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I rode my bike along the cycle path that parallels the Thames. I can't see it, but it's there as I ride through the mist hogging the river. The geese signal my passing in the morning and I can hear the river in various places sometimes as I ride. The river is still lower than it should be, but that's bad river authority management. Heaven help us if the state takes it over. I'm in no hurry, and stop in the early mist to listen and see; the atmosphere changes in pockets of density where the cloud cover moves, thins, thickens and then leaf density and colours shift in range. The berries hang in clusters of red, of crimsoned jewels I knew a few weeks back to be green buds yet to form bright white flowers. Leaf fall has been more a shedding of excess for survival this year; our unusual heat of a long summer cyclically passes through every half century or so, reminiscent of my Texas summers long ago. Was it really 2008 when I endured forty straight days when the heat never dropped below 38C (100F in real money) even in the night. Leaves tell stories, transmit into the grain in ways we never see, a swelling growth ring followed by shrunken ones . . . still never seen. Surviving by shed leaves and deeper root passage reduces the intensity of deprivation. The grasses lose all colour to a sere yellow blandness we seldom see in the UK summers. Stopping takes determined effort to get off the conveyor belt that gets us through distance faster, yet pacing through we dismiss the journey as being of little value. Transitional spheres do that, undermine the value of being there, the allowance of time stops to shift reasonably from a zone that spans and then extends the breadth of our existence to process, compress and then decompress. It's something we should enter with listening awareness of both life and silence.

Cyclists of a serious ilk barrel through towns and countryside knowing nothing of what I speak and seek, things special we dwell in. Such groups centred on self and self-centred then on the roads of any kind and for the main part dismissing more self-disciplined users dominate all where they can by scaring speed. Cluster groups like these uniformed cycle junkies (unfortunate men) rarely stop except to adjust a Lycra skin and to glug water or crunch through another protein bar. But the paths I'm on aren't meant for the thin wheeled road bikes with dropped handle bars and ultra-thin bike seats. The deeper mud and rougher terrain is quite high demand in cycling skills but relatively slow speed compared to their workout. Heavier bikes take a little muscling through. I want the stops to listen in and look beyond what speed stops. The subtle colour changes of a single berry type like hawthorn brings me back to reality with another cycle called life. It's in this cycle that life prepares for the new winter migrants with berries in full ripeness and bright red leaning to crimson. In the US, I loved seeing the Cedar Waxwings drop by to crop the junipers, so much bird life in my former Texas life there is gone for me. And then there's the anticipated long-haul flights across Texan skies in continuous passing when the Sandhill Cranes cried across the skies en masse. Never heard them? You missed a treat of sky gazing, I can tell you. I have yet to see my first Redwings and Fieldfares arrive to feast over winter from Scandinavia and Europe. We might seem Bohemian Waxwings as an irruption now and then. In my North Wales backdrop of Penrhyn Castle where my last real workshop was housed for my workshop classes, I remember these Waxwings descending in a massive takeover of various berried trees. Their chatter came differently to other birds without the melodic song and more softly, with overlapping variations of pitch in thin whistles, the buzz and twitter of action through stiffened wing movement and constant position shifts for highly competitive berry grabbing.

My field trips embrace the impression wild life has on me still, it's governed my movements throughout my life since very young. Texas gave me some of the best years of wildlife because of the still wilder and big places I found where even in the late 1980s and early 1990s I frequented land that only a handful of human souls ever found over that and previous decades. It's saddening to see how people now more relate to nature only through the minute lens of a smartphone rather than the wide-eyed amazing human eye. As I pass along my path I see many people looking only at their phone screens with little regard for what surrounds them in the now of it. Worse still is the baby in the pushchair whose parent pusher rarely seems to see the baby and then even looks at the baby through their phone. It's as if the bigness of real life in nature has to be confined to a rectangular 12.5 by 5.5 glass-faced rectangle.

In some ways, I liken this to my woodworking where the majority never touch a sharp gents saw to cut a dovetail nor plane a surface with a hand plane, and yet they think what they have is the same as mine. A machine cut can never be the same as a hand cut anything even if it delivers a pristinely smooth and dead square cut end. I can't even begin to describe being surrounded by a hundred-strong heard of totally wild longhorn cows amidst mesquite trees in semidesert with the cactus in bloom and the sweet and even sickly fragrance of mountain laurel in a Texas bloom time. Javelina striking out of the undergrowth in front of you with screams so wild they chill you to the bone yet still represent the experience of being immersed in nature, no question about it. Life is tame here in the UK. The biggest challenge to our humanity is our humanity. Cluster groups on bikes travelling through towns is always intimidatingly done by the privileged as is those barrelling through individually these days on electric cargo bikes regardless of age, disability, space occupancy and so on. Their dominance in cities, noise and light pollution, air travel, changing patterns of life when we know the answer but don't do what we should or could.

My walks and cycle route excursions lack the wildnesses of past life for me and I surely miss the explosion of nature in Texas in my opening years there. Being alone in the middle of a hundred thousand acres of ranchland owned by a neighbour way down the canyon in Reagan Wells never caused me concern. His land surrounded my home and I never suffered any fear or doubt. I am more threatened here in the UK than I ever was in the wilds and alone in Texas wilderness life. There is an unfortunate element of people who are more belligerent living in a comfort they don't like disturbing. They rarely distance themselves too far from a luxury car, a road and familiarity. But I still enjoy taking time out for the wilder things, the stops and starts of the flash and snazzy blue of a darting kingfisher when and where I least expect one. I have mixed feelings about COVID. Pre covid days meant freer spaces from people, and now it's hard to escape them and their extreme habits of pure badness. It's been nearly three years since the cowardly attack on me from behind. The man broke three ribs and left me unable to breathe on the cycle path not far from my home but far enough in my inability to take a breath. Being surrounded tight by a hundred longhorns never spooked me one bit and neither did the wild-eyed bobcat that stared me down unflinchingly and would not move as I approached. It was me that stepped aside for a much wider birth in his country, but it was him that stalked me until I was a safe distance away.

I'm vlogging again in my different spaces and places, thinking about the coming week. I hope my pace of life matches yours. I have missed my workspace since we started building the new one, we are so close, just a week or so should do it.

This will be the most climate controlled workshop I have ever belonged in. It's more compact and I look forward to sharing it with you. I doubt that you will see any difference from your side of the camera but for me, it is a space I have evolved with and in to.

 Had an absolute horrible night. I woke up 3 times, and 3 three times I had coughing fit that lasted for a bazillion hours. The upside of that was I was able to fall back asleep once things calmed down. Not the best night I have had and it was awfully close to being the worse one.

I rolled out of the rack late and felt blah all day long. Not sick blah or tired blah but something entirely new for me. I played with the DeWalt a few times but most of the day I spent molding my butt cheeks to my desk chair. The crappy blah feeling didn't go away but I did get bone weary tired in the late afternoon. 

My patience with getting the belt changed is wearing super thin. If I can't get it changed in the AM (if I'm up to it) I'll bring it to a tool repair center. I found one on Jefferson Blvd which is only 5 minutes from my house.

hmm.......

I watched the YouTube vid again but it was muted. I learn better visually over reading or an oral rending. I was listening to a podcast at the same time. I watched it twice to make sure I understood how he maneuvered the belt unto the big pulley. 

ouch

I spent more then 5 minutes trying to screw the rod back on and nada. Initially I thought that it wasn't engaging the first threads but that wasn't the problem. The rod is threaded left handed. I was putting the rod back in because that is the way the vid has it.

nope, nope, and nope

I couldn't get the belt to partially engage on the bottom pulley. I could get it to pass by the rod after the 3rd attempt but couldn't get it started. The vid made a point of not levering against the rod and damaging the threads. I was able to get the screwdriver under the belt and the tip on the nut. Tired to pull the belt and turn it at the same time and got nowhere.

I left this here as is and watched the YouTube vid again with the audio this time. Discovered a tidbit that I missed from watching it muted. I had been putting the belt first fully on the top black pulley but I should have been putting only 1/2 of it on that pulley. I revised the battle plan for the AM. 

accidental woodworker

 Things didn't go merrily, merrily down the lane today. Spent the AM at the DMV getting my license renewed. The clerks there must attend 6 months learning how to be arrogant and exasperating all the while smiling smugly. IMO the forms are confusing, and the instructions when available make it even more confusing to fill out. After filling the pie hole I drew up a new battle plan for replacing the belt.

my absolute best goofy looks

Cleaning up the two pulleys was a royal PITA. Holding a flashlight to see WTF I was doing and trying to scrape the remnants of the old belt off took me almost two hours. The lighting SNAFU was the worse annoyance to deal with until it came time to put the new belt on. BTW the goofy looks didn't help one iota.

hmm.......

I wanted to take this pulley guard off but I stripped out the screw. Made it awkward trying to get a pick and a steel wire brush on the small pulley. I could get the front 1/4" easy enough but the back had me cursing up a storm.

finally

Managed to get the big pulley cleaned up. I turned it slowly and got all the little spots I had missed. It looked brandy new to me. The smaller, black pulley to top left was not being as cooperative.

it worked

I got the acetone to clean up the big pulley and I wasn't expecting it to do anything with the belt residue. It softened and removed it. It worked on the black pulley but it wasn't as easy removing it. However, it did soften it sufficiently that I could get a pick at it and remove it.

I thought of drilling out the screw on the black pulley cover and went so far as to find my set of screw extractors. I only two, one for a tiny screw and one for a 1/4-20. Neither of them would have worked here. Briefly thought of drilling it out too but nixed it. I endured the tedious process of wiping it with acetone, picking out with a pick and knife, and then wiping up what I could. Wash, rinse, and repeat 25 bazillion times before the pulley was clean.

another hmm.......

I couldn't see how you could one, get the belt behind this rod and two, then get it on the bigger pulley. To my thinking this rod has to go. Started with removing the plate at the bottom held on with two screws.

nope

I got the plate at the bottom off but the rod wouldn't unscrew so I nixed doing that. I tried to get the belt onto to the big pulley and nada. I couldn't get it downward so I could get a piece of it onto the bottom of the pulley.

this sucked pond scum

I had to remove this sprocket in order to unscrew the rod. Up to this point all the screws were imperial but not so on the bottom boys and girls. Here it was, lets switch over to metric. The two set screws holding the sprocket were 3mm held on with blue locktite.

off and out of the way

The bottom plate on this is set in a groove on the rod which locks in the proper position of the rod. Nice touch that it doesn't need to be aligned or adjusted. 

frustrating 30 minutes

I tried everything I could think of to lever the belt onto the bottom pulley and nothing was working. I had soaked the belt in hot water from the tap for about 10 minutes. I don't think the water was hot enough because the belt hadn't seemed to stretch at all.

because I'm brain dead

I also like pissing into a head wind and say it is raining. Let the belt soak in boiling water, off the fire, for ten minutes. This was no better and the first hot water experiment. The belt didn't even feel hot to the touch.

No Mas

I called it day mostly because I was getting nowhere getting the belt on. Instead I went back on YouTube and looked up the belt vid again. I couldn't find the one I watched where the guy did the hot water trick but I did find one YouTube vid from 'ereplacement' that was an eye opener. 

First off I found out that you can remove just the side panels without having to take off the top. Secondly and most important is you don't have to remove the threaded rod. He showed how to get the belt in position on the big pulley after getting it on the smaller one. Then he uses two screwdrivers levering against the rod and using the nut on the big pulley as the fulcrum point. Zippty Doo Dah and the belt was on.

I don't remember seeing this vid when I searched the other day. If I did I might have ignored it thinking it would be an advertisement for 'ereplacement'. I will try the belt replacement dance steps in the AM following this vid (which I bookmarked). Right now all I want to do to the planer is see how well it will survive me going postal on it with a 3lb sledge hammer.

accidental woodworker 

A couple months ago I came into possession of an old Russell Jennings auger bit box.  Somewhere along its life, someone had altered the box by removing from the first two tiers the grooved shelves that held the auger bits safe from rattling around.

The old box

The top tier with grooved shelf removed and ugly compartments installed

Middle tier with grooved shelf removed

Bottom tier with grooved shelf still intact

This got me thinking about how to repair the box.  A few years ago I made a different (but similar) type of box for a set of auger bits, so I was confident I could recreate the grooved shelves.  But in the end I decided to make a whole new Russell Jennings style of box from scratch.

My version of the three-tiered box

I don't know what wood the original boxes were made from, but mine is oak with poplar bit trays.  The Russell Jennings boxes are made with 1/8" box joints at the four corners and no doubt they were made as a single box and then sawn apart to create the three tiers.  Due to the narrow recycled oak I was using, I decided to make mine as three separate boxes, each joined at the corners with 1/4" box joint fingers.

Before making the boxes, I played around with making the grooved trays.  It took some trial and error to get the layout right so that all the bits would fit in their respective trays, and so that the box would have the right dimensions.  If I remember correctly, the box needed to be 4 1/8" front to back, with 3/8" thick sides, which left 3 3/8" width in which to fit a bunch of auger bits.

Middle tier laid out - these need not be perfect half circles

Here's the middle tray partially grooved

I think I made each layout curve about 1/16" greater in diameter than the bit that would fit in it.  The grooves were cut starting with a plow plane.  Then, depending on the size of the groove, I followed with either round planes or scrapers in a scratch stock .  For the largest grooves in the bottom tray, I also used a gouge to chop away some waste.

Top tier almost done, plow plane and scratch stock in background

Middle tier was done with plow plane and a small round plane

Here's a preview of the three tiers

Grooves in one of the tier's ends

Forming a rabbet: saw close, then clean with chisels and rabbet plane

The bottom tier was special with this rabbet ...

... and a rabbet on the underside so the tray's bottom would be in line with the box's bottom

One more detail: the square tapered shank of auger bits is wider than the business end for the 1/4", 5/16" and 3/8" bits, so they don't sit right in the box unless the end where the shanks of those bits rest is relieved.

An old Russell Jennings box showing the relieved area

Marking out

After careful paring with chisels

Now they play nice together

The hardware is nothing special.  I used cheap butt hinges and front clasps from Lee Valley.  Most of the small brass screws I had were 1/2" long, so I had to cut them down to 3/8" so they wouldn't go through to the inside of the box.  Screw holes were pre-drilled and the screws were waxed to ease them into the hard oak.  The hinges were not mortised into the box but were surface-mounted, similar to the way some old Russell Jennings boxes were made.

Hinges on the back

The front clasps were nailed on and I predrilled holes for the nails.

Installing the clasps

Clasps on the front

I gave the outsides of the box 3 coats of shellac and a coat of wax.  The box is about 3/16" taller than the old boxes.  I could have easily gotten the correct height in my box because my top tier tray was deeper than it needed to be.  But overall, I'm happy with it.

Something unexpected: I got a free can of shellac on "freecycle" and it was cloudy.  I've been mixing my own shellac for years and it's always clear.  But I tested this shellac on a scrap and it hardened properly.  Anybody have this issue with some cloudy shellac?

Cloudy shellac

If I was a real maniac, I'd try to duplicate the label that R-J put on the inside of the lid of their auger bit boxes (see pic #2 above).  I'll leave that for the real gung ho out there.  All for now.  I'll leave this with a couple of glamour shots.

The finished box

And with bits on display

The top moulding is made the same way as the base moulding. I ripped all the parts to finished width first, so every piece was already the right size before any mitres were cut. Then I cut a mitre on one end of two pieces, so they would meet to form a corner.

I took those two pieces to the top of the bookshelf, fitted the mitres together without glue and clamped them so they couldn’t shift. With the corner sitting tight, I looked down the length of the front piece to the opposite end, where it runs past the side of the bookshelf. At that end I held a pencil against the edge of the bookshelf and struck a line across the moulding. That line is exactly where the next mitre has to start, and I didn’t measure a thing to find it. Measuring is where mistakes creep in, and one wrong number means a ruined piece of timber. Letting the bookshelf tell you the length is far more reliable.

I cut the mitre on that pencil line, then fitted it back in place. For the last piece, I laid it on top of the mitre I had just cut, so the two overlapped, and scribed a line along the angled edge. That scribed line is the mitre for the final piece. I cut to it, again without measuring anything, and the three pieces came together in a U shape around the top of the case.

I let the moulding overhang by 1½” on the front and both sides. The back is cut flush with the back of the case. Then I glued and screwed it down. I could have plugged the screw holes, but the case is tall and nobody will ever see the top, so I left them as they were.

When you live in heavily wooded hills like Shangri-la, the term “sunrise” can have different meanings.  In the case of today’s post, it is the time when actual sunshine strikes the surroundings, or somewhere between 9AM and noon.

This tree exploded in chromatic brilliance once the sun was on it.  Last week’s pic was from a grim, grey day that was followed that night with four inches of rain.

My oldest picture (very distant and blurry) of this tree was from 25 years ago and it was a sapling probably the size of my wrist.  Now the trunk is the size of my waist.

 The weather forecast changed and now there was rain in the morning and cloudy skies in the PM. Based on that I decided to wait on changing the belt until tomorrow. The skies looked like they would open up at any moment and drop rain like a cow letting loose on a flat rock.

done

Got the jig set so both aprons are inset an 1/8" from the outside edge. The first leg was 1 1/4" and this one is 1 3/16". The dowels didn't bypass each other so I had to adjust and play with them until the aprons seated fully on the legs gap free.

only a 16th

I was surprised that I could see a difference between the two thicknesses of the legs. Once this one has the chamfers on it, it should look a little more thinner and slender.

Stopped here and did some grocery shopping and dropped off a package at FedEx. Decided that I would change the belt in the back hallway rather then wait until the next day.

ready to do battle

Didn't know it here but I hadn't brought all the tools I would need. I ended doing the one thing I wanted to avoid at all costs and that was trotting up and down the stairs getting things I forgot. Getting the outer shell off the planer was painless and incredibly easy to do.

worth it

I purposely made this little tray to hold screws etc etc. These things can go MIA in a heartbeat. As long as I don't knock it over I should have them come time to put it back together.

this sucks pond scum

The old belt had melted on the bigger pulley. The smaller one (up to the left) had some melted crappola but not as much. I have to remove and clean this up before I can put on the new belt. It doesn't look like it is going to easy to do.

found it

The block with the knives wasn't turning which was making cleaning the big pulley a ROYAL PITA. Now that I found this I won't have to flip the planer 180 so I could have access to the bottom of the pulley.

incoming headache

I got some of the melted crap cleaned off and stopped. I went back to the shop and got my vacuum and more tools. That wore me out and I sat at my desk to rest and fell asleep. When I woke up I tried to get the belt on - just to give it a look see.

Getting the new belt on isn't going to easy.  The belt has to stretch about a 1/4" to fit. The procedure says to install the new belt first on the top, smaller pulley and the bigger one next. The bigger pulley has a rod in front of it. No mention of any hints to help. The YouTube vids I watched, one of them soaked the belt in boiling water which helped him. I still have to clean the pulleys before I can have fun, fun, fun with the new belt.

accidental woodworker 

 Things are getting worse for me with my breathing issues. Leaving the shop and coming up stairs is exhausting for me. It now takes me about 15 minutes before I fully catch my breath and stop coughing. I'm learning to work around it by moving as slow as a glacier. That helps because if I do my normal balls to the wall walk I cough for a bazillion hours and get short of breath. 

So I've been carefully planning before I go to the shop (going down is problem free still). I try to stay as long as I can before going topside. I try to make that as close to lunch time so I don't have to make any extra up/down dance steps. Once in the shop I can carry on albeit nowhere near at the pace I used to do. Regardless, I'm just happy to be able to make shavings and sawdust no matter what my body annoys me with.

cut list

I didn't see any reason why I couldn't cut out the aprons, top, and bottom shelf now. I know how wide (front/back) my wife wants it but she made no mention of the length (R/L). The top is 9" wide and 30" long. The bottom shelf is 6 1/2" wide by 26" long. The aprons and the one stretcher are all 2" wide but different lengths.

ouch

I couldn't find the wrench that came with this router. The only joy I take from that is that it is too big to sweep up with shavings and shitcan. I'm sure it will turn up in some totally unrelated black hole.

done

End aprons, top and bottom shelf, and the bottom stretcher. I am not putting any long side aprons on the bottom of the table. That will keep the table light and airy looking.

hmm........

Rounded the ends of the top and the bottom shelf. It isn't much but it lightens up the top continuing the delicate look I'm going for. I'll hold off sawing the round off until the aprons are glued and set. Leaving it square will be easier to position them and do the layout for the table top clips.

done

Got check marks on everything on the cut list. Once I get the legs done, finishing this will take no time at all.

tough going

Initially I got winded quick but the more I did it the easier it went. It didn't go fast and I got all the aprons, the stretcher, and the top and shelf planned and smoothed on the edges. I'll the do the faces before I do the glue up.

This is all I got done today. There is nothing on the horizon yet as the next project and I had taken this one as far as I could for now. Tomorrow I'll saw out a piece of scrap 1 1/4" square because that is the size leg I decided on. I'll use that to set the length of the dowels and the offset for the aprons. 

2 for $18

These came as I was finishing up this blog post. The email had said friday but I'll take it. I checked the weather and tomorrow will be cloudy but no rain. I had watched YouTube on replacing the belt and none of the vids looked difficult. Taking the planer apart to replace the belt was what I thought it would be. None of the vids said that any alignment was needed and it was put back together in reverse order. That is a bonus. 

accidental woodworker

I like my inches, they always made total sense to me and I think that that's because learned imperial measuring as a young child. Inches made me think, and I think the more in fractions of inches and then there is the foot distance and yard too. I picture distance in yards and miles. In my culture, imperial has been a common thing. I take it for granted as standard to me. I look at sixty-fourths of an inch and see an increment, a percentage of that inch that fits into it sixty-four times, but then a half-inch with thirty-two increments in it, or eight thirty-seconds of an inch in it, at quarter of an inch with sixteen in it or8/32nds of an inch in it. What's to fault that, anyway?

Sense comes in many ways. Remember, at aged fourteen, my headmaster told my parents, "Paul can never be educated." This man thought you could cane and strap education into children who didn't learn at the same rate or in the same way as all the other children did. He used a wide leather strap to drive his point home and strapped them to learn compliancy. But I knew feet and inches, could measure with these increments easily. Sense comes in many ways and experience makes theory concrete for minds that envisage in three-dimensional reasoning. Twelve inches to a foot made great sense to me as did a foot distance and a yard made up of three feet toe to heel in a length. Get over it!

It seems a strange thing to me that the birth of the new world adopted imperial as it's standard measuring system. The USA measures a large percentage of its work in imperial feet and inches but less so using yards. The whole of the English imperial measurement system is not quite its officially adopted system but close to. Furthermore, the US uses its own United States Customary System (USCS) as its primary system of weights and measures used for everyday commerce, but the length of inches determining feet and yards remains the same as imperial measuring, translating into the exact same distance as the English or British inch which only older people like me still relate to in the everyday of life here in the UK. It's actually borderline. The majority of the UK in every sphere adopted metric in and around 1965. In the US, volumes and weights differ to the UK imperial units but of course the change over to metric in the UK started in 1965 and is now pretty near complete. The British Imperial system was imposed across the British Empire in 1824 to standardise it throughout the empire, hence the term Imperial Measurement. The UK transitioned to the metric system following a request from British industry who sought to adopt metric units for international trade competitiveness. This may have prefaced joining the EEC (the title prefacing the EU) but it would be 1973 before Britain was finalised as a member. I'm sure that with the evaporation of my generation we will see the evaporation and extinction of the imperial system in the next five years also.

Even understanding and adopting both system of measuring distances, working in inches still makes more sense to me than metric does, but that is purely because I learned to use imperial in my formative years and subsequent training in work, building on solid foundational knowledge. I can relate better to the inch and foot more readily than metric, though those using metric can rarely relate to that level of security. You see, owning the knowledge means I have no need to be threatened by it, and therefore I don't argue with inches at all for my daily work: I simply own them. They're quite fine to me, but that doesn't mean rejecting a metric system too. Once you learn complicated systems you can easily and readily adopt simpler ones, but you will more than likely never go the other way.

What still stuns me each time I go to my bandsaw is that a tape measure for modern-day equipment might well come only in imperial (or USCS) on a tape measure. I installed a US made Kreg fence on my newest bandsaw recently, and the tape that came with it had no metric measurements on it. Imagine such a thing in 2026. Such a simple thing seems to have escaped the brilliance of their refined engineering, and yet I will guarantee that the engineering of all the components were carried on machines governed by metric control.

Being born to inches and feet, understanding each one of then, I placed inches into feet and yards, then feet and yards into miles too, quite readily. 5280 feet end to end in every mile is a happy treasure I value. I will die in a casket I made using inches knowing inches gave me height and width before cutting the dovetailed corner and making the lid with three-eighth inch mortise and tenons for the lid corners. I love inches, understand them, think in them, imagine them in any number you give me to see visually in my brain and anything in three-dimensional sizing. Once you know them you use them and using them means you own them. I have earned the right to them.

When I received the minor instruction guidance in designing the two White House credenzas, I was given four sizes: length, height and depth and then the radius for the curved wall they would stand against in the Cabinet Room on each side of the door leading to the Oval Office.

These measurements came in Imperial inches and fractions thereof throughout, though some pedantics might say USCS inches (one and the same size), so not a millimetre anywhere in sight. The exchanges between my US colleagues and myself were in inches though mine were imperial all the way. No matter: we delivered.

Addendum: I work equally well in metric and imperial and quickly switch to either if discussing with metric-only users, which is now the majority here in the UK. I learned metric in 1967 in ten minutes. There's nothing to it at all. Especially is this so when you've mastered the reality of maths classes where you learned about pounds, shillings and pence where such was the day back then when we entertained 20 shillings to the pound, 12 pence to the shilling and denominations of farthings, halfpennies, pennies, three-penny bits, sixpences, shillings, half-crowns and crowns and ten shilling notes all inside a pound equalling twenty shillings.

 The legs for the table are in limbo for now. The belt for the planer is on order and this AM I got an email that it had shipped. A 2nd email said it would arrive on this friday. When I ordered it the write up said 2-4 day delivery, so maybe that is close? In the interim I decided to play with leg designs so I could eyeball the look of it.

first set of experiments

I've been running different ideas through the brain bucket since my wife asked me to make it. Because it will be narrow and delicate looking, I didn't want just plain square legs. I don't have a lathe so any turning options ain't happening. I'm starting with two blanks 1 1/2" square.

first changes

The 1 1/2" square size looked too clunky IMO. The leg on the right I ripped down to 1" square and I like that size. I don't have a warm and fuzzy about the leg cutout at the bottom. The real estate sitting on the ground is a little more than 1/8" by 1". It looks too thin. Note to self - 1" square is ok, the leg angle is history.

hmm.......

This kills it for good. The angled cutout looks flimsy but I did get the depth of the dowels dialed in. That took me 3 tries before the aprons seated gap free.

worked

I was worried that the size of the leg wouldn't be large enough for the dowels on adjacent faces to pass each other. They did, barely but neither set hit the other one.

Got one hiccup with the aprons. The set back is off - one side has it and the other doesn't. Taking the angled leg cutout into account screwed me all up when I drilled the holes for the dowels.

nope

The idea I had was to make the angled cuts so they were on the outside and front inside faces. I'll kill all the suspense and fess up that I screwed it up. The 2nd cut itself was good but I had sawn them on the wrong faces. The cutout at the bottom was painfully small. It looks delicate but it also looks like someone walking by it would cause it to snap in two.

hmm......

I'm scratching angled leg cuts off the to do list. I'm not happy with how thin the bottom of the leg looks. On to the 2nd option rattling around the brain bucket.

too small

Changed my mind on the size of the leg. I want a wee bit more separation between the sets of dowels and also to have more dowel sticking out. I think I'll eyeball what 1 1/8" and 1 3/16" square looks like before I decide. I think either one is still small enough to look delicate.

hmm......

I don't want the aprons to be flush with the front. I don't care about the inboard face position. I played around with the shims until I got a setback I liked. I'm leaving the dowel jig and the depth guide set up for this.

this is winning so far

The 2nd option was to plane a chamfer on the outside 90° edge of each leg. I planed the first one free hand which was a bit awkward. I whipped out a 45 planing sled lickety split and it worked perfectly for planing the 2nd leg.

hmm.......

I think I found the winning entry. A large chamfer on the outside 90 and smaller ones on the other 3. The other 3 are subject to change because the short side aprons haven't been factored in yet.

stopped chamfers

The inside edge opposite the could go all the way up to top of the leg. The plan is to stop the chamfer a 1/2" below the bottom of the aprons. Again this is subject to change. 

2nd leg

An alternate for the chamfer is a round over or maybe a round over with shoulders. I do like the look of the chamfers on all four legs. They make the leg look thinner and should make the larger legs look the same too.

accidental woodworker

Hara-kiri on this cruck foot. The suspected dry rot is exposed. No problem; it's source of water has been removed and the socket is now dry. Contrary to common belief, dry rot needs a water source to grow. The pillow/corbel/cruck plate was a bit bent!

ready, almost

I left these on the workbench to make sure neither of them had any stupid wood tricks up their sleeves. Spoiler alert - they both behaved themselves.

checking for flat

Put the boards together and they were flat against each other end to end. No humps and no playing Mr Helicopter. In all combinations the two of the lay together gap free 360.

the big sigh

This board wasn't planed on this face, it still has the scallops from the router. I was tired yesterday and not really paying attention 100%. The last two times I ran the boards through the planer, there weren't any shavings being spit out. I assumed (wrongly) that the setting was too high and the board just went through underneath knives.

hmm......

I ran a board through and nada. The roller pushed it through but no shavings came with it. I took off the cover and I didn't find any interlocks so I turned it on and nada. The motor spun up but the cutter head didn't move. My first thought was a drive belt or maybe a gear was broke. 

what's left of the drive belt

Glad it is just this and not a stripped or broken gear. I checked the WWW for a replacement belt and the prices caused a hacking fit for a bazillion minutes. The OEM price averaged $80 but eBay prices were about $12-18. Those were a lot more reasonable. I also had checked the wrong Model #. I have a DeWalt #734 and I had checked prices on a DeWalt #735. The prices were better for my machine and I got a replacement belt on order.

This put a rather huge monkey wrench into the gears of making the console table. There aren't any tool repair centers within a reasonable distance from my house so I'll be the mechanic replacing it. It looks to be a fairly simple job but I'm not sure how much of this I'll have to disassemble to replace the belt. And if there will be any alignment(s) associated with replacing the belt. I'll be spending some quality time on You Tube tonight.

accidental woodworker

For those of you who don’t know what a Brahms guitar is, it is a classical guitar with eight strings, a cello end pin and the guitarist holds the guitar like a cello. Please visit my page on the Brahms guitar, Paul Galbraith’s website or Redmond O’Toole’s Instagram account for more details of this wonderful style of guitar. 

About twice a year I receive emails from guitarists asking me if I will make them a Brahms, I tell them “yes, I can” and then they ask what I charge to make one for them. I tell them that the base price for my classical guitars is $8,000 and a Brahms guitar starts at $8,500 - that is when they lose interest. A lot of work goes into making a Brahms guitar: I triple laminate the sides; I hand cut all the fret slots, the fretboard is fanned, this guitar actually has eight different string lengths(!); the neck is wider than a standard classical; I have to make a special bridge, which is angled to matched the different string lengths; installing the cello endpin; etc., etc.

Recently, a guitarist asked me if I could make a Brahms guitar for them, and if I could send one to them to try out, just to make sure they would want one. I do not have a Brahms guitar on hand. I told them that a client of mine has one for sale, they should contact that client to discuss the playing technique used for playing a Brahms guitar and the possibility of buying the guitar. 

The next week I contacted the guitarist and asked them why they wanted to play a Brahms guitar. Their answer was what I expected, the Brahms guitar offers more musical possibilities than a six string classical guitar. Then I suggested to them what a guitarist can do to experience a Brahms guitar without having to buy one.

WARNING! What I am about to suggest is to be done at your own risk! This is just a suggestion! I am not responsible for any damage done to any guitar! This suggestion is a way to try out the tuning of a Brahms guitar! DO NOT drill a hole in the guitar for a cello end pin! Hold the guitar as you would a standard classical guitar! If you do change strings, protect the guitar while you do the work! Please read this ENTIRE post before attempting!

If you really are interested in trying a Brahms guitar without a cello endpin, find someone who is willing to loan you a standard eight string classical guitar, or better yet, find someone with an eight string guitar that is interested in trying out the Brahms tuning. I also suggest that you read about the history of the development of the Brahms guitar before you attempt changing strings.

A Brahms guitar is usually tuned B1 E2 A2 D3 G3 B3 E4 A4. A standard eight string guitar is usually tuned A1 B1 E2 A2 D3 G3 B3 E4. All you need to do to convert that eight string guitar tuning over to a Brahms tuning is to remove the eighth string completely from the guitar. Once you do that, shift the remaining strings over towards the bass side, so that the seventh string now becomes the eighth string, the sixth string becomes the seventh string, the fifth string becomes the sixth string, so on and so forth until there is no longer a first string on the guitar. Then you need to find a first string that can be tuned to A4 without breaking.

I suggest buying a set of Aquila Bionylon High A Tuning Classical Guitar Strings. 

Here is Aquila Strings description of the set:

High A tuning: A D G c e a, regular guitar intervals, but the 1st string is an above normal e. 

We are proud to introduce the Bionylon® the first eco-friendly synthetic string in the world. These special sets also offered in Low A, High G and Low E tuning all designed for a guitar of 64-66 cm scale can give a guitar quartet, all using normal 6 string classical guitars, the range of an orchestra.

These strings get good reviews at the various on line guitar string dealers. 

I suggest that you take that high “a” string and use it as the first string on the guitar. Eight string classical guitars are usually built to withstand the add tension of two extra strings, if in doubt about this you should contact your local luthier or qualified repair person. If you are uncomfortable in changing these strings take the guitar to your local luthier or qualified repair person and pay them to do the work!

Once you add that high “a” string, slowly tune all the strings, perhaps you should start with A435 to see how the guitar will react. To try out the tuning, hold the guitar as you normally would, DO NOT DRILL THE GUITAR FOR A CELLO ENDPIN! If you like the tuning and want a custom Brahms guitar, contact me or any luthier about making one for you!

Again, I must state that this procedure is just a suggestion, do not proceed with this if you are uncomfortable with the idea.

I first learned about the Brahms guitar in 1994, shortly after it was premiered by Paul Galbraith, I was immediately impressed by expanded range of the guitar. I shared the article with a fellow guitarist and he said, “Now, that’s best idea I’ve seen in a long time! Every guitarist should have one!

If you have any questions or comments about this idea, please email them to me at

highcountrylutherie@gmail.com

I will not answer any comments posted to this post.

 Today started a whole lot better than yesterday. No coughing fits going on continuously for a bazillion hours. The shortness of breath is still kicking my arse but the coughing has toned down a ton. That was a welcomed relief. I didn't do anything in the AM but sit and veg out. I wanted to make sure that it would keep going on as is.

I went to Gregg's for fish 'n chips and I when I got back home I started working on getting the boards planed to final thickness. It took me a long time and I spent four times as much resting then I did doing any planing.

80 pounds - 36 kilos

I had to do everything one at a time. The only things I doubled up carrying out were the extension cord and my hearing muffs. The boards, the back hall bench, and the planer I brought out one at a time. In between each trip I had to sit and rest to catch my breath. On a bright note, I didn't have to suffer through spasms of coughing. Definitely looking that yesterday was  a bad day.

planer was last

I will have to do these dance steps 3 more times. One to bring this all back into the house and then twice more tomorrow when I plane the individual legs.

hmm......

I usually put the planer in the middle of the driveway (to the right). That is a distant memory now. That is now too far to carry the planer to. This was manageable but I think this is something that I won't be doing again. 

done

I am not sweeping up the shavings. It was breezy and the pile on the left was already 1/2 blown away. Besides the wind owes me a favor.

This was all I got done today. I got all the stuff back into the house and brought the boards down to the shop. Overall I was kind of happy with how things went this PM. The shortness of breath sucked but after resting for 10-15 minutes all was well in Disneyland again. Tomorrow I'll try to do get the remainder of the donkey work done.

accidental woodworker 

 I can't remember the last time I didn't go to the shop during the day and made sawdust. I had gone to the shop in the AM to get my ear muffs. At that time I had fully intended to haul the lunchbox planer outside. That didn't happen boys and girls. I spent 99% of the day seated at my desk watching You Tube listening to pod casts.

I had a terrible night sleeping and woke up for the final time a little after 0300. Every time I moved or rolled over I would have a coughing fit. I must have drifted off again because I didn't roll out of the rack until after 0700. Things didn't get any better once I went upright.

I went through one coughing fit after another for half an hour. The coughing sucks pond scum but now I was being rewarded with the pleasure of losing my breath with each fit. I let things settle down and after not coughing for over an hour, decided to haul the lunchbox planer out to the driveway. Within a couple of seconds of walking about, the coughing fits started again.

There was no way I would be able to haul my heavy arse planer out to the driveway today. That much exertion would probably bring on a massive coughing attack. Decided then and there to take the day off and veg out at my desk.

Tomorrow is supposed to be mostly sunny so at least the weather is cooperating. Now I just have to get my body agree with what I want to do.

accidental woodworker 

It has been a while since I wrote about the bookshelf build, so I’m picking it up from where I left off.

In the last part, the bookshelf had been brought together, glued and clamped, and everything was square. I now need to add two final elements: a base moulding and a top moulding. The base moulding will help stabilise the bookshelf, while the top moulding will add character and finish to the piece.

Before making the base moulding, I need to construct a cleat which will be attached to the bottom of the bookshelf. I use ¾” thick stock for this. The cleat is glued and nailed in place, flush with the front of the bookshelf. Its purpose is to provide a solid gluing surface for the front section of the base moulding.

I cut the cleat to size, apply glue and clamp it in position. To speed up the process, I use cut nails to permanently attach the cleat. This means I don’t have to rely solely on the glue to hold it in place, and I don’t have to leave it clamped while waiting for the glue to dry.

When using cut nails, I take a little care to prevent the stock from splitting. I drill a pilot hole part way into the wood rather than drilling the full length of the nail. I also position the nail so that it follows the direction of the grain before driving it in.

To make the base moulding, I start with a long board approximately 20% longer than I actually need. I then rip the board to the required width. The moulding consists of three pieces which will form a U-shape around the bottom of the case. I don’t measure the individual pieces. As Christopher Schwarz says, measuring is your enemy. Instead, I fit each piece directly to the bookshelf.

I start with one of the side pieces and place it against the case. I then use a pencil to mark where the board meets the front corner of the case. I take it to the mitre and cut the 45° end directly to the line I have just marked. I then repeat the same process for the other pieces, fitting and marking each one against the case rather than relying on measurements. The front piece is mitred at both ends, and the two side pieces are mitred at the front end only.

Once I’m satisfied that all three pieces fit correctly, I apply glue to the cleat and the case where the moulding sits, then clamp it in place. I leave it overnight so the glue can dry properly.

The following day, I plane a 45° bevel along the edge of the moulding. Looking back, this is something I should have done earlier, while the moulding was still one long piece. It would have been easier to plane the bevel before cutting the board into the three sections.

That completes the base moulding.

In the next part, I’ll be making and attaching the top moulding.

quick check

Wonky rocking board is on the left and it still is rock free on the workbench. The other board that I got twist/rocking free is now rocking. 

I tried

There appeared to be a hump and I tried to plane it away. I knocked back some of it but not all. Rather then chase my tail on this I decided to put this board into the jig and flatten it that way.

hard going

My shortness of breath ramped up this AM big time. Trying to plane the hump off took a lot of calories and a lot of rest stops to catch my breath. Made something that should have taken a few minutes take a bazillion minutes

secured

Used six blocks to keep the board in place. I had to shim three of the corners to eliminate any rocking. Ready to commence the dance steps again.

Lie Nielsen pure beeswax

The router was stuttering on the rails. I waxed the rails and the base of the router. The stutter stepping went away and I only had to use the wax once.

see them

The board has what I'm calling scallops across the length. They are similar to plane tracks (when the iron isn't parallel to the sole).

much joy in Mudville today

The board is rock free. It was an ordeal to plane the face I routed. The shortness of breath was getting in the way much more today than in previous days. It was like someone flipped a switch that kicked in the turbo. Both boards are ready to be fed into the lunchbox planer.

hmm......

There is a noticeable difference in the two boards now that the flattening is done. the thinner one on the right was the wacky, wonky rocking machine. From eyeballing it I like the thickness of it for the legs. It will probably be a bit thinner before I am finishing running through the lunchbox.

The plan was to get the lunchbox planer out in the driveway and plane these two to thickness. Then rip out the four legs and plane them equal in thickness. That didn't happen boys and girls. I had zero energy left after bringing the boards up from the shop to the back hallway. I'll try doing this in the AM if the weather permits. 

I didn't get any time in the PM session. I had some errands to run and getting gas was one of them. $57 to fill up the truck that was between a 1/2 and 3/4 empty. I checked on Maria and the frame wasn't ready and then I went grocery shopping. I had a tough time on the walking portions of these stops. I hope that today was just hiccup in the time line I have left.

Going down to the shop doesn't upset things but coming back up the stairs does. I have two sets of stairs to navigate and the first one I have to stop and rest to catch my breath. The 2nd set has only 3 and I'm now getting short of breath going up them. For the most of the day any movement on my part, turning, moving my arms, blinking would make me short of breath and usually followed up by repeated fits of coughing. Not a pleasant day sports fans.

I spent most of the PM glued to my desk chair but I did jump into the rain locker for a shower. This was first for me, I got short of breath 3 times showering. I still take a navy shower - get wet, soap up, rinse off, and repeat once. It has me thinking about how much longer I can keep making sawdust. Not to mention if I will be able to tackle the Welsh stick chair.

accidental woodworker

Every Spring, Winterthur Museum hosts a Furniture Symposium, and I have been invited (again).  I will present a demonstration on the making of Gragg’s Elastic Chairs during this year’s event, April 23&24, 2027.  (I say “again” because I was invited to present five years ago but was then disinvited when I declined to comply with their Fauci Flu protocols.)

I think my presentation/demonstration will be about 75-90(?) minutes, which should be quite the adventure.  You can follow the event developments at winterthur.org.  Just go to the “Calendar” page.

I hope to see you there.

Once I get my teaching and presentation schedule finalized for 2027 I will post it here.