty. These clips are $10 plus $10 for S/H. I'll put on my Sherlock Holmes hat and cape before I buy another one. In which the MIA one would probably mysteriously appear.

 back glued and cooking

I'll take this out of the clamps after dinner and check the fit. You'll have to wait another day to read about it.

 drawers prepped

Fronts, backs, and sides sawn slightly oversized. Still haven't decided on the drawer bottoms. I will use slips regardless of the the bottom choice.

 tapered

The side goes in about 1/2 way on the right and won't fit the opening at all on the left.

 opposite side

The left side easily fits the opening front to back. The right side won't fit. The left to right is off a strong 32nd. On the other side drawer opening is shy of a 32nd off. The vertical ends are square which is a point in my favor. I will plane the drawer to fit and I'm sure that will take a few dance steps.

accidental woodworker

Stanley 4 1/2.......

 Type 5-8

This plane has been my daily user for over 6+ years. I have decided to sell my herd of rehabbed planes and this is the 2nd one being offered. I am not a collector even though I have about 15 planes that will be offered up for new homes. I have Stanley, Miller Falls, Union, and Rockford/Marsh planes coming up next.

I had trouble typing this plane because it fits into 4 different ones very neatly. I thought it was a type 7 but after using the typing chart this AM I'm not so sure. So I am saying it is one of types from 5 up to 8. As far as I know all the parts are original except for the iron. All parts except for one washer (it was missing) are what was on the plane when I got it and rehabbed it.

all the bits are here

I swapped out the steel screw on the handle's toe for a brass one because I like shiny brass. Plus it looks better against the handle. Which is intact and hasn't been broken and glued back together. If you want the steel screw let me know and I'll ship one with the plane.

 in IMO...

Whatever type this plane is, this is the best feature of it or any other Stanley plane type. The frog seat is wide and stable and I don't see why or how Stanley didn't use this till the end of plane production.

 brass toe screw

This will be shined up for whomever buys this. I will also clean up and make her presentable for the new owner.

 sole

The sole is in good shape with no rust pits, scratches, gouges, or dings. I never used this plane on a shooting board so I can't attest for the cheeks being square to the sole.

 RML shavings

After I put the plane back together I spit out even (width, thickness, and length) Right, Middle, and Left shavings. I never had a disappointing planing experience with her.

 ditto

Full length and width shaving. I creased it in half so it would lay out flat against the stock I planed it off.

 wispy too

No effort to make shavings so thin you can see through them.

I am selling this for the reason stated above plus the fact that I am now using my Lie Nielsen 4 1/2 again. I had bought the LN 4 1/2 before I got the Stanley 4 1/2. I got bit by the Stanley bug and that is all I used for years. I went all out with Stanley for over ten years. I am now down sizing and selling the Stanley herd. 

The price is $130, shipping included to anywhere in the lower 48. Outside of that I'm sad to say that it is on your dime.

I am offering it first on my blog to those who take the time to read my keyboard diarrhea. The email is rjboumenot at gmail dot com. If I get more one I'll take it, the earliest time stamp wins the prize.

accidental woodworker

2nd cardiologist visit......

 Spent the morning getting an EKG at the VA. I got to see my cardiologist and talk to him again about it. Of all the doctors I have had over the years this guy is numero uno bar none. He is the friendliest and nicest doctor that I have ever dealt with. He said my EKG looked better than the one taken on the 20th. He said the changes were nominal but headed in the right direction. He put in a follow up for a CPAP machine but I don't know when that will happen. I'm not looking forward to being hooked up to it but he has convinced me of the benefits of using it. My BIL (brother in law) hates his but he did tell me that it makes a difference using it vice not using it.

 ready to drop the last four

Yesterday after dinner I went back to the shop and glued in the dividers on the left side. I also glued in the horizontal pieces hiding the end grain end of the vertical dividers. I removed all the other clamps except for these four then.

before I went to the VA

I didn't have a specified time for the EKG but I wanted to get this glued before I left. That way when I got back home (whenever that happened) this would be set and I could remove the clamps.

 should have waited

No headaches gluing this back on but I shouldn't have glued the block of wood to the vertical divider. It ended up being a couple of frog hairs high causing this repair to be a few frog hairs high on the top and a few shy on the bottom. The bottom will show up as a gap. Sigh.

 no action here

This crack/split doesn't extend top to bottom. I put a clamp on it and that did nada with closing it up. The crack is one that with a casual glance you don't see it. With the drawers in place 99% of it will be hidden. I will fill in the crack/split with wood putty and call it done.

it worked

It was a bit awkward maneuvering the plane here but it worked getting the proud flushed. I thought this plane would a game changer for me but it hasn't panned out that way. I wanted it for trimming dowels and dovetails/pins but I wasn't getting good results there with it. I found it way more convenient to use a chisel. If this plane hadn't worked here I would have used my paring chisels - the blade on them is about 10" long and would have reached from the back to the front.

 more sighs

The )_@$&)%)@#%&*)_)%Q@_+%(+*)(^ shifted on me. Shy on this side and proud on the right.

 still more sighing

It wasn't flush at the top but it was at the bottom which why I had to glue another thin piece of wood onto to the vertical divider. 

 one before I left for the VA

There was a gap at the bottom too I had to deal with. After I planed this flush the gap at the bottom was reduced to almost nothing.

new gadget

I got this from Rex Kreuger from Compass Rose Tools. I am a sucker for toys like this and it was only $20.

 what it is replacing

Both of these are used to keep the vise jaws parallel when clamping something on one edge of it. 

 super easy to use

This is what sold me on this gadget and caused me to pull the trigger instantaneously. You clamp whatever until it is snug and then slide the gadget in until a 'step' fills the space and you then tighten the vise. Works like a champ and no more fiddling with do I have enough fingers to fill the space?

McMaster order came

The Hex driver is a wee bit too long. I should have gotten the 5" one. Oh well it fits the screws so I'll keep it. 

 doesn't fit

 This screw is a 5mm x 8 and it doesn't fit. I went to ACE and I brought the plane with me and I couldn't find a screw to fit it. ACE only sells a 5mm x 8 screw as does McMaster-Carr. I searched on line and I couldn't find anyone that sold a 5mm screw in any thread pitch size other than 8.

The only other thing I can think of is this screw is a Whitworth thread. There is also the BSW and BSF standard in England that was in use when this was made. I think this plane was made before England switched to the metric standard. So it is looking like I'll be sticking with the slot head screw of whatever thread pitch standard it is.  I do know it isn't imperial or metric.

 fits in the 5mm

It fits it and it doesn't fit it. It fits in the both of the 5mm holes albeit one is wee bit looser fitting than the other. 

 no go Jose

It doesn't come close to fitting in any of the imperial holes. I thought I had a Whitworth screw pitch gauge but I couldn't find where I hid it.

 went 1 for 2

The star washer fits the box of screws I got and the screw from the bandsaw. The screw doesn't fit in the clip for the door closing gizmo. The bends for it are too close together and the head is too wide to fit between them. I'll have to get a 8-32 screw with a small diameter head.

 fits

Definitely overkill on the length but it fits and it does work better than a slot screwdriver. The positive grip with no slop is the game changer.

 not elegant looking

It fits but the smaller one would look better than this one. I also have to get a 5mm hex driver for the small LN router plane. In the interim I'll be using a 5mm hex key driver.

 no drawer work today

Overall I'm pleased with the look of this. There will be few issues to deal with - the drawer openings not being parallel top/bottom. Another issue is I didn't get the two bottom drawers (L/R) aren't equally divided. The one the top left is wider than the bottom one and on the right two it the opposite. But the difference between those two isn't as wide as the left ones.

It seems that I have a timer on my cell phone. I used that today to time my walk because I want to get an idea of how long I'm walking for. My goal is get up to  90 but less than120 minutes. Today I clocked 1 hour and 17 minutes even though I added a lot to the walk today - I would guess about 10 blocks or so.

I felt good after the walk today and I didn't feel like I had stressed myself at all. I'll do the same route again tomorrow and see what I clock for it then. It is supposed to rain for a couple days this week so I'll have to play it by ear. Either way I'll keep to the same route for a couple of weeks before I add more to it.

accidental woodworker

sunday doings.......

 I finished watching all the 'young' Inspector Morse seasons and a couple of other crime series, both from Germany. One of them, Nordic Murders, I liked a lot but it only had 4 episodes and that was it. I'm now into season 5 on Inspector Morse and I'm finally getting around to it. I found the first couple of episodes so so but it has picked up and I'm enjoying watching them now. I'm averaging 2-3 episodes a day and there are 9 seasons to view. I've been checking on what to watch next but nothing has caught my attention yet.

 lost it

I don't know where it disappeared to. I stopped here and started cleaning up the shop to see if I could find it. When I took this apart I forgot to remove it first so it mostly likely ended up in a black hole somewhere on the shop floor.

 got lucky again

Found it under the bench hooks but not the 1/8" spline. That is ok because making a new block matching the existing 1/8" groove is the tricky part. Cutting a new 1/8" spline is gravy work.

 cleaning up the carcass

All of the stock has a bazillion teeny straight spaghetti bumps on each face. The planer knives have several nicks in them. Once this was done it was on to glue up.

 it ain't flowing

The shop temp is back to 61F (16C) but the glue didn't like it. I had to refill the bottle and the glue coming out of the gallon jug was flowing like molasses in winter. After I filled the bottle I warmed it up with my heat gun. That improves the flow a lot.

I went back and forth on hide or white glue and I went with white glue. I felt like I would have enough time to get glue on the tails/pins and dividers before the glue starting going off. In hindsight I should have used hide glue for the extra open time.

 headache time

I did a couple of dry fit ups and never saw this headache that popped up once the glue went on. This vertical divider is bowed and it isn't tight at the front neither. The back gap is bigger than it though. I put my deep reach clamps on it to suck in.

 this side is dry fitted

This glue up wasn't going as planned and I regretted not using hide glue. This side behaved dry fitted and I was leaving it dry while the rest of the carcass set up. No headaches with these dividers when I glued them in several hours later.

 it is square -  top and bottom

The other side has a slight bulge in it about the half way mark. Once the glue has set up I will plane the 'hump' until it reads square.

Yikes

I almost lost this glue up. I was using a mallet to drive the divider in and I went too far. I thought the back had to be flush but it only had to be flush on one side. I didn't remember that when I driving it home and blew out the front edge on the middle shelf. I also split and cracked the bottom but it didn't break out. Another 'to do' once the glue as set - probably tomorrow because this frazzled me.

 good or worse

The drawers will hide a lot of this because they will be flush with front face. I can't pull this out to get glue in it.

 the back

I shortened all the dividers 3/8" at the back to make room for a frame. I haven't decided on whether to use a bridle joint or miter at the corners. The panel will be 1/8" plywood and that will allow this to be viewed 360 and give it a finished look. The frame will be about 3/8" and will be slightly proud of the back so I will be able to plane flush it.

 dado holes

I did the dadoes before I decided on the back detail. Thinking ahead I would have made the dadoes all stopped so they wouldn't show on the back face.

It rained off and on all day on saturday. It was mostly on than off and buckets of rain came down. This AM when I got up the temp was 28F (-2C) and all the rain puddles were frozen. It is the end of march and trees and shrubs are budding and we still have ice and frosty mornings.

accidental woodworker

good progress today.......

 I threw caution to the wind this AM and went to the shop to work even though my wife was still checking the inside of her eyelids for light leaks (she was still sleeping). I wasn't a complete idiot and I didn't use any power tools and did noiseless piddly things until she got up. I got most of what I wanted to get done today and I only had one brain fart to deal with.

 hmm.....

The dado is almost a 16th wider than what it should be. This is visible when the drawers are opened or removed. I scrounged around the shop and found a thicker divider replacement.

 did better on these

I used my brass 1/2" set up bar to size the dado above. I used the actual divider on the bottom two. Both of them were a wee bit snug and I had to plane the dividers to fit.

 it bit me on the arse

I had this nagging me in the back of the brain bucket. This divider is tilted slightly to right from the bottom up. I can see it isn't square and the 90° was small enough to fit here and confirm it. Trying to fit drawers into a non square opening is a ROYAL PITA. I know because as I learned how I had to do it numerous times.

 gauge stick

I sized this stick to be a snug fit on the left corner of this and it was the same at the center too.

 frog hair off

I could probably have forced it with a thump but I didn't. This opening is now carved in stone and I'll deal with it as is. The top/bottom being out of parallel is an easier fix then the vertical ends being off 90°.

 bottom check
The bottom stick was the same across the entire opening at the bottom.

 fixing the out of square

I thought these planes were going to be the panacea for my woodworking. I've had them for several years and I doubt I have used even once a year. Today they proved to be useful widening the dadoes. I opened up the left side on the top and the right side on the bottom one. I did that to get the center divider standing square.

 it worked

Jimmy Diresta says if it looks square, it is square. I do confirmation due to the age my peepers.

 square at the front too

IMO this is where it matters the most. The back is important too but I think the divider also being square to the front edge to the back edge ranks close to the top too.

 covered

Got the end grain end of the vertical divider covered. I used a 1/8 plywood spline to do this. I'll glue it after I do the carcass.

 needed a new divider

The dado was wider then the original divider. This stock had to be glued up to get the height I needed. This one is a couple of frog hairs wider and I had to plane it to fit. It was close to lunch when I glued this up and I fitted it after lunch.

 repeated

The same way I covered the top divider I did for this bottom one. I will repeat it for its sibling on the left. The horizontal dividers left will show long grain so I don't have to do anything with them.

 four more dadoes left

I am liking how this evolving. I am liking the two narrow top drawers. I have already thought of a lot of tools I could put in them.

 had to flush them

I was going to leave these proud and flush them after the carcass was glued up. I had to do it here so I could layout for the last two horizontal divider dadoes.

 loving this square

I had to flush it so the combo square would lay flat on it. The combo square was on the outside edge of the carcass with the blade extending over to this vertical divider.

 first two dadoes done

Got a snug fit on both the L and R dadoes. Two more to go before I can call it done.

 dicey work

The dado runs with the grain and it was not easy chopping it in either one. Decided to run the grain front to back because I didn't have any 1/2" thick stock that I could use with the grain running top/bottom. 

 
 my brain fart

I was careful laying out the dadoes for this. The left one has it's dado too high - I chopped it on the wrong side of the layout line.

 made a new divider for the left side

I got lucky because I have a lot of scraps of 1/2"-ish stock piled about the shop. I got the new one made lickety split.

 2nd gauge stick

This is what I used to lay out the bottom edge of the dado for the horizontal dividers. I saw that I hadn't put an X on the waste side of the dado that I screwed up. Did it for the other 3 but I missed this one.

 survived

I wonder if there is a better way to layout the dadoes? None them aligned and could be marked in pairs. I only had one go south on me and it was a quick fix. Tomorrow I plan on gluing this up and monday I'll start on the drawers. 

accidental woodworker

getting aggravated......

 My wife is currently writing up a history for a client. She has gone back to the 1600's and is writing info on each of the client's ancestors. The downside is she likes to start working on late at night and goes past 0200 some nights. I got no problem with that part but the downside is she sleeps late. Some mornings she doesn't get up until 1000-ish. That means I can't go to the shop until after she wakes up. Which means I don't get a full day in the shop. Which means things get stretched out. Which means a ten minute job is taking me 2 days. I can go on but it would be pointless. The good thing is that she told she is almost done with it.

Today she got up at 0940 and I got to the shop at 1000. I worked for an hour and broke for lunch and my walk. I got back to the shop at 1330 and killed the lights at 1520. Needless to say I didn't get everything in the grand plan for thursday done. Good thing I'm retired and don't have to punch a clock.

 getting wee bit cool too

It was a frosty 23F (-5C) this AM. It doesn't look like it is going to warm up until the end of next week. The low overnight temps translate into the a cool shop. It was still 59F when I killed the lights.

 dry fit went well

No problems doing the dry fit. I clipped the back edges of the tails on all four corners. This is something I usually don't do but I don't mind doing it with half blinds. Definitely made fitting the tails easier, especially with bottoming them out.

 the first one

This is the middle horizontal divider and it is the first batter. I need this one in place before I can layout for the other 10 dadoes.

 2nd batter

I need dadoes on the right and left for four small drawers that go in the bottom and their horizontal middle dividers.

 clean up batter

These will be the last dadoes to do.

 snipe

There is about 1 1/2" of snipe on this end of the board. I got lucky in that I was able to saw it all off as waste. If that didn't happen I would have made the dado to fit this end.

 LN screwdriver

I remembered to try out my new Rob Cosman router screws. They fit the small LN router too. 

 3/16"

I had looked on Amazon last night for single hex screwdrivers and I didn't find any. I don't want to buy a set of them because I already have 3 sets (two metric one imperial). I'll try McMaster because I still haven't bought the screws and star washers for the bandsaw. 

You can exert a lot more force with the hex wrench than with a slotted screwdriver. Not sure if it will be the same with a hex screwdriver but it will be more convenient than a hex wrench or slotted screwdriver. The screw is brass and the iron is steel (of some type) so it won't cause any harm to it.

 nope

The Cosman screws doesn't fit the Stanley small router plane (mine was made in England).

 keeping everything together

The closed throat router is the one I use the most and I have a rather large herd of router planes (12 last count). I got one Cosman screw and the 3 LN ones in the envelope. Might as well keep it in the biggest router plane box.

 first dado fits

It isn't as snug as I would like but it is self supporting.

 both sides fitted

The plans called for the top and bottom to extend beyond the sides by 5/8". That detail played havoc with me trying to figure out how to do it. Instead I'm going for the front to be flush top/bottom and R/L.

 little bit off

The plans call for the top drawer openings to be 1 5/8" and I'm a 1 3/4". I don't mind the two top drawers being an 1/8" deeper. It looks like I nailed the bottom two drawer openings but that might change depending upon how good I do on centering the horizontal divider there.

 No Mas, No Mas

Getting this vertical divider centered here kicked my arse. I played with it almost 30 minutes before I gave up on it. The right opening is a few frog hairs wider than its sibling on the left.

 hmmm......

Which way to run the grain on the vertical dividers? This one of two needs to be about 4 5/8" and if I run the grain front to back it will expand/contract top/bottom. I usually don't bother with wood movement in widths of 3" or less. The other problem is I don't have any 1/2" thick stock 7" long with the grain running top to bottom. I got time to think about it and sort it out.

 the last dadoes

This horizontal divider is the last one to do. This will separate the two drawers here and on the other side. I need to make sure the vertical dividers (above) are fitted without any slop in them and that they are square every which way.

 more dado layout

I had to label the parts of the carcass so I don't layout and chop dadoes on the wrong face. This was a wee bit nerve wracking but double triple checking it a bazillion times worked this time.

 got it right

With this set of dadoes done I only have 4 more to go. Before I get to them I have to size and fit the dividers in these 6 dadoes.

 ignoring this one

This is the upper divider and it is less than 2" with the grain running front to back. I will glue a piece of pine to the end grain end and flush it with the front face.

 came today

This author wrote an article about linseed oil paint for the last edition of Mortise & Tenon magazine. When I saw he wrote a book on it I bought it. It is something that has a long history (goes back over 3000 years) and may be better than the paint available today. I would like to try my hand at making it some day to use.

accidental woodworker

fell short......

 My goal for today was to get the dovetailing done and the carcass dry fitted. I got one of the two done - dovetails. I finished the last pin sockets at 1515. Dry fitting the carcass will have to wait until tomorrow.

 didn't forget

Before I started the pin sockets I had to plane the rabbet over the tails. I don't mark this and just plane 3 strokes on each end.

pin layout

I tried my new 90° square and I like it. I'll be using this over my usual 2" engineer's square.

 used the Moxon

I tried to do this in the workbench face vise but it wasn't working. I've sawn the sockets as much as I could and finished the corners with a scraper. The scraper is from Lie Nielsen and it is the same thickness as the saw plate.

note to self

Me thinks I made the top web a wee bit too thin. I split 3 of the sockets and I glued them back together with super glue.

 good fit

I didn't seat this more than 1/2 way. I just wanted to get an idea of the fit and if it was going to together. I want to minimize how many times I seat the tails/pins because this is pine and I don't want to lose the snug fit I have.

 came today

These aren't exactly what I wanted. I like the size of the knob but I don't like how to attach them. I am not fond of knobs attached with wood screws. I have yet to have one not loosen through use. The site didn't have pic of them showing the back hole for the screw. I thought I was buying shaker knobs with a tenon.

 back in stock

I want to start putting string inlays in my boxes and I needed this. It has been back ordered for several months. I paid for it and told LV to ship when it came back in stock. As far as I know Lie Nielsen doesn't sell string inlay tools anymore.

 this worked

Backing up with this wood block worked for not splitting out the thin web when I used it. That thin web also doesn't give me much wiggle room for planing/sanding the top.

 last one

All four corners fitted up snugly. I didn't' escape gap free though. Fingers crossed that the glue will swell them shut.

 for tomorrow

I am thinking of using a stopped dado for the back. Another contender is a frame and panel which the more I think of it, the more I am liking it. I could make the frame out of 3/8" stock and use 1/8" plywood for the panels. I'll have to wait and see which way the wind blows me.

 on my desk after I killed the shop lights

According to the Canadian Post Tracking I wasn't supposed to get this until the 25th. These are replacement screws for Lie Nielsen router planes. Mine aren't chewed up yet and I have trouble tightening them with the LN screwdriver. Looking forward to give these the acid test. I don't remember the size but I will buy a handled ball driver for it off Amazon. 

I don't know if this new screw will fit in the small LN router. I'll find that out in the AM too.

The temp when I went on my walk today was 38F (3C). The wind was blowing hard and long out of the NW and it was )&@$^&%)*_)@ cold. I had to walk into the wind for the first half and have it blowing on my back for most of the 2nd half. I almost didn't go it felt so cold. 

The weather has gone from being in the 50'sF (11C) to this. I saw frost by the back door this AM when I went grocery shopping. The overnight temps going into next week will be hovering around 32F (0C). Wasn't the first day of spring yesterday?

accidental woodworker

cardiologist appt.......

I like my cardiologist because he listens to my questions and answers them. He doesn't talk down to me or try to talk over my head neither. Its nice to have an understanding of why and what medications he prescribes for me but what they do for me. I spent about 40 minutes with him without feeling like I was getting the bum's rush out the door.

The upside of the visit is he is impressed with how active I am. He mentioned that he had trouble keeping up with me walking to his office. The downside is I'll have to start using a CPAC machine for my sleep apnea. He also told me to keep losing weight because that helps with A Fib as will the CPAC machine.

I have to go back on monday for an EKG because he stopped one med and started me on a new one. I'll ask him to put in the order for a CPAC when I see him again then. Not looking forward to that because my brother in law hates using his.

 totally different

The one I made for daughter #1 wasn't as wide (R/L) as this one. I like the proportions and drawer layout as is. This is about 36" R/L and 8" high. I might keep this for myself and use it in the shop for tool storage.

 some butt scratching

I have to make 11 stopped dadoes for the drawer dividers. The tricky part is they aren't all in line with each other. Such as the divider between the two drawer openings here. I will have to dry fit and square up the carcass first and then layout the dadoes, chop them, test the fit, and then assemble and dry fit the only thing before gluing it up. 

 I like this drawer

This drawer arrangement reminds of Gerstner machinist tool chests. This appeals to me because I like boxes first and drawers second for storing things. 

 keeping this

I rode the fence for a few minutes about dividing the top into 3 or 4 drawer openings. Since I like the overall look of the carcass I'm sticking with the Shaker Brother who designed (?) and made this in 1820. I wonder what these two top drawers were used to stow then?

 this sucks pond scum

The other two boards are still dead flat and straight. This is the bottom and it cupped after planing it to thickness. It is about a 16th off on the two outside edges. The bottom drawers will be riding in/out on this and it needs to be flat front to back.

 doing some layout

I am sticking or I'll try to stick with the drawer openings from the original. I did a rough layout to see how much I need to lose on the end panels. The end panels were running way long here.

 found my oops

I had sawn the ends panels to finished height and did the dado layout again and I was way off. The top drawer openings are 1 5/8" high and mine here were almost 3". It didn't dawn on me that I was doing the layout with the panel in the wrong orientation. Flipping it 90° fixed that headache. My drawer layout was still a wee bit off for the top drawer at a couple of frog hairs shy of 1 5/8.

 tails on one end panel done

I got this done just before lunch. I didn't want to start the other one and leave it partially completed. I'll pick this back up in the AM.

One thing I feel lucky about is doing the order of operations for making things. It is a gift I am thankful for a lot. I just seem to know instinctively how and what to do and more importantly, the order in which to do it. Here I have to do the end panels first and then layout for the dadoes and chop them. Once that is done I can get the finished dimensions for the dividers.

I am still wrestling with what to do about the back of this drawer unit thing. I have never seen a pic of the back of this or any other one. I can use plywood or solid wood for it but how to install attach it is causing some headaches. More than likely the back will be a visible part of this so the back will have to have a finished appearance. 

A second wrestling match is the drawer bottoms. None of the drawers except the middle bottom one are going to have a lot of interior height to them. I am leaning in the direction of using slips but I'm stuck on what to use for the bottoms. My choices are off cuts from the drawers, 1/8" plywood, or so called 1/4" plywood. That decision can wait for a few more days.

 half blind dovetail rabbet trick

Over the past few months I have made a bazillion half lapped drawers using this rabbet trick. I won't ever make another half lapped dovetailed anything without using this technique.

 nailed it

I measured and set the fence on the plane and made two passes with it. The baseline on the tails is dead on. No hints of daylight on almost every tail/pin.

 laying out the dovetails

I missed the number of tails - I have six and the original has 5. I thought that if I wanted 5 tails I had to step off 6 times with the dividers. Now I know that if I want 5, I step off five. Will I remember this for the next time?

accidental woodworker

it was looking good.......

 My day started out pretty good in spite of me rolling out of the rack late. I mailed out one of the planes to its new owner. I got the picture frame and painting to Maria and she going to remount the painting. If I had known that was a possibility things would have been different. I should have that in a couple of weeks. I also got all the stock for the first drawer unit thing to the thicknesses I need. All this before lunch. It was looking good.

 it is staying here

I am not hauling this back down to the cellar only to haul it back out in a couple of days. Especially so with it being so cold this morning. The wind was blowing out of the north and it was chilling me to the bone. I would plane a little and go back inside to warm up my fingers. On the upside the wind blew a lot of the sawdust away - less for me to sweep up.

 first run done

The top, bottom, and the two end panels were thicknessed to 5/8". All the others were planed down to 1/2".

 the other drawer stock

These are too short to run through the lunchbox planer safely. I will get the width close on the bandsaw and then plane the rough sawn face smooth and to thickness. These are all for drawers so I don't have to go nutso anal on them. Getting everything +/- a frog hair will be good enough.

 door clips

Getting these reminded me that I still haven't gotten the star washers or the one screw I need to install both of these on the bandsaw.

test cuts

The cuts aren't dead nuts perfect. The numbers on the gauge confirmed what my eyeballs saw. The cut is slightly tapered from the bottom to the top running out away from the left side of the blade.

 not good

I was having troubles (big time) trying to get the blade square to the table. The door opened and this is what I saw. The blade should be running in the center of the wheel (on the bottom one too).

Still having problems with the screw that tilts the top wheel which governs how the blade tracks on the wheels. I couldn't turn it when I had too. Even with slip joint pliers I couldn't turn it. Didn't want to do it but I had to take the top wheel off to investigate again.

 hmm.....

This blows my thoughts on what I suspected was toast. I was expecting the end of this bolt to chewed up and impossible to fully screw out. Instead the end of it is almost brand new looking and no hiccups screwing it out and back in.

 scoring

It goes from about the 1130 CCW over to the 0300 position. The problem was the wheel was hitting the inside cover in a few spots as it turned and I couldn't use the tilting screw to correct it.

 this ain't looking good

I can see why the tilt screw is stalling and won't turn anymore. Just one problem with different metals of different hardness that bear on each other. The tilt screw is basically trying to thread itself into this tilt arm.

will it work?

I filed the burrs off the tilt arm and filed a round over on the end of the screw. I'm hoping that with the sharpness on the end gone that it will turn on the tilt arm without trying to dig into it.

This wasn't my first choice. My first idea was to drill and tap a hole where the screw meets the tilt arm. I would then put something like a Tee bolt in the hole. The 'tee' part would then be a flat surface for the tilt screw to bear on and turn. And it would be replaceable if needed. This may still happen if this first fix goes south on me.

 paper check

I stuck a piece of paper behind the wheel to check for any binding. The wheel is close to touching it but the wheel didn't grab the paper anywhere 360.

It took me a lot of frustrating minutes to get the blade to track anywhere near the middle of the wheel. A lot of it had to do with the )(^($@$)(%* tilt screw. Much easier to screw in but getting the blade to cooperate and play ball ate up a lot of calories.

success

Finally got the blade square to the table. It seemed like even the bandsaw dust was being a PITA with squaring the blade. I can't argue with this - no daylight here is a good thing.

 needs some support

I noticed earlier that the far end of the fence was toeing out to the left as I pushed the stock through. I have piece of wood under the table and this one up tight against the fence. I saw no more deflection when I sawed a couple of more test pieces.

 test cuts

For the most part the offcut looked kind of ok. The taper I saw before is now gone but I can see that the top and bottom on each end aren't the same. It is minute but I can see it. Also didn't do the +/- math without the decimal point - confused me. I wanted to see what the numbers were from reading it with calipers.

 very close

I planed the bandsawn face and I am less than a frog hair off across the 3 of them.

 hmm.....

Had another idea. Rather than shit canning the roughly 1/4" off cut from thinning the drawer sides I can use them to make drawer bottoms. The thickness is just shy of 3/16". I don't have a warm and fuzzy about using it for the 17" (L/R) drawers but I should be able to use this for the other 5 drawers.

 added and subtracting correctly

I redid the math and converted some fractions to decimal to visualize how much the cuts were. Everything is off less than a 64th to a 32nd on the first one I did (3rd from the top). I would be a lot happier if the numbers were all the same but I think the differences aren't enough to write home about. These were all measured off the rough bandsawn face too. If I remember it I'll take a second reading now that I've smoothed the bandsawn faces. 

Too late to run these through the bandsaw for today. I'll do that in the AM and start on making the drawer thing. Fixing the bandsaw again ate up 90% of my PM session time. Tomorrow isn't going to be much better time wise because I have an appointment with my cardiologist at 1300 tomorrow.

accidental woodworker

day 1 new project.......

Jumped into the next project with both feet today. Both of them are drawer storage things made by the Shakers in the early 1800's. I made one several years ago and I'm going to make it again. This time I will try to follow and make it closer to the dimensions in the book. 

The second one I'll do basically the same but with one change. That one is made with thin stock - 1/4" , 5/16", and 3/8" are the thicknesses for it. I am changing the 1/4" to 3/8" along with the 5 1/6" and the 3/8" will be bumped up to 1/2". IMO the original thicknesses are too thin and delicate for what this drawer unit storage thing will be used for.

my Stanley #8

I had this sole ground flat/straight by a machinist. I did that because I didn't have a flat surface long enough to sand the sole on. I only use this to joint long edges for gluing boards together.

 #8 storage shelf

I had to wait until the AM to put the plane in it because I spilled super glue on it. I didn't want to cry if the plane got glued down to the shelf.

 sigh

The pine is hiding the ugly end grain but it is unsightly looking. There is a gap along the entire length. The super glue had bumps along it and the pine couldn't lay flat and seamless. Didn't catch that until after I glued the two together.

 safe and sound

It isn't a trip hazard and not even close to be in the way walking by it. 

 frame is 99.99% done

I got 3 coats on the front and the inside face edges and two on the back. Two is all the back is getting. I'll bring this Maria tomorrow.

 done?

When I put this coat on the stool I was still covering some holidays which surprised me. I'll have to wait and see what it looks like tomorrow before I put a check mark in the done column.

 first of two

I am going to make the left one first. The plan was to get all the stock broke down today and run it through the lunchbox planer tomorrow. Spoiler alert boys and girls - it ain't going to happen according to the plan.

 first break down

The 3 long boards are the top, middle divider, and bottom. The 3 off cuts are for the ends, dividers, and whatever is left will be for drawer parts.

 short ones are bowed

Don't understand this but the long pieces are flat and straight and the 3 short off cuts are cupped. Not a horrendous amount but enough that I'll have to flatten it.

 cup is gone

Rather than flattening/straightening a wide board I cut up into narrower pieces for the drawers. None of them have a cup but all but 2 have a twist.

 drawer stock

I don't have all the drawer stock here but a good dent in it. It took me about an hour to remove the twist from these.

 eyeballing the sticks

I've been using this 'hold them up higher' for a couple of years now. I tried to bend over to sight over the stock/sticks on the bench and wasn't working for me. I don't have to bend over to sight with this and I've used it for boards up to 6 feet long with no hiccups.

Rob Cosman gadget

On one of his recent You Tube vids on the 10 best selling items this caught my eye and bought on the spot. This is a thumb/fore finger grabbie thing for a plane used for shooting.

 where I'll use it

This is a war time Stanley #6 that I use only on my Lee Valley adjustable shooting board. It is a thick, heavy casting well suited for shooting. You have to drill a hole in the cheek for this and I'm ok with. Normally I am not of fan of hang holes or any other extraneous holes. Because this plane is a special purpose plane I'll swallow the cringe and drill the hole. I put this on the to do list which means it will get done whenever.

 hmm.....

I'll have to do a modification to this holder. I certainly don't want to put that grabbie thing on and off every time I use the plane.

 drawer stock

I cut all the drawer stock oversized by 2" in length and width. I don't want a repeat I had of rough cutting stock only to have it come up short. I might change the top two drawers which are currently 17 1/2" long by 1 7/8" wide. I am not crazy about such a big drawer (L/R) that is this short in the height. However, I do like the layout of the drawers and I may leave it as is. 

 main carcass parts

I will let the stock relax until tomorrow and give it a chance to do any stupid wood tricks.

 left overs

I used four  1x12x 5 foot boards to get all the parts for this first drawer unit. These won't go to waste and will be used the second drawer unit.

The local weather (and news) feed I usually look at everyday is still offline. This is the third day in a row and I hope that I don't lose it but I have my doubts. I'm not sure but I think it might rain on wednesday with tomorrow being partly cloudy. I will try to surface the first drawer unit stock tomorrow and the 2nd one after I finish the first one.

accidental woodworker

slowly getting there.......

I haven't said much about my weight lately for good reason. I've been eating everything in sight and I have paid the price. It started this past thanksgiving and I have sputtered and died out trying to get back on the diet bandwagon since then. The drive with the wind in my hair of eating whatever kind of took over for me. The last straw came 3 weeks ago when my tonnage hit 220.8 lbs. I had to suck in my beach ball sized stomach to button my pants. I had made a promise to myself that I would never buy anymore fat clothes so I threw down glove and knuckled down.

Over the past 5 weeks I've lost almost 21 lbs and this sunday weigh in I tipped the scale at 200.6. More importantly I have behaved myself and I haven't cheated once these past weeks and it is paying off. As a reward to myself I went to dinner for lunch and had a boiled dinner. I doubt that it had more calories then I normally shove into the pie hole at lunch at home. I did have a piece of chocolate cake for desert but I'll add an extra couple of miles each day walking this week to compensate for it.

knob base is cracked

I was taking the Union #4 apart for shipping it and noticed that the knob  base had some cracks. I don't remember gluing this but I obviously did. I have no way of knowing if this is going to stay together after I ship it. The problem with these old planes is the wood dries and shrinks and does all other kinds of stupid wood tricks.

 knob retaining screw

I like this method for securing the knob and the tote over the barrel nut and threaded rod that Stanley uses. However, this is a Union plane and the chances of finding a replacement knob is akin to finding a bag full of hen's teeth.

 replacement knob

This is a Stanly knob and it is a wee bit taller than the Union knob. I could use a barrel nut and threaded stud but then it wouldn't match the screw in the handle. The plan was to fill in the counterbore on the top and countersink it for the Union knob screw.

 need a dowel

The counterbore in the Stanley knob is more than 3/8 and less than a 1/2". I didn't have any dowels in the shop that fit in the counterbore.

 nice fit

I punched this through the dowel plate until I got it to fit the counterbore. First step done.

 drilled the hole

I used 3 different sized drill bits to make this hole. I didn't glue the dowel in the counterbore to facilitate any other repairs down the road.

 toast

I tried two different countersink gizmos and both of them just chewed up the end grain. I think I'm on the right track here I just needed to find some way to toughen the end grain to make the countersink for the screw head.

 second attempt

I soaked the top and outside of the dowel with super glue. I let it dry and I applied a second coat on the top end grain.

 countersink bit
It isn't a dead nuts match but the wood dowel is soft and the screw will sink in and compress it enough to make a tight fit.
 

 much better

After I drilled the hole I soaked the top and the inside of the hole with super glue again. I used a countersink made for metal on this and it worked. It isn't as smooth like long grain but it looks even all the way around.

 success

There is a teeny bit of white showing but with use it will blend in with the knob. The important thing is that the screw head is flush with the top of the knob and it is tight and secure. 

 rusty holes

Two of the holes in the plane body were rusty. I applied EvapoRust to all four and let is sit for an hour or so. After that I blew them out with canned air and applied some oil to them.

 Union irons

These irons will fit in a Stanley #4 and a Stanley #4 will fit in the Union. They only difference is the access hole for the chipbreaker screw is at the top on the Union irons. That was because Stanley still had the patent rights to the access hole being at the bottom of the irons.

 packed and the ready to go

I got the plane broken down to parade rest, cleaned, and shined up. Just need an address for it.

Lie Nielsen #4

I wasn't expecting this plane until after the 22nd. I got an email from LN saying it shipped on friday and I got a UPS saturday delivery. The weight of this #4 is more than any Stanley I have and it is noticeable. It isn't like it is something I can't put my finger on. Doesn't effect how the plane spits out shavings at all. Since most of my planing will be done with the LN herd consisting of a 5 1/2, 4 1/2, 4 and 3, I'm sure I'll get acclimated to the extra weight.

 cherry darkens with age

I've had the LN 4 1/2 for 10 years (?) I think. It got shoved aside and I went on a Stanley plane only usage and now the pendulum has swung back to the LN side. I want to engrave my initials on the lever caps of the other 3 planes but I can't get in touch/find Catharine Kennedy who engraved the 4 1/2. Does anyone know of someone who can engrave the lever caps? I would much appreciate a comment or an email on it.

 hmmm......

I keep my Stanley #8 at the back and the LN 5 1/2 won't fit with it there. I'll have to find a new home for the #8 because I want whole the LN herd parked here. 

 sometimes you get lucky

One of the dividers had two of them side by side. Removing that freed up the necessary real estate for the 5 1/2. The Stanley #3 I had in the last spot on the left is now the home of the LN #3. Not sure if I'm going to keep that #3 or try to sell it. 

 this will work

The plan is to make a holder and screw it to the back rail of the workbench. It will be out of the way and won't protrude past the tray right above it.

 change #2

The base is 1/2" plywood as was the first front and side pieces. I didn't like the look of the plywood plies so I switched to scraps of poplar.

 it fits

There is about a 3/4" on the length and a 1/4" on the width for wiggle room. I doubt that it will be a hindrance in any way.

 more plywood hiding

Ripped a piece of pine that I will use to hide the top edge of the plywood. I especially find the thinner plywood (this is 5mm) unpleasant to look at.

super glue to the rescue

The only long grain gluing is on the two thin outside veneers. In between them is end grain that is more the twice of the thickness of them combined. I soaked the end grain with super glue to seal it. There is no way white glue would have glued the pine to the plywood edge successfully.

for tomorrow

I will use accelerator on the pine strip and the gel super glue on the plywood edge. Might be overkill considering what this is and where it will be out of sight and out of mind. But I won't see any ugliness after this.

Figured out why the band saw tilting screw gets tight and the wheel won't turn. It is tilted in and making contact with the wheel cover. There is evidence of it on the top and the bottom of the inside wheel cover. DUH!

accidental woodworker

Gurney's Saw Mill.......

The skies were clear this AM when I got up. The weather seer's predictions were proving to be true. Unfortunately the local weather radar I look at everyday was off line. As of typing this post it is still off line. I wanted to make sure the skies would be the same in Freetown as they were in Warwick I had nothing to worry about as the sun was in my eyes doing out to Gurney's (driving east) and the skies were blue with fluffy white clouds. 

 way more than I need

I bought eight, ten foot, 1x12 eastern white pine boards. The cost was $2.95 BF which is up a few cents from the haul I got this past december. It is still cheaper than Lowes or Home Depot and the quality is better too.

 cleaning up the #3

This plane is almost pristine. The japanning is perfect and I didn't strip it and repaint it. The nickel on the lever cap is about 90% with a couple of spots showing copper. You first have to plate the lever cap with copper first before you do the nickel. The only other hit with this plane is one corner of the chipbreaker is rounded. Doesn't effect it making shavings but nonetheless it is visible to the eye.

 big holiday

In my defense this was facing down when I applied the first two coats. Decided to just paint the whole stool brown. I can buy stick on nonskid at either big box store. I think this will be going to my sister Kam to keep for herself or give it to one of her kids.

 got a buyer

Got an interest in the Union plane. I think this was made by Stanley after they bought them using up whatever they had left over. It will go with two irons. The one on the bench is pitted and I bought a Union iron to replace it. 

 pitted edge

This iron is sharp and will spit out perfect RML shavings. However, because of the pitting it leaves furrows of varying widths and heights. If the new owner wants he can put a camber on this iron and use it as a scrub plane. The pitting won't matter for that use.

 one coat of shellac

I want to put at least 3 coats on the frame and have it ready to go to Maria on tuesday. (She is closed on mondays.) I should be able to get two more on it tomorrow and any possible touch up on monday.

 one more to go

I'll have the painting done with this in the AM or PM tomorrow. 

Ran out of gas after lunch big time. I went on my post lunch walk to ACE to get a screw. I got the wrong size and the correct size is too long. I need a 1/4" length and the smallest ACE sells is 3/8". They didn't have any star washers in any size so I'll have to check McMaster-Carr. 

When I got home from the walk I was so tired. I nodded out for over an hour at my desk. It is a strange feeling feeling tired and sleepy like that but not being tired. The cardiologist told me that is a symptom of afib.  But I don't feel tired walking and I don't lose my breath or get winded. It is when I stop that it kicks in. At least it hasn't happened while I am woodworking.

accidental woodworker

I can hear.....

 Well I could always hear (if it was loud) but I couldn't understand what was being said. I got my new, latest, and greatest hearing aids and oh boy what a difference. As the audiologist told I can hear now in stereo. Each of my hearing aids has its own computer and each is tailored fitted to the hearing loss of each ear (R&L). He told me the computers in the aids have more computing power than the computer used to take men to the moon and back in 1969. 

On my walk today after I got back home I heard birds chirping. I couldn't hear them with my previous aids. And there is one house I pass by that has wind chimes and they fooled me at first. I didn't recognize the sound because I had either forgotten it or it is something I haven't heard before. On the drive home I was able to drop the radio volume from 20 down to 8. That will make my wife happy. Looking forward to listening to the TV without the volume maxed out on it too.

Miller Falls No 90

This is the clever designation MF came up with for the Handyman line of planes. From this vantage point you couldn't tell the difference between this and a Miller Falls No 9. MF didn't make handyman planes for a long time and they soon ceased making planes all together.

 the frog seat

The toe area of the frog (marking knife) and the top (behind the screw holes) is what the frog sits on. These two areas are not milled for a Handyman plane but were left rough from the casting process. I paid $90 to have these 2 surfaces milled flat and parallel to the sole.

 no frog adjust screw

I am fine with this not being here. I have yet to use it on any plane I have that has this feature. 

 the lever cap

This is the 3rd difference between a MF No 9 and a MF No 90. There is no Miller Falls cast into the lever cap. All you get is a decal. So this along with the frog seat and frog adjust screw these are the 3 and only difference between the two plane models.

 perfect RML shavings

The plane still made shavings before I had the frog seat areas milled but it makes them better now. I'll be adding this one to sell to and I'll be taking a loss on it. There is no way I can recoup the milling costs for it.

 face shavings

Can't ask any more than this from a #4 smoother.

 better pic

Home sweet home for the Union 90° square.

on order

ereplacement parts still has these door closure gizmos but not the wheels (upper or lower). I needed two and with S/H it was close to $40. The screws and the star washers to secure them are obsolete too. McMaster-Carr or ACE should have them. I need a screw and washer for the bottom door.

 first cut

It took some fiddling and faddling but I finally got the blade to track in the middle of the tires. I wasn't able to make this curvy cut before I changed the bearings. I got a 3/8" skip tooth blade installed.

 3 straight cuts

Straight weren't always straight before neither. They tended to wander and go into La La Land. 

 resawing

This is want I need the bandsaw for. I need it to resaw for the the drawer parts to come. This cut is even, straight, and parallel top to bottom. Before I was getting tapered cuts from top to bottom. The right one is what I wanted for this cut.

 3/4" thick

I made 3 resaws on this one piece of stock. First was roughly splitting it in half then splitting one of those in half. The 3rd cut was resawing a 1/16" piece - on the far left. I was happy with all three cuts. All looked to be straight, even, and parallel across all four sides.

 repeat cuts

Did it once more to make sure the first one wasn't a fluke. I used the previous resaws to set this run.

Miller Falls No 8

This is a Stanley #3 equivalent. I am sending this one off to be with the other 3 Miller Falls planes I donated. Checking to make sure it was still spitting out RML shavings.

 ??????

This is the tracking screw for the upper wheel. There is something not quite right with it. With the screw in as much as it will go it gets tough and rough and the bandsaw wheel will not turn. I got it adjusted to where the screw is maybe a 1/2 thread away from stalling the wheel. The part that the this screws into is obsolete and no longer available. I'll have to keep an eye on this.

I think that the bearings failed due to me. I don't release the tension on the blade after each use. That and not using the bandsaw much caused the bearings to fail. I will get in the habit of releasing the tension after each use. Either that or I'll buy the Carter gizmo that sets and releases the tension with a hand lever.

 new clamp bracket

At first I thought Grizzly had sent me another one with an unthreaded hole. Handle screwed in and bottomed out with no hiccups.

 hanging up

The inside edge of this bracket at the top and bottom edges is rough to the touch and hangs when trying to slide it back and forth on the roll pin in the clamp bracket. I lightly filed the two edges and the binding was gone. I am not going to paint it because the filed area is hidden and not readily visible.

 shop temp back to 63F

Got the 2nd coat on the shaker stool. Still have to paint or apply non skid to the top and the step.

 leaving it as is

I will swap out the motor after I finish the upcoming drawer projects. I've been watching the weather for saturday and it is looking good. Rain is no longer forecasted for the AM and I'm going to try to go to Gurney's sawmill. In fact it is supposed to be sunny until 10ish becoming cloudy after then. 

thought it was metric

Started to panic when checking the metric screw thread gauge. Nothing was lining up with the screw used to secure the door closure gizmo. Forgot that the Delta bandsaw is all imperial - I need a button head 5-32 screw and one star washer to fit. Fingers crossed that ACE will have both.

accidental woodworker

more happy days.......

 It is looking like I am not going to get a lot of shop time this week. I ate a good portion up of another day being out of the shop. My sister Donna who lives in Indiana wanted some Westerly soupy. Which is an Italian cured sausage called soppressata. I love this stuff with scrambled eggs but I digress. So this AM I was driving south to Westerly to get some from the Westerly Packing Company. I ate 1/2 of the stick I bought for myself before I got home. Got her sticks wrapped and mailed out by 1400.

 from yesterday's blog

I noticed this AM when I posted the blog that a couple pics and some verbiage was missing. Don't know why? This is one of those pics. I made RML shavings from each of the planes I am going to sell. I still have to spit RML out of the Miller Falls No 9 handyman plane. All of these planes are ready to go. I will shine them up and knock off any rust spots.

 test run on the LN 5 1/2 and 3

It took a little fussing to get RML shavings out of both of these. The irons are sharp and made decent shavings but I will have to hone them a wee bit more. Big weight difference between the LN 5 1/2 and my Stanley and Rockford 5 1/2s. Not a deal killer but something I'll have to get used to I'm sure. This was the 2nd pic that got dropped from yesterday's blog post.

 Rockford 5 1/2

This was the last pic MIA yesterday. Perfect RML shavings on the first try from this plane.

 I'll have to rework this

I have a tray at the back edge of my workbench that I kept my daily user Stanley herd in. I'm no overly fond of that and I would rather have them here underneath the bench. I need to reset the dividers (first 5 from the far left) so I can get the LN 5 1/2 here. It will go between the LV jack and the LN 4 1/2.

 Yipeeeeeeee!

I got the bearings replaced in the wheel. I got it right after lunch and I had to fight the urge to install it then rather than do my daily walk. I was a good boy and briskly did my usual walk and returned to the shop to put the bandsaw back together.

 not a blurry pic

It is a pic of the wheel free wheeling. The bearings are working like a champ and it took quite a wheel for the wheel to slow down and stop.

 went nutso

The current motor on the bandsaw is a 1/2 HP and I have always felt like the sawing was under powered. It lacked the balls to do curves and stalled when resawing. I got a Grizzly TEFC (totally enclosed fan cooled) 3/4HP replacement motor rated for woodworking equipment. This saw could be had when I got it with up to a 1 HP motor. I think 3/4 will give me more than enough added torque and power. The only hiccup I see with replacing it is with the pulleys. The key on the motor shaft is 3/16" and I don't know the size on the current motor pulley but I will find out tomorrow. Two choices there - broach it or buy a new pulley.

 motor data plate

Everything else matches the the current motor except for the HP and ampere draw. Both motors are a frame 56 which should mean the bolt holes will line up. I also will have the option to wire this for 220V.

 from Lee Valley

I bought a couple of back ordered items from LV and needed to boost the bottom line to get free shipping. I use tweezers a lot in the shop due to the dexterity with the hands ain't what it used to be.

 current herd on the left

I use the 3rd one from the left the most. For picking up small things like screws, washers, etc it excels and keeps the expletives from free flowing.

 2 of 3

I am still awaiting the 10mm drill bit for 1.25 pitch. The big one on the right will get used today - it is for 10mm 1.5 pitch.

 almost didn't get this

This is a 90° square made by Union and I got it from LV. It cost $25 and I hesitated but pulled the trigger on it. I have wanted a smaller 90° square and you get want you pay for. I believe this will be the perfect size especially so the scale of work I do.

nice finish

Not only does this look good it serves to keep the square where you place it. That is one thing that annoys about the LV 90° squares - the backs are smooth and they will move if you don't tightly hold them down.

 new home

I want this square to be readily accessible and close to these other squares.

 another LV toy

Magnetic pencil holders - 3 of them in a tin.

 how long will it last?

The pencil is accessible here and out of the way. I was surprised by the grip of the holder. I pushed the pencil in/out of it several times and the holder didn't budge +/- one atom.

 I had to do something woodworking

Before I killed the lights I made a holder for the new square. 

 blurry pic of its new home

I got this secured with white glue and super glue. I will snap a better pic of it tomorrow after the the glue as set up.

 one last thing

The drill went up and down without drilling hardly anything. My hand drilling was slightly off square and that was all the drill hit. I got almost no shavings to fall out of the hole.

 nope

Another blurry pic. I ran the tap through the hole again and it went up and down freely. No binding or anything and I did it from ends of the hole. The handle still only went down so far and jammed. I obviously didn't get the correct tap. I'm not sure that trying a 1.25 pitch tap will work. The pitch on the handle is definitely not a fine one and 1.25 is next in line. Supposed to have the new clamp arm tomorrow.

Tomorrow is another day away from the shop. My new hearing aids will get fitted and adjusted tomorrow at 1100. These appointments usually take an hour or so. I don't like to start working in the shop and then have to quit to go to an appointment. I'll probably work on the planes cleaning them up and figuring out their individual types and what I did to rehab them. I know a couple of them have replacement handles and front knobs. 

accidental woodworker

big decision.......

 brrr.......

The past few days have had the overnight temps close to freezing (0C). That has dropped the temp in the shop 6 degrees F. It had been 63/62 for almost 2 weeks. The first day of spring is right around the corner too. I wanted to get the 2nd coat on the stool but I held off. Before I do #2 I want the temp in the shop to be 60F or higher first.

 Rockford # 5 1/2 iron

The Rockford when I got it had a Stanley iron in it. Over the years I've found that Stanley irons will fit in all the other plane makers. The chipbreaker is a Stanley too.

 shiny and sharp

Got the iron sharp and then I used Autosol on the plane body. The Rockford 5 1/2 has a corrugated sole.

 first try

I got R(ihgt) M(iddle) L(eft) shavings on the first go around. Full width and length - plane is set to munch up any edge chores.

 face shavings

I can't tell any difference between this plane and a Stanley 5 1/2. The Rockford's DNA is indistinguishable from a Stanley. The only difference between the Rockford and a Stanley is the seating for the frog .

 the big decision

This is mostly participated by me donating the Miller Falls planes. These are all the planes I have rehabbed over the past few years. I am not a collector and I will never use all of these. It is time to get them into the hands of someone who needs and will use them. Only one plane is not a type 7 to 12 and that is the 5 1/4 which is a type 16(?). Going on memory with that one.

I have all the Stanley planes from a #2 up to a #8 for the grandsons so I don't need any of these for them. All of them have been used by me in my shop for at least a month and some for man months and even years.

 I have four #3 planes for sale

I am going to keep the far left Stanley #3 because I had my initials engraved on the lever cap.

 two Union Planes

The one on the left is a #3C and I believe it was made by Stanley after they acquired them. The right one is an Union #4. I would like to sell these two as a set but I will break it up.

 4 of 5

I have five #4 planes - these 4 are all Stanleys with one them having a corrugated sole.

 #4 1/2, #5 1/4, & #5

The 4 1/2 has been my daily user for a couple of years. This #5 has a corrugated sole.

 Rockford set of planes

Another group I would like to see go as a set. It consists of a (L-R) #3, #5, and a #5 1/2.

There are few missing planes in the pics as I changed this up as I found a couple of more. I have four #3's , five #4s, one 4 1/2, one 5 1/4, three #5s (2 Stanleys & one Miller Falls), and lastly one #5 1/2 (Rockford).

 two new planes

Lie Nielsen #3 and # 5 1/2. I ordered these yesterday (tuesday) at 1530 and I got them today. Decided that since I was selling the herd I would buy a couple of LN planes to fill in some gaps. 

 not abandoning all my Stanleys

This is going to be my daily user herd. From L to R - LN #3, missing from the pic is a LN#4 (on back order), LN 4 1/2, (missing from the pic) Stanley Bedrock #5 , Stanley #6, #7, and #8. I have used the LN #7 and #8 several times at tool demos and I like them and I don't. Compared to a Stanleys they are very heavy and I guess they are 50-60% heavier than the Stanley equivalent. I don't mind having a mix match like this at all.

 Miller Falls No 8

I am sending this one to be with the other Miller Falls planes I donated. Having the #3 will complete that herd IMO nicely. 

I have one more Miller Falls plane, a #4 that is a handyman. This plane didn't have a machined seat on the plane for the frog to mate to. They also didn't machine the bottom of the frog seat by the mouth. There also isn't a frog adjustment screw for moving the frog. I had that done by a machinist (there is a you tube video on it by Tom from Ox Tools). This plane now performs as well if not better than a regular MF No 9.

accidental woodworker


happy days are here......

 At 1045 this AM I got some good news. 22 minutes after dialing the TSP (Thrift Savings Plan) and navigating a bazillion phone menus, I finally got to speak to a human being. Nice lady who explained a lot of things I didn't know to me. The upside is I have a pile of money in my TSP plan that is not a retirement account. OPM (don't know what the initials are) is my retirement from the VA. Wow it was nice to feel like an unknowing idiot for once.

I changed the direct deposit on the OPM website (which is the easiest and nicest Federal website I have ever dealt with) from the bank I want to close my accounts on to my other bank account. I opened this one up in 1992 and there is only one stand alone brick bank building in RI. It is located in Wickford which is a good 30 minutes or more from my house one way. I'll deal with that because I try not to go to the bank if I can do it online.

 first coat

Got everything painted except for the step and the top. I'm thinking of putting non skid to those two. I have time to think about it because I still have to get a 2nd coat on the underside.

 calling it done

I brought it upstairs where it is warmer mostly to get it out of the shop. This takes up a lot space.

 it fits

I had to satisfy my curiosity to see if the Delta clamp bracket fit on the Grizzly. It does - screw holes lined up and the sliding clamp arm fits too. The Grizzly clamp arm doesn't move back/forward as nicely as the Delta did.

 rough

Both parts of it where they slide by one another are still rough from the casting process. I'm sure that if I filed it that it would be a huge improvement. I'll take the arm to the paint store and get a rattle can of Grizzly made.

 next project stock

I don't know what this is going to be just yet. This is all the big scraps I have to make something with. I have a bazillion pieces of thin stock that I could make trays or small boxes with but I have more than enough of them. I have plenty of time to think of something.

 possibilities

I couldn't bring myself to toss these were I sawed up the scraps a couple of days ago. These could be useful for making drawer slips for the two drawer projects I want to whack out.

added 3 more

These were in the saw up into scraps pile but I set them aside. I 4 squared all three of them and I added them to the others on the tablesaw.

 MIA

I took out the Stanley herd and put the Miller Falls planes here. The MF planes on are their way westward and I can't find my Stanley 5 1/2. I found the #3 which goes in the back but no 5 1/2. It is a fairly big plane and you think it couldn't hide on me but it is. I thought I had put all four them together on the grandson's big toolchest.

 possible new project

While searching for the 5 1/2 I came across this. I have another one that takes a pendulum (this one doesn't). I had bought a bunch of fancy woods to make sliding lid boxes for wife I could use for the clock box. I asked her about them yesterday and she told she doesn't want anymore. She is no longer the President of the dead people society but is now the editor. She doesn't have to present anything anymore. I might use some of those boards for this clock. 

Paul Sellers last blog post is about making a clock that was one of the first projects on the master woodworking classes. I didn't check the stash today but I will in the AM if I remember to.

Rockford 5 1/2

I don't know much about this plane other than it is from the 1920's. Rockford and Marsh (same company that split?) made handplanes for 4-5 years and then ceased. I never did anymore investigating them. I've had this plane for several years and it is in pretty good shape for sitting idle for so long.

 cleaned up

The iron and chipbreaker had some flash rust on it along with a couple of spots on the plane body cheeks. Sanded from 220 up to 600 removing the rust spots and shining the plane back up. It has a corrugated bottom and I don't have any problems with them. Although I prefer smooth bottom planes first.

 returning it to the herd

The iron looked sharp but I decided to sharpen and hone it. Almost got the bevel established and I'll finish this up in the AM. Mickey's big hand was on on 2 and the little one a wee bit past 4.

accidental woodworker

frustrating day.....

 I didn't get much time in the shop today. What time I did get wasn't enjoyable because I was so worked up dealing with other BS. I got the planes shipped out today and it wasn't that expensive. The pkg weighed in at 17lbs 4oz and with extra insurance it cost less than $40. I was expecting it to be double that. Turned out that this was the bright spot to my day.

Most of the rest of the day I spent running errands and making phone calls. The easiest one was to Grizzly and they are sending me a clamp bracket. One of the best customer service experiences I have ever had. Everything else after that went south on me to varying degrees. 

The one that frustrated me the most was trying to talk to a human at the Thrift Saving Plan - this is my retirement account from the VA. Spent hours punching numbers on the phone dealing with the automated menus. I never got to speak to a human and I never found a menu that addressed my problem. The problem is my retirement is still going to the bank where I want to close out the accounts. 

I tried to do it online and got nowhere. According to what I did I think I got all the information in. Nothing changed from when I first did it 3 months ago. I'll try it again tomorrow because I enjoy being frustrated and feeling like a pile of shxt on my front lawn.

 delta handle

I filed a 'V' notch in the bottom of the Delta handle to make it a homemade tap. It was working albeit slowly. I would screw it in and turn it till it stopped. Back it off and repeat it. Stopped it after playing with it for about 20 minutes. I realized that the threads on the Delta handle are different than the Grizzly handle. Although the Grizzly handle did screw down a little further than it had yesterday.

 the problem solved

According to my tap chart the 10mm/1.25 tap needs a 8.8mm pilot hole. Being 3 thousands off would explain why the handle would only screw down so far. I got a 8.8mm drill on order so I'll have it for the 10mm tap. I also added the drill bit for the 8mm tap I got yesterday.

 too sharp

The corners on the front of the step needs to be knocked back along with all arrisses. Toyed with changing all the screws to brass ones but nixed it. I didn't have enough of them and several these already below the surface. I wonder if putty will stick to metal? I'm going to find out.

 painting the oops

I mostly had to paint brown to cover the black. It only took a few minutes to go 360 around the frame.

 black over brown was next

I only had 3 spots on the black to touch up. 

 6+ hours later

I will need one more brown over black again. I can see a wee  bit of black under the brown and I'll do that in the AM tomorrow.

accidental woodworker

who knew.......

 It took well over an hour this AM before I realized that the clocks had sprung ahead. After I get up I usually only look at the time on the computer because that is what I do first thing. I knew it was coming but I thought it was 3rd sunday in march. My wife said she knew it was today but I called BS on that. One of my three Genie wishes would be getting rid of this )(^&$@%*&@P(%)_@ twice a year time shift.

 ACE hardware

Decided to tap the hole for the handle on the new Grizzly jig myself. I had to make two runs to ACE before I got the correct tap. Even then I wasn't 100% sure I got the correct one. Metric taps are labeled differently than imperial. I needed a 10mm tap with a 1.25 spacing. There is a coarse at 1.5 and a fine at 1.0 - this is the space between two threads. I got lucky and got the right one.

 not the same

The handles on the Grizzly and Delta are both 10mm but different pitches. Neither handle will swap to the other one. My metric guide was a huge help with getting the correct sized tap.

 not going to work

The tap handle could only swing a little more than 1/2 way before it hit something. I wanted to use this one because I find it easier to keep the tap running plumb. I had to thread the hole with a smaller tap handle.

 nope

This is as far as I could screw the handle in. Swapped them out and that one didn't go down any further. Chased the threads and the tap ran easily up/down with no binding what so ever.

 I was wrong

I got fooled yesterday with the Grizzly handles. I thought they were wood dyed black but they are plastic. Like this shape better than the tapered conical Delta handles.

I played some more with the threads and got nowhere. I was able to advance the handle a couple of more turns but then nothing. The only thing I can think of is the hole might not have been the 'pilot hole' needed for a 10mm tap. I just assumed that that was done but the threading was forgotten. 


 

 cutting the scraps

I went for a walk after lunch today for the first time since last friday. The cold is gone (I think). Today was the first day after I woke up that I didn't hack up a tea cup of phlegm. After I got back I nodded out at the desk for over an hour. Made it back to shop and sawed up the scraps into smaller pieces.

 sawing stop

I used this to practice sawing. I didn't mark anything but I did eyeball all the cuts to see how square I was doing. I don't like nailing or screwing anything into my bench top but the clamps I tried to use first were in the way.

 for tomorrow

This has had plenty of time to set up. All that is left to do is touch up the brown field and slap on a couple of coats of shellac. Maybe next week I'll get it to Maria at the Frame it Shop.

Looking ahead to this saturday isn't looking too good. The long range forecast is calling for it to be cloudy, overcast, and raining. Thinking about asking my BIL if I can use his cargo van to make the Gurney's run.

accidental woodworker

rain, anyone?........

 

 0630
I was hoping to make a run to Gurney's today and this is what I saw I on the radar. According to it rain would be falling on my part of the universe around 1030-1100. I was going to chance it and go because it opens at 0800 and the trip is roughly 2 hours (round trip). I made the mistake of asking my wife what she thought of it. 

She subscribes to a different weather app and it said rain in my area by 0830. Canceled the trip to Gurney's and I'll be trying it again next saturday. The upside to this drama? As of 1600 it still hasn't rained here. Not even one teeny weeny droplet has fallen. I shoulda, woulda, coulda, but didn't. It might not of rained outside but it drenched my day indoors.

 packing up the planes

I blew out the screw holes and oiled them. Wrapping the 3 planes up took a lot longer than I thought it would. By the time I was done the post office was closed. The Post Office closes the lobby at 1130 and shuts the door at 1200. I finished the wrapping about 1120.

 finally arrived

I ordered these planes last year and I finally got them. A set each of #10 and #12 hollow and rounds. I paid $120 per set but that ain't the price of them no more. I would have ordered a couple more back then but I hesitated. The cost now for one set is about $370. These were made by some one working in France.

 done

The box I packed the planes in was in sad shape. Two of the corners were almost blow out and I used a lot of packing and duct tape repairing it. That didn't leave any clear area free of tape for the address label or the postage tag. I wrapped it up like a xmas present with brown craft paper.

toast

I've had this for a very long time but it is wonky to say the least. It is getting finicky and difficult to set and keep it square in two planes.

 ain't up to the task

This thin piece of stamped metal is supposed to keep the cheek square to the tablesaw. FYI, it doesn't. It also is bent and I couldn't keep the cheek square to the tablesaw. I had to check it for square after ever time I pushed it through the saw.

 the biggest problem

The cheek is not parallel to the saw blade. Totally clueless as to how this came to be. Makes it useful only as a paperweight now.

 free shipping

I bought a new tenon jig from Grizzly. I got it a couple of days ago and decided to put it through its paces today.

 bottom one from the delta jig

The hole pattern is is a dead on match. Both of the jigs look exactly the same with minor differences. The Grizzly jig has the option to attach an auxiliary wooden fence/arm to the back upright. Something that was sorely lacking on the Delta.

 looks square

Huge improvement over the Delta. Not terribly impressed with the fit and finish but for a $100 it is solidly built.

 tapered

The cheek wasn't square to the tablesaw top. My fault because I didn't check it before made the cuts. Something had slipped and I squared it up again and used the set screw to set the positive stop for 90°.

 twin tenons

No mortise to put this in as I was shooting for squareness in the tenons. They look good to the eye. They checked for square (according to Mr Starrett) every which I could do it. Now I have to find a home for it.

 hiccup

The handles on the Grizzly are wood (Delta has plastic) and the hole for it isn't threaded. Not sure if I'm going to do anything about it. I didn't use this handle on the Delta one that much. I'll call Grizzly customer service and see what shakes out with that just in case.

big gripe with this

The Delta suffers from this same hiccup IMO. You have to use an allen wrench to loosen/tighten this to move the clamp arm in/out. Wouldn't it be nice if this was tool free adjustment? I'll check McMaster-Carr for a thumb/wing nut screw to replace it.

scrap work

I'm way behind on sawing up the scraps and shit canning them. I started out using the new step stool as a saw bench and gave up. It is too low and uncomfortable. Not only did my back start to protest, my knee wasn't too happy about it neither. Switched to the taller sawhorse and gave up on that too. I'll bring all the scraps to the workbench and saw them up there. I'll do that tomorrow because the back was singing arias here.

  sanding blocks

UPS told me for 3 days in a row it was coming and then telling me it would be the next day. I want to get one more of these - the green one - and I'll be a happy man. I use 100 and 120 grit the most and I want to add 80 and 220/240. I'll just have to remember which color is which grit and stick to it.

accidental woodworker

step stool is done......

 Finished the stool minus painting it by quitting time this PM. Tomorrow is supposed to be dry with rain coming in overnight. Fingers crossed that I'll be able to make a trip to Gurney's and get some 1x12 pine boards. If I don't get them on saturday I'll have to scrounge around for scraps and make something with them.

 ebonized wooden nails

Kind of wish I wasn't painting this now. I like the look of these against the 'whiteness' of the pine. The headache with the wooden nails is getting them flush with what you're putting them in. I got the ebony nails in both sides last night after dinner.

 2nd half of late night work

I glued in both legs also last night, one at a time. I let the first one set up for over an hour before I did the other leg. Used the 90 clamping squares to ensure that the legs set up square in two planes.

 into the back legs

I slightly offset the two wooden nails going into the back legs so they wouldn't be in the same grain line. I did the same on the other leg too.

 from ebony to plain birch

This is why the ebonizing failed. There is no way I know of to ebonize just the heads although there is a dark circle on the outside left.

 got lucky

The braces I did yesterday will fit - they ended up over an inch too long.

 crossing point

This piece of plywood is almost a perfect match up for the back. I used it to layout where the half lap for the X would be.

 easy peasy

Laid each brace (made sure I labeled R/L and the top/bottom) and marked the crossing point onto to each brace.

 about a 16th

I cut this proud in half and called it done. There isn't any need to go anal and get it dead nuts flush. It took me 3 attempts to cut it in half and I was done chasing that tail.

 one more to go

It was lunch time and I got one of the two last braces dry fitted. I put both of them in a shallow 1/8" dado in both legs.

 splits
Two of the braces split when I drove the screws home
 

 almost done

I had to try it out and I was able to get both feet on the step. My legs/feet didn't feel cramped nor did I experience any balance problems. I wasn't sure that I would have been able to get both feet on the short length of the step.

prepping the planes

Cleaning up the planes before I wrap and ship them out. I couldn't believe all the sawdust that was buried under the frogs. I am not going nutso on this and I am not sharpening the irons. She is getting them as is and can sharpen & fettle them to her liking. She'll receive them broken done and that will allow her to get familiar with all the bits and bobs of these 3 handplanes.

 rust

When I rehab a plane I pour EvapoRust in all the screw holes to neutralize it. The No. 9 and the No. 14 had rusty screw holes. I poured more EvapoRust in them and after dinner I'll blow it out and put some oil in them.

 ready for wrapping

I found some brown wrapping paper and I'll use that to wrap each plane and all its parts together. I should be able to ship this out in the AM. If not then I'll do it on monday.

glamour pic #1

I'm calling this done and I'll leaving it as is. Most likely I'll paint it brown because I have that paint leftover from doing the picture frame.

right side

The stool is relatively light (IMO) even though it looks heavy. This is going to be a good shop stool. One bonus for it is that it doesn't have a lot of horizontal storage real estate.

 back

I like the X brace a lot. To me it looks bridge like and says I can carry 25 long tons on the top.

 last side

I feel that I did a good job securing the legs (front and back) from being wobbly sticks ready to fall over.

 too much?

The X brace is glued and screwed to the back legs. They aren't in dadoes or notches neither. I don't like the look of this being so close to the bottom of the legs. I could saw an angle on each end and raise it up so that it is flush with the toes of the X brace. Just something I thought of while snapping the glamour pics.

 came today

From the confusing write up on Amazon I didn't have a warm and fuzzy that I would be getting two bearings but I did. I also bought a new belt because the  one on the bandsaw still has the one it came with. It looked ok but I decided to put a new one on it.

accidental woodworker

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