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Podcast Update

I’m happy to say that I’m almost finished the first episode of the podcast.

Without question, the most difficult part of the entire process has been creating the characters for YouTube. I honestly underestimated just how much work goes into lip syncing and animation. There have been plenty of setbacks and moments of frustration along the way, but the tenacity and perseverance that hand tool woodworking teaches you kept me going.

Originally, I planned to use myself as one of the speakers. Unfortunately, the lip syncing didn’t turn out as well as I hoped. Still, I’m not giving up on it. I’ll continue experimenting and refining the process, and if it ultimately doesn’t work, I already have another character ready to step in.

Despite the challenges, I’m genuinely excited about this project. Ideas keep flooding into my head faster than I can write them down. In many ways, I feel the same excitement now that I did back when we started the magazine. There’s something deeply rewarding about creating something from the ground up and sharing it with others who appreciate the craft.

Podcasts have become incredibly popular, yet I haven’t really come across one dedicated specifically to hand tool woodworking. My hope is that this becomes a positive, informative, and enjoyable addition for those who love the craft as much as I do.

I truly hope you gain something from it, whether that’s knowledge, encouragement, inspiration, or simply enjoyment while listening.

I’d also encourage you all to subscribe on Spotify so you’ll receive notifications whenever a new episode is uploaded: Spotify Podcast Subscription

The video versions will be going onto YouTube, which is the reason I’ve been putting so much work into creating animated characters for the presentations.

As for Apple Podcasts, there currently seems to be some sort of technical issue with their links. At the moment they appear to be broken, but I’ll keep working on it until it’s sorted out.

Stay tuned. There’s much more to come.

About 35 years ago as our girls were getting tall enough to use the bathroom sink and help Mama in the kitchen we used large, unwieldy folding stools for them to accomplish the tasks.  I decided to use some scrap birch plywood and made a foot-high two-step stool for each of them, Older Daughter, Younger Daughter, and Mrs. Barn.  They were simple and sturdy, painted with some leftovers from unknown projects; black, red, baby blue.  They were stout enough that all three of them are still in service today after three decades of service.

A couple years ago I made a similar one for L’il T, painted in what were at the time his favorite colors with a little pizzazz.

Last week I finished the stool for his little brother, ‘Dozer.  (L’il T is long and lean, ‘Dozer is not, and not.  A nose tackle in the making.)  We weren’t sure what his favorite colors were, are, or will be so I left it to my own discretion.

In a year I’ll be making one for grandson #3, and the same for grandson #4 the year after.  These are so simple that they are not really even “woodworking,” but they are treasures that will likely last several lifetimes.

Building precious memories and robust traditions, one stepstool at a time.

round 2

What will it be this time? I heated the top on all sides before clamping and setting it aside to relax over night yesterday.

hmm........

It closed up a wee bit more but still not enough. I can effortlessly close it flat with hand pressure. I clamped the center and set it aside until I need it. I am definitely leaning in the direction of screwing it to underside of the table.

made good progress

Got the rest of the slats trimmed and fitted for the back. I was having problems aligning the slats to their respective holes and switched to clamping it. That worked way better than I expected without all the nightmare scenarios banging around in the brain bucket.

I started the first two in their mortises and then used the clamps (one at each end, one in the middle) slowly closing them as I worked from left to right. I have a good, snug fit in all the mortises and when it comes time to install it I'll do it dry. There isn't any need to glue the slats. Plus it will make it easy to replace one if ever needed.

no hiccups

I was expecting to do some adjustments to get the rails to align with the legs but I didn't. I didn't have to tap either rail in any direction to have the dowels in the rails align perfectly with the holes in the legs. I quick and painless dry clamp.

hmm.......

The top of the rail is flush with the top of the legs. I thought after yesterday it would have been down about 1/8". Having the top flush like this will make installing the drawer guide assembly a lot easier.

first side done

Trimmed and fitted the slats on the first side and dry clamped it. I had to do a couple of mallet taps on the top rail before the dowels in the rails aligned with the holes in the leg.

last one

The holes are the same on the legs so this works for checking for fit. Two taps on the top rail and the fit was like a hand into a well worn glove.

final prep

Planing and sanding to get the side assemblies ready to glue up. The master plan is to glue up the two sides first and let them cook. Then I will glue the back and drawer rail. After that is making drawers and attaching the top. IMO doing the slats is the hardest part of building this desk.

careful time

I can't mix up the slats. They have been individually fitted to each rail and aren't interchangeable. I have a bad habit of not adhering to that particular policy.

ready

Rails have been planed and sanded. Ready for gluing and shellac. Where did I put those two cans of shellac? 

I planed all the rails when I fitted them. I eyeballed each one to make sure they were clean and smooth on all four edges. I won't be sanding them and I'll go with the finish off of the plane.

I'll prep the legs in the AM and hopefully get the two sides glued and cooking.

accidental woodworker

drawer rail

After dinner last night I went to the shop, unclamped this, and heated it with my heat gun. Clamped it back together and let it go until the AM. Any bets?

hmm.......

It straightened out a wee bit but not enough. Yesterday it was less than a frog hair more then 1/8" at the center. Today it is a couple of frog hairs under 1/8". I heated it again with the heat gun, clamped it, and set it aside. I'll check it in the AM. I'm not betting the ranch on it working.

done

Got the last slat mortise chopped and cleaned up. Stopped here and brought Miles's frame to the Frame it shop.

heebie jeebie dance time

I find doing this a tad nerve wracking. It so incredibly easy for me to miss and not position the jig correctly. Which is exactly what I did on the first holes I drilled. I was so focused and intent on getting the jig positioned correctly that I forgot to also make sure it was also on the right face. 

Got lucky with boo boo. Because it was the front leg I was able to erase the old reference marks and do new ones based on the leg being rotated 90°. Sometimes you get lucky.

hmm.......

I did this one wrong. The right side edge was the original one for the slat mortises. I changed my mind and did the mortises on the left edge. The hiccup was I had already drilled the holes before I made this change. The hole spacing is not the same R/L L/R. Not sure how I'll deal with this.

another hiccup

The mortises are a wee bit off too. I did the layout from the left end  going to the right on all the rails. I have to align the bottom rail keeping that in mind with the top rail.  I think this is the last hiccup I have to account for.

hmm......

I got the holes drilled for all the top rails. Before I did the bottom rails I had to determine where they were going to live. I eyeballed it and 5" up from the bottom is what looked good to me. The slats ended up being 15 1/8" long.

done

I survived another round of drilling dowel holes. Other then the initial brain fart, I got all the holes drilled exactly where they should be.

lifesavers

This mark is worth its weight in gold squared. I used to do this with RF and LB etc and  with numbers. This can't be beat and I used it extensively when setting up the doweling jig.

done

Got all the slats sawn to the same length. Fitting them is in the on deck circle.

first one fitted

Started with the wide center slat first. Got it fitted in the bottom and top rails.

first 8 slats

I was going to fit the slats in the bottom rail first and then in the top rail one at a time. I only did the first rail and stopped. It was too awkward moving the rails in/out of the vice. So I did them the same way I did Miles's desk, fitted them all in the bottom ones first and then the top.

That plan went south because I came upon two cracks/splits among the slat mortises 9 thru 16. I had to glue them and let them cook. Instead of killing the lights I fitted the first 8 slats into the top rail. 

Then I killed the lights for the day. I should have this glued up by monday?

Amazon came at 1804

I had to satisfy my curiosity about the fluted dowels. I would say that they are 6mm and not an imperial 1/4". I'll have to check and see if Dowel Max has metric bushings.

metric equivalent of 1/4"

This is a spiral dowel. Extremely happy that I got a true 1/4" dowel. (6.30mm = 1/4")

a 1/4" is 0.250

This is close enough to 0.250 IMO. These dowels were a loose fit but tighter than the 6mm ones. 

accidental woodworker 

Vertical grain. Why riven oak? Radially riven oak is the most stable, because the rings of the tree are at 90 degrees to the face of the timber, or vertical. Better than quartersawn. Come and see how it's done in practice. Sign up for a course, or see demonstrations at Birdwood House Gallery, Totnes 12th-18th July. 'Jonathan Bayes (&Co)-Carving History'

almost ready

It is the AM and I let the holiday I painted yesterday dry thoroughly overnight. Got the 2nd coat of shellac on and the 3rd and final coat in the PM session. I'll get this and Miles's drawing to Maria in the AM. 

shoulda, woulda, coulda, but didn't

All the holes filled in and flushed without any hiccups. However, up close I can see a difference between the two epoxy pours. It would have been better if I had dyed the epoxy black. From a couple of feet away, I can't see anything different. And who (besides me) would eyeball the the black spots up close and personal?

side rail mortises

The side rails have two more mortises (total) to chop than the back ones (with the wide center slat). One benefit of this new method is the long sides of the mortises stay cleaner and crisper. 

snug fit

I like the fit of the slats so far. It is snug on the width and doesn't fit at all the other way. There are burn marks on the sides that I will plane off. That should be enough for the slat to fit.

chopping away

It isn't taking a lot of time per mortise. I would estimate that it isn't more then five minutes each.

yikes

A brain fart that shouts and laughs at you. Missed drilling the holes in one of the top rails. I didn't notice here that I made the stinky fart me-steak again with the bottom rail. Fixed that one later on in the PM session.

too shallow

I measured the holes and they were all about 7/8" deep. Too shallow for the 2" dowel pins I intend to use. I marked the stick at 1 1/16" (16th for glue) and redrilled all the holes to that depth.

last two

Got the outlines done on the last two side rails. Stopped here for two reasons. The first was my right wrist was starting to hurt which means I was waking up my carpal tunnel. To go along with this, my lower right back was hurting. Bending over for hours ain't what it used to be. Not a real problem as the pain goes away once I straighten up and head upstairs.

The 2nd one is the 3/8" chisel edge was chipped. I was still chopping clean but I could see the one big and small chip missing on the blade's toe. Stopped here and sharpened it removing the chips first which didn't take much time on a 100 grit runway.

this one is 80 grit

I have two of these runways that I use. This one is 80 and used for heavy removal and squaring blades. The other is a double sided runway with 100 grit on one side and 150 on the other.

can you see it?

This is the front top, drawer rail. It is bowed an 1/8" at the middle. This has to be straight so that the flush drawer fronts stay flush. So for the leading candidate is to screw it to the underside of the top on either side of the center block.

worth a try

It is easy to flatten it with hand pressure and the quick grips are strong enough to do it too. I'll check this in the AM and see what shakes out with it. If I see no results, I'll try hearing it with my heat gun and clamping it again. I really don't want to make another drawer rail.

fluted dowels came today

Not 2" long but about 1 7/8". There are from China too so I don't have high hopes that they 1/4" diameter pins neither.

they ain't a 1/4"

In a 1/4" hole this dowel has a 32nd space all around. I don't think that is tight enough even allowing for glue swelling to be joint worthy. The spiral dowels are coming in tomorrow. Fingers crossed that they are imperial and a 1/4" in diameter.

dead battery

It worked yesterday but its dead the next day. There was a little battery corrosion that cleaned off the contacts with alcohol. Went to CVS to get a L1154C button battery and nada. CVS has cut way back on the range of button batteries it used to sell. I went to Wally World next and the same results. They don't sell N batteries anymore neither and they used it because they were my source for them. Ordered both batteries from Amazon and I'll have them tomorrow. Then I can measure these pins - the calipers read imperial and metric.

accidental woodworker 

I got to the shop late this AM - I rolled out of the rack at 0708. I had woke up at 0130 and couldn't go back to sleep. Watched YouTube until 4-ish when I finally got the eyelids to slam shut. I had to quit the AM session to go to the VA for an appointment. I had a high resolution CT of my chest. It was odd because they asked me if I had any thing metallic on my right side. They said something showed up on the last scan they did.

first pic of the day

I can see a pattern emerging - lots of blurry pics lately. Laid out the mortises on the 4 side rails. I was glad I had to go the VA because my right wrist was sore still from chopping mortises yesterday.

one coat of shellac

Two coats on the back and 3 on the front and the front outside edges will do it.

sigh

Teeny holiday but it sticks out like a neon sign on a foggy night. This killed getting one coat on the entire frame. And I forgot to paint it before I went for my appointment.

epoxy

I used clear epoxy to fill the in the holes on the side rails. I had some left over so I filled in the fissures on one of the drawers. At least one tail will end up dead center on them. If I run into any hiccups I'll regroup and make new drawer fronts.

PM session

I had planned to work on the side rail mortises but that didn't happen boys and girls. The epoxy I used has a 24 hr cure. I thought it was 5 minutes - I was wrong. So I decided to work on the legs. They hadn't budged in any direction. Both reference faces were still dead nuts square. They were still flat and straight too so no reason to wait. 

I want the legs to be square and not rectangular. The short side is roughly 1 7/8" and the longer one is 2 1/8". To ease the strain on the lunchbox planer, I ripped the long edge to close to the short one.

happy with this

I almost got my 1 7/8" square but two legs threw a hissy fit. I had to settle for 1 3/4". Miles desk legs are 1 7/8" but this is close enough. Neither desk will ever be side by side for a comparison.

nice curly Q

Removed the planer nick humps with a chisel before sawing the legs to finished length. I had planer snipe on every single leg. I was lucky because the leg lengths are 29" and the blanks were 36" long. I was able to saw it off on all 6 legs.

done

It took a while but I finally settled on an orientation of the legs. The front legs both have straight, vertical grain on all four faces. The back legs have straight, vertical grain on the front and back faces. The other two have straight-ish grain - the grain lines are wider but there aren't any cathedrals. 

I had three legs with straight, vertical grain and I initially placed the  3rd one at the back but pulled it. I didn't like the look of the odd leg not even closely matching it's opposite mate. As is, the two front ones match as do the back ones. 

I like

Used one of the off cuts as a test piece to check the rail placement. There is a 1/4" offset from the edge of the leg to the rail - perfect IMO. And I got it on the first try.

1/4" dowel rod

I couldn't push this into the holes I drilled with a 1/4" twist drill bit.

hmm.......

These are 1/4" spiral dowel pins. They aren't a snug fit but they are denying gravity. These dowels are 1 1/2" long and I need 2" dowel pins.

1/4" fluted dowel pins

Same as the spiral dowel pins but with a twist. They were looser than the spiral pins but the twist is these are 6mm and 6mm is not the same as a 1/4". Went to Amazon and bought 2" spiral pins that I'll have tomorrow. I'm guessing that they are imperial and if they aren't, I'll buy 1/4" dowels and make my own pins.

snug fit

I chamfered the bottom of the pins and easily tapped them home with the hammer. I would say that the holes aren't changing much so far.

accidental woodworker

Many of my projects become courses in cabinet making, with everyday other woodworking thrown in for good measure. My work balances out the machinist in us–that couch-potato, tube-watching that's interesting but non-active. My quest for three decades parallels a phrase used in the 1980s and 90s in the USA. "Off the streets and on the creeks." They were trying to get kids out there fishing and taking in the more natural environments our childhoods were so laden with, instead of congregating in the more negative city environments. In my case, it's more an, "Off the couch and less of the slouch." In senior years, it may not always be so easy for many good reasons, I understand that, but anything you can stretch into will be a good thing. Also, there are disabilities too. Other excuses are excuses that postpone the development of skills that will never happen for most.

It's a composition. Joinery, the root of the word, comes from the word harmos, from which we get our English word harmony. Making woodworking joints for me is no different than writing a poem or a post.

As always, this latest project is intended to both inspire and empower real making and launch everyone into making something scalable and alternative. In past projects we've made so many just encourage tackling real joinery making with hand tools. The more you make, the more confident you become. Joint making along with the support activities of saw sharpening, edge sharpening and even auger bit, and scraper sharpening seem to intimidate anyone in the early days of starting out. Neglect sharpening, and you might as well got to machining wood, where the blades are all sent out to sharpening businesses. We, I, have to sharpen most edges each day at some point depending on use and the wood types we work. I'd rather sharpen one more time in six than go for harder steels that don't save anything of anything.

We have thousands of videos that are all pure teaching and training from my own 60 years of daily woodworking. It's our platform, we own everything there, we take no sponsorship, no money, no free tools or equipment and no free promotion, etc, etc. That keeps or content clean, free to be the real us and thereby as unbiased as possible. I no longer write for other entities unless I choose to, and it's been ten years since I wrote anything other than my blogs and online content...

Videos

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Woodworking Masterclasses

... and we allow everyone to dip in and out at will or according to budget. No penalties anywhere. ~so you can dive in for a month or two and follow whichever series appeals to you the most. The income supports our work as an education provider without the usual support of magazines, sponsorship and so on.

Also, we have a whole website dedicated to new woodworkers which includes machinists who want to convert, adopt and adapt to more comprehensive methods. Here we have a range of courses and so much information it will rock for everyone regardless, even experienced woodworkers tell me that they learned so much.

All Courses | Common Woodworking

Free beginner woodworking courses by Paul Sellers and team. Learn hand-tool skills step by step.

Common Woodworking

Dig through our easy-to-follow woodworkingmasterclasses.com, and you'll discover many a hundred free videos to train, teach, encourage, empower and inspire you. Did you know that all of our instructional and tool-use videos are always free? So much of our energies to produce videos is about apprenticing this emerging long-distance band of followers; things have changed, especially since the COVID pandemic that shocked the world; and in the changes people who would never find an apprenticeship strategy to match their ambitions have come to online content. Our work comes from my 60 years of woodworking and furniture making. I have questioned the sources of information from manufacturers we might well respect, who in general I have found to have quite disingenuous content that's misleading people to buy their products. The terms used appear logical but knowing the terminology and the twists made I get to the core of honesty. At what point does any tool become dull? How can they say, as Spear and Jackson did in the early 90s did, "Lasts five times longer than conventional saws." What did their throwaway, hard-point saws with plastic handles have over those that could be sharpened for two centuries of daily use have? And who had independent testing to say cryogenic steel blades kept their edges twice as long anyway? And what does dull mean anyway? I often sharpen any one of my saws in four minutes. One stroke through one gullet means I didn't wait too long, nor sharpen too soon. Half a stroke for a gent's saw. Did you know a saw needs setting about once a year, and never every time?

It was an idea that really worked, and I ended up using it on a range of projects. It's a housing dado with wedged round tenons all in the solid. I first used this method in 1988 in Reagan Wells, Texas where I built my first US home in the boonies.

All our episodes are about equipping makers to take up their tools and make, and by tools I do not mean machines. Even those who might not be new to woodworking but only use machines, but machines will never equip you for hand tools. We developed our commonwoodworking.com as a training and knowledge-based platform for anyone who wants to investigate hand tools to a deeper level. Discover the reality of real woodworking for yourself. Also, my book is around 500 pages and focusses on the real information you need to really make hand tools work for you. Here's the link for that. My blog now has thousands of articles I have written about woodworking and furniture making. Here is a final link to my furniture gallery if you're interested.

In this latest woodworking masterclass project, I'm making a dovetailed cabinet, but at the outset my fingertips tell me my saw needs a quick touch-up; it takes a five-minute sharpening session, a single pass through each gullet, so I pull out my file, sit and file. From pencil lines to knifewalls and knifewalls to housing dadoes, I make my various joints. Of course, it's been decades since I cut a bad dovetail or housing dado that was loose, but even if I did, it would still be far superior to any other method and that's simply because every component came from my own power. I don't make good joints for the approval of others. I've been done with that since George passed my work in the 1960s. Where I am this morning is starting out on making two sliding doors. Something we have not done to camera before. I've made wooden tracks and formed grooves with plough planes, kept everything within the realms of DIY, but didn't do it to be awkward, I did it because it's instantly doable–a thousand times faster than tracking down tracks and sliders.

These tail recesses and pins never get pare cut unless I really made a big mistake. I don't think I will have pare-cut these in 20 years or more, yet woodworking gurus everywhere advocate pare-cutting to fit and creeping up on the line. Surely, they can cut to the line, you'd think, but no, they actually can't, despite owning £200 saws.

Two types of dovetails, common- and half-lap, but both with a twist that you most likely have never seen done before; they both come straight off my gent's saw, no problem. The quietness of handwork separates crafting artisans from the boy's toys. Times have changed and progress seen in machines that chop, rip and plane effortlessly is the dominant and progressive way. But for me, that's all dead and uninspired ease. Like riding the bus instead of cycling, walking or running. There's soul to my work that I wouldn't swap for a gold clock or the speed or ease or anything else. My dovetails are usually as perfect as humanly possible and my housing dadoes top-notch, gap-free and watertight. The mastery of furniture making by hand has been my reward for over six decades, and it has never grown old. People out there, so-called professionals, mostly, never critique but criticise. You wouldn't believe the kind of dumb advice they give me. The good thing now though is that a million people will follow this project over the coming months, and the skills passed on will register with a massive percentage of them. That's all that really matters. These amateurs, usually the better woodworkers for the right reasons, are the future of real woodworking, and they continue to be my inspiration.

Shall I use this one, just for a change? Usually, I don't, but that's because not everyone will own such a primitive tool, but they can be had for a few pounds on eBay, and they work remarkably well.

I'm on with the door making today. Sliding doors; a bit of an experiment in some ways, although I made many a dozen over the years. Twist free is always the ultimate goal. Make a twisted door, and the domino effect takes you the long way round to get the good looks and problem free future you want. Usually, it's quicker to trash the door and start over. Nothing you can do will cure a twisted door. You did something wrong, the wood wasn't dried down, the atmosphere is saturated, the one rail had a 1º twist, a stile too, and then quite likely the shoulders weren't even in length front and back and so created pull to one side in the clamps which pulled everything out square, whatever. But there are tricks of the trade. Too long to go into here, but they can get you out of a fix if they have to.

Or as the distinguished Congresswoman from home state of Minnesota might say. “What Winter Hath Wrought, Eleven.”

Once things finally melted off from this past Snowzilla, I discovered another severe after-effect.

The stone foundation walls leading to the underground root cellar were pretty much wrecked by the ice-rain-sleet-rain deep freeze in late January.  After more than a hundred years of being in place the base rocks were literally pushed out of place by the block of ice accumulating behind it.  Yikes.

I’m hoping my brother is feeling strong as I plan to excavate and reinstall several hundred pounds of rock wall during his scheduled fall visit.  It can’t be all firewood fun and games.

 

Miles's frame

The front face has only one coat. I was surprised at the coverage too. I'll bet the ranch that I can get away with two coats. A couple of coats of shellac, I'll be able to get this to the Frame it shop by saturday at the latest. 

Leo's desk top

Just did a quick flush of the glue joints with the #3. I only did this side which will be the face. I'll do the back side when I am ready to get it to final size.

hmm......

Ready to flush/plane all the epoxy on the side rails. All of them were still overfilled, no sunken areas anywhere.

sigh (blurry pic again)

This is the biggest epoxy spot and after I got it flushed, a hole popped out. Not a bubble hole and it is visible despite the small size of it. I'll fill it in later.

lower right corner

I like the reddish background against the black epoxy.

done

All four side rails flushed. Another small hole shook hands with me that I'll have to deal with. Three of the rails are about the same - the 3rd one down from the top - doesn't have a 'circle' but it is what it is.

drilling the side rails

Got all the side rails holes drilled. As I was doing the last one a thought occurred to me, maybe I should have waited before drilling the holes. Would they change size before I glued them? I will be finding out that mystery shortly.

hmm.......

This was going to be the edge where I chopped the mortises for the slats. I'll be swapping the edges - the other one doesn't have any of these fissures.

hmm......

Tried a new way of doing the mortises. Instead of doing each one at a time, I chiseled the outline of each one first. Then I started chopping the mortises one at a time.

one done, 5 to go

Did a better job chopping this set. I only had to glue one chip and one split.

back rails done

I got the 2nd one done five minutes before quitting time.

oops

Both of the back rails are the same size. All the top rails are 5 1/2" wide and the bottom ones are all 4 1/4". I ripped this one to match the other bottom rails.

accidental woodworker 

Making the Gauge Stock

Episode three is out on Woodworking Masterclasses if you want to go that route too, but all of the details are below here as well for those who like text and drawings. Here is the link. https://woodworkingmasterclasses.com/dashboard/

The stock of the gauge might seem complicated by sight, but systematic layout and steps for working brings the whole into sharp focus in the process of doing it. Keep the stock square until you've fully chopped the five-sided centre reception hole and bored through with the side hole into it; this receives the threaded insert and its easier to gauge squareness and perpendicularity from right-angled pieces of wood. This way, the layout and making becomes very mechanical.

A piece about 6" (60mm) by 2 5/8" (67mm) by 1" (25.4mm) will make two gauges. Probably a good start too if you don't have enough gauges and you want/need some practice.

Using the grain orientation as shown to guide you, mark a centre mark in pencil.

Square the line across the centre of the workpiece...

...and then onto the adjacent edge.

We need two parallel work lines running either side of the centreline to establish the position of the short flat side in the five sided hole. I find it best to eyeball this from a digital vernier set to 8mm. It's surprisingly accurate.

Make a mark 30mm in from the edge and square it across to the two lines. This designates the fifth, narrow wall of the five-sided hole to cut to.

We use the intersecting of these two points as reference points to register the adjacent 45º aspect of the hole. Using the combination square on 45º, start laying out two of the four sides.

Now use the actual end of the stem to establish the other two positions.

We must transfer cut lines from one side to the opposite face. Go over the pencil lines with a sharp, pointed knife to create the knifewalls you need.

Keep the square registered for each wall as you go, and use the knife to mark the outer corner of the workpiece for each one.

Square this point onto the adjacent edge using a sharp-pointed pencil.

And now the diagonal from this reference point onto the opposite face. Each of the cut lines will be established this way.

In this blog, I am drilling a pilot hole to take the snail of an auger bit but in the video I did not drill out the waste as it is my least favourite method and is not significantly faster, if at all.

Drill a pilot hole with a small twist drill to guide the subsequent larger hole with an auger bit. This will reduce the risk of splitting with the steep cone part of the screw on the auger bit. It's best to mark the centre point on both sides and drill from the two opposite face sides. You will feel the holes align in the drilling.

Boring out the bulk of the waste with an auger bit is optional, but you can use a 5/8" auger bit or a Forstner bit to bore half way or more through from each side. This may or may not make chopping the interior walls easier.

Chiselling into the knifewalls establishes a perfect start point for subsequent chopping with the chisel. Work from both sides to the halfway point to meet in the centre.

Deepen the recess.

In the video, I showed laying out these outer curves before the hole was chopped through. It's up to you and both will work. With the hole cut through and trimmed, lay out the curves on the outer corners according to the drawing.

I used both the plastic circle template and a pair of compasses to establish the radii guidelines.

These are the various radii that work for this marking gauge stock. You can work to these and then alter them to fit your hand as needed or preferred.

Saw off the bulk of the waste first...

...and then refine to the lines further with the saw rasp...

...the flat file refines the surface to a shine.

Ease the corners with the file, evenly. It will look neater and the new tool will feel more comfortable in use.

You must now lay out for boring the hole through the edge. This is the edge with the narrow parallel side 30mm in from the edge.

It's best to drill a pilot hole with a small bit. Make sure that the hole is small enough to take the auger bit threads if boring by brace and bit. This pilot hole is critical, as the conical shape of the auger bit is steep and can split the wood because of its steepness.

This bit size matches the rim of my inserts perfectly. They will vary. The brace with the 7/16" bit takes a single rotation to establish the exact depth I want once the two outer spurs reach the wood surface. It might be different for your inserts, so try out first and choose accordingly. It's good to know that the threads on the auger bit snail control the depth of cut.

The rim of the insert fits neatly.

Now step drill down through the same centrepoint with an appropriate sized bit that allows the threads of the insert to bite into the wall of the hole. In my case, it is 5/16".

I use wax polish to lubricate the threads of my insert. This makes inserting smoother with less resistance.

The Allen key (hex-wrench USA) sends the insert home and seats the rim nicely level.

The knurled screw is threaded in almost all the way.

I cut a 1/4" (6mm) bolt shank to sit between the end of the screw and the brass in the stem. This distributes the pressure evenly on the brass plate.

By drilling a recess 3/16" (4mm) deep, and placing the steel insert into the recess, I can file the faces of the steel.

The knurled screw seats nicely near to the stock, with enough space to lock the stem to the stock.

I applied two coats of hard wax oil finish after light sanding to 240-grit.

The end result is so pleasing. Now I am working on an adjustable mortise gauge version, so I will let you know.

Journeyman’s Journal has always been the ongoing record of work at the bench, notes, reflections, and lessons gathered over more than thirty years of hand tool woodworking, and still continuing.

Separate to this, Wooden Wares Handwork continues as an ongoing venture. That side of the work is focused on making, and stands on its own. It is no longer connected to the blog.

Some of you will remember The Lost Scrolls of Handwork. That name belonged to a magazine we ran alongside the work, carrying forward the same philosophy: sharing knowledge gained over time spent at the bench. The magazine eventually came to an end, but the idea behind it never disappeared.

Now, The Lost Scrolls of Handwork returns, not as a magazine, but as a broader extension of the work at the bench. It will be used as the title for future books and podcast material, while the main blog continues under Journeyman’s Journal.

The two are connected, but distinct:

• Journeyman’s Journal remains the ongoing written record of woodworking.
• The Lost Scrolls of Handwork becomes the written form for books, and the voice for the podcast.

The podcast

Alongside the written journal, I am introducing a podcast. The plan is to release episodes monthly, though it may settle into a two-month rhythm depending on time and the demands of my own work.

It will follow the same principles as everything else here: woodworking by hand, the thinking behind it, and what is learned at the bench. Available in two forms, on YouTube as video, and on Spotify as audio only, which can be listened to anywhere without needing to watch. Something you can have playing while you’re in the workshop or driving your car.

The most challenging part so far has been the realistic 3D lip-sync work. The available tools tend to be expensive, and the results only marginally better than free alternatives. That part is still being refined.

The first introduction is live

An introduction to the podcast has already been released and can be found here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/036WosfvejMFAeRH4x5Pbz?si=0bUSZZafQnWwc7T7eNCB6A

This is a continuation rather than a restart. The names may shift slightly in how they are used, but the intent remains the same: to record what is learned through time at the bench, and to pass that on in a way that stays close to the work itself.

Here is a video I just uploaded to youtube. This is a short introduction to the podcase using a realistic 3d animation. Hope you guys like it and support the channel.

Olive Bread from Vesuvio
One of my great joys at Tools for Working Wood is steering our visitors to great local places, whether great Mexican food in Sunset Park or worthwhile museums they might have otherwise missed. In that spirit, let me tell you about some of the food shopping I did with my son over the weekend.

We built up our fortitude for errands with a falafel at one one of my favorite falafel spots, the original Mamoun's on Macdougal Street in Greenwich Village. According to their website, the restaurant, which was founded in 1971, is "the oldest falafel restaurant in New York and one of the first Middle Eastern establishments in the United States." (This isn't exactly true - Mamoun's may be the oldest falafel shop in NYC, but from the late 19th century until its relocation to make way for the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel and what would later become the World Trade Center site, New York had "Little Syria," a vibrant Middle Eastern neighborhood in downtown Manhattan.)



When we finished my meal, we headed to Pino Prime Meats for some lamb sausage. The shop makes the sausage fresh everyday, and I don't know a better supplier of lamb sausage anywhere. It's great with many things, including a side of robustly spiced pasta. This shop is tiny! There's a single corridor for customers and butchers, and the shop was pretty mobbed. (I generally have been at the shop on Saturdays, and it's always busy on Saturdays.) Just as noteworthy as the quality of the meats: Pino takes cash only. The trend in the past few years was to eliminate cash payments - with sufficient pushback that NYC passed a law mandating that stores are legally required to accept cash if their customers choose that method of paying. Well, no need for that intervention at Pino, which is a traditional store in this and so many other ways. The current family that owns Pino Prime Meats has been operating the store only since 1990, but the butcher shop has been operating the neighborhood (though I am not sure if it's at the current address only) since 1907.



Then it was off to Vesuvio Bakery for a snack, in this case some olive bread. Let me say they do not stint on the olives at this bakery. Vesuvio has a long history in the neighborhood as well. The original bakery was opened in 1920 but closed around 2009 - and then was reopened by a fan who was inspired to renovate the bakery's storefront and restore its operations.

Raffetto's Fresh Pasta

And then we finally headed to Raffetto's Fresh Pasta on Houston Street. Raffettos too has a storied past: it was founded as M. Raffetto & Bros. in 1906. As the shops website says, In its early years, M. Raffetto & Bros. made three basic products: egg noodles, meat & spinach ravioli (Genoa Style) and, a little later, cheese ravioli (Naples Style). Since refrigeration was the exception more than the norm at the turn of the century, we produced and sold dry egg noodles much more than fresh egg noodles, made with the one roller machine our grandfather bought in 1916 (that machine is still used today). From the 1970s on, the popularity of fresh noodles and having only one machine to roll out the dough made us discontinue making dry noodles. Today, Raffettos produces about 50 different kinds of pasta. We often wonder what Marcello would think about our range of homemade creations that include pumpkin ravioli, black squid ink linguine and rosemary pappardelle. Regardless of whether it is a classic pasta or something a little new and creative, our family still chooses to follow the same principles that has guided our familys philosophy since 1906: use the best quality ingredients to produce the best quality pasta.

We bought some ravioli for dinner later in the week and headed home, snacking on the olive bread.

Probably the best part about dealing with these stores is that they're all owned, run, staffed by people I can identify with. They know the product, they know their business. They care. They make the best products they can. They engage with customers. Food in these stores isn't a commodity designed for easy barcode scanning. It's a craft and making a living at any craft is an achievement. Fewer people on any given day need a wonderful hand made chair than some sausages, but the principle is the same and needs to be encouraged.

As I was enjoying the olive bread reflecting upon my shopping experience, the thought occurred to me that this is what craft is about. Almost anyone can make olive bread, but actually making the bread, and doing so in such a way that the bread is stuffed with olives, and sold to a sufficiently appreciative customer base to pay enough to make the profit that enables you to pay the rent and the staff - well, that is about mastery of craft. Same with making lamb sausage every day, at a price that is in the sweet spot of affordable-profitable, etc.

My enjoyment of woodworking is really about the enjoyment of craft, appreciating the skill it takes to make something. And respecting the lifetime of skill it takes to master a craft effectively.

 

1/8" router bit

It is solid carbide with a 3/4" long cutting length. I like how easy it was to make the slots for the table clips with my plunge router. Hopefully I'll remember to do it before I glue the rails up.

hmm......

Missed about one inch on the first pour. In my defense it was covered with tape. Filled it in and all the other sunken holes.

not expected

If I had known I would have stuffed in cherry shavings before filling them with epoxy. Fingers crossed that the 2nd pour will fill them.

done

30 minutes after I filled them, all the holes were over filled. Looking like a win for the home team.

gluing the top

The middle and right board are carved in stone. The far left board is one of two that I will marry to them.

still working

I worked through all the ways I could use these two left boards and it took a while to make up my mind. There is no way I could get a color/grain match with the other two. I started by sawing about an inch off of the two right boards. I did that so that the third board would be wider than 6". I didn't like the look of two 11" inch boards with a small 5" wide board.

two boards

Dry clamped the first two boards together. I had a nice, tight joint line from R to L. It came together with minimal clamp pressure.

dry clamp run

I had thought about using dowels on this glue up - 3 in each board. Didn't need them as the boards were easy to align within a frog hair or two.

I smiled looking at this because it brought back a memory. When I first started woodworking I couldn't glue up stock to get wide boards. I would limit myself to making things that didn't need anything wider than a 1x12. I've come a long way in the past 51 years.

hmm.....

One clamp and everything is still together. The ends didn't shift up/down and the joint lines were still tight. The glue up went off without a hitch. One end had the ends shift by with the glue and I had to put a clamp on them to flush it.

nice touch

This doo da lets you keep going with the doweling jig. You insert this 1/4" aluminum pin in the last hole drilled to keep drilling holes. I also have one that goes out 12'(?).

eight holes

This is one of the back rails. Drilled 5 holes, put the pin in, and drilled 3 more holes.

Miles's frame

He wanted red and this was the brightest red I found at the paint store. Got good coverage with one coat. I'll get a second one today and start on the front in the AM.

mortise layout

Laying out the mortises for the slats. I'm sticking with the same number that I did on Miles's desk. I don't want any blaring differences between the grandson's desks.

story stick

I couldn't layout the mortises for the side rails (epoxy is still setting up).  I will use this to lay them out once the epoxy is dry. 

started

Got the outline of all the mortises chiseled and the center one outlined. This is where I stopped for the day. I need to sharpen the 3/8" & 5/8" chisels. I didn't feel like doing that now so I'll pick it back up in the AM.

accidental woodworker 

One of Mrs. Barn’s favorite things is the annual visit from “Eddie the Spoon Guy” at the craft market during our local celebration of all things pertaining to maple syrup.  She stocks up on a multitude of wooden spoons, spatulas and similar items to use and to give as gifts throughout the year.  This year Eddie had some teensy spoons that she thought would be perfect as gifts for each of the grandsons.

Once she had them home she asked, “Wouldn’t it be nice to have their names carved into the handles?”  What could I say, other than, “Of course.”

 

Givin the diminutive size of the workpieces my first task was to find a good work holding system, something that would hold these itty bitty pieces solidly yet allow me to have access to the surfaces to be worked.  Fortunately, I have a jeweler’s bench top rotating vise with movable jaws, allowing a close fit for the round a tapered handles.  To maximize the grip and eliminate the risk of damage I used abrasive pads to cushion the jaws.  That solution worked perfectly, padding the wood yet gabbing the spoons hard and steady.

Then the question was, “What do I use for the incising?”  Using a chip carving knife was not within my ken as the pieces were like carving names on a round pencil.  In other words, beyond my confident skill set.  I thought about using one of my engraving burins or a tiny chasing tool, but practice with them was not encouraging.  Looking through my box of carving tools I came across a 1mm veiner from a project I cannot even remember now.  That was just the ticket.

The end result was great.  I won’t show that as I strive to protect my loved ones from the netbots.

 Found some sinus medicine that almost cleared my snot locker. 95% better than what it was without it. Got a good night's sleep and only got up twice for the toilet trots. I still had to empty it through out the day but less frequently and with a lot less snot. 

it is full

The house shit can holds two boxes of snot rags. This is after 2 1/2 days.

happy face

Both of the leg blanks are laying flat and straight on each other. Happy that I don't have to deal with any stupid wood tricks.

reference edge

The plan was too establish one face and one long edge as references. Then I would run them through the lunch box planer to thickness. It wasn't necessary at this point but I like planing cherry.

hmm......

Used my catch all bench chisel to remove all the nicked blade ridges on the faces of the two boards.

last one

Made the long edge square to the face I planed a couple of days ago.

moving along

Got the leg blanks planed to thickness - not quite 1 7/8" thick. Next batter was sawing the legs out of them.

hmm......

The tablesaw was struggling to rip out the legs. I did get one done with the blade high enough to rip it out. All the subsequent legs I ripped out half way from one face, flipped the boards 180, and ripped the leg off. I had to go slow because the saw bogged if I pushed too fast.

drawer guides

These are all that are left over. I think I can get all four side drawer guides from them.

two extras

I ripped out two legs first, one each from each outside edge. I ripped another leg from the middle portion left. The four faces aren't straight grained but swirling with some cathedrals. I got 3 legs out of each blank.

the four desk legs

This leg on the left only has straight grain running vertically on three faces. This one has some cathedrals and I'll put this at the back. The other three legs all have straight grain running vertically. 

time to relax

When I sawed out the legs only one of them curled a bit. It didn't pinch the blade and the legs are over length by about 6-8". I can saw off the bit of bow. I'll let these hang out on the table for a few days to make sure they don't do any stupid wood tricks. After that I will run them through the lunch box planer to square them up. I think I can get them at a minimum of 1 3/4" square.

rail stock

Next up on the A list was sizing the rails to width and length. The top rails will be 5 1/2" wide and 31" long.

finally

See the rough spot left here? It was originally almost 12" long and it was a valley. It took me 10 minutes to plane this edge straight and flat. It also made the width of the board a few frog hairs less than 5 1/2". Didn't know that yet.

side rail

Rather then work around the knot holes and pockets, I am leaving them and I'm going to fill them with black dyed epoxy.

hmm......

I used putty to fill in a couple of defects in the splines. With shellac they will pop out and I don't like that. So I asked daughter #2 to ask Miles what color he wanted me to paint his frame. I'll find out tonight what the color will be. Amanda said it will probably be red.

side rails

The defects are more prominent on one one side than the opposite one. At least both will have something visual to look at.

helping hand

I'm trying to avoid the me-steak I made with Miles desk twice or was it three times? Anyways I laid the rails out as they will be and marked the edge with chalk that will get the mortises for the slats.

2nd bite

I had to remove the screws on the front to rip it to the new width. When I put the screw back in, it cracked the block again. Glued and clamped again and set it aside to cook. Sigh. If the screw cracks it again I'll have to replace it somehow.

I like

Used the Dowel Max to check drilling holes in one of the side rails. I love the spacing of the holes, it almost perfect on the two outside ones.

hmm.......

Filled in the defects with black dyed epoxy. It is going to need a 2nd round because a couple of them are sinking. Some of them were a surprise because they didn't look deep enough to suck in that much epoxy.  I'll do round 2 in the AM.

the legs

I was a roll so I planed a reference face on two edges. That is all I need to run through them through the lunchbox planer.  I might be getting ahead of myself but I was feeling good about the legs behaving.

not working

I need a 1/4" drill collar to set the depth for the doweling jig but none of these fit the 1/4" drill.

this explains a lot

I had bought these a bazillion years ago and I remember having the same problem - they didn't fit the drill bit. It didn't occur to me then that they weren't imperial. I checked three of the collars with my metric drill bits and they fit. Big sigh. I'll check Amazon and get some imperial ones on order.

Had a good day. Got in a full AM & PM session and I made a serious dent in Leo's desk. Fingers crossed that tomorrow will be as productive too. 

accidental woodworker 

 Spent another fitful night trying to sleep. Besides getting up for two toilet trot races, I got 7 times total to blow my nose. There was absolutely no position where I could sleep for more than an hour or so. I hope this blows over quickly because it sucks pond scum feeling like this.

I was hopeful

Took the clamps off and nothing moved or groaned. All the miters were still tight and passed the wiggle test. Felt good about the frame here.

last test piece

Trying to set this jig makes feel as smart as a box of pointy rocks. I thought I had it set correctly - I had measured from the plywood to saw blade - but it took me 7 attempts before I got it.

miters still suck

Two of the miters let go while putting the splines in them. I think the other two stayed together only because I already had splines in them. I had to use bar clamps to close up all the miters.

cleaning up the  back frame parts

Working in the shop today was difficult. I had the desire to be there but with the snot locker jammed full it was a chore working. I spent the AM session working in spurts which kind of worked in my favor. The frame shook hands with me several times before I killed the lights for the day.

2nd one

I had to replace the first spline because it was too thin. There were gaps on both sides of it. Without glue I was able to push the splines and seat them fully by hand. With glue, two of them locked solid before being fully seated. So I made the last two splines looser by sanding them. One filled/swelled the groove with glue but this one didn't.

sigh

Screwed up on the length of these, again. I've done this twice before but I thought I was done having that brain fart. It ain't so boys and girls.

new set

An hour later I made a new set for the back frame. I made the length a 1/4" over to allow for planing the miters and fitting.

almost done

Nailed and glued the back frame, set the nails, and filled them with putty. Thinking of using shellac on this frame. But if I change my mind, I'll paint it black.

hmm.......

I am leaving the frame as is. No chamfers on the inside and outside edges. I'll get this to Maria on tuesday so I can get it done as quick as possible and get a pic of it to Miles.

Hoping to feel better so I can get started on Leo's desk. I want to get it done ASAP. Been thinking of renting a U haul  to bring the things I made for Amanda to her. Waiting in the boneyard are Leo's dresser, Miles' desk, the small cherry table, and the bookcase.  Leo's desk will be joining it in a couple of weeks. My wife can only bring one at time when she visits. Depends on the cost which is probably cheaper than having it shipped.

accidental woodworker

Check out my latest Substack post!

New steel string acoustic guitars in progress, will be available for sale by the beginning of summer!

Stayed tuned for updates!

Starting feeling like crap yesterday afternoon. I couldn't sleep last night for more then an hour. My snot locker was stuffed full and I couldn't breathe with the CPAP machine lying down on my side. I spent a fitful night sleeping propped up against the headboard. Didn't feel much better in the AM.

broken dog

I lost the doo hickey at the top of the dog. Found this on the deck when I came to the shop in the AM. I would have just made a new one but as usual I couldn't find something. The something I was searching for was the bullet catch on the side of this dog. So instead of a replacement dog, I glued a new doo hickey on at the top.

checking the leg stock

Both boards behaved themselves over night. They looked to be still flat and straight. Neither one grew a hump back too. Cleaned one short edge on both boards. I'll make them 90 before I run them through the lunch box planer.

happy face on

Both boards passed the flat test with flying colors.

both for $6 and change

I couldn't resist the miniature bin. I like that it is clear so I can see what I have in it. The 5gal bucket was a lot cheaper than I expected. Lowes even had pink buckets for the ladies.

pic frame coming

I sent a pic of the frame I made for Leo's drawing and he remembered doing it. I didn't want Miles's to feel left out so I'm making a frame for a pic he sent me before my CT biopsy. 

done

After I got back from Lowes I finished the fitting the doo hickey on the dog. The dog is maple and the doo hickey is too. It keeps the dog from falling through the dog hole in the bench.

flushed the top

I still have the original metal dogs from when I built this desk. I switched to wooden dogs the last time I nicked a iron on them. I haven't noticed any difference in gripping power between the metal and wooden dogs.

shooting the miters

I'm making Miles's frame the same size as Leo's but Miles's is 3/4" thick. I didn't have any 1/2" thick stock but I don't like making the exact same thing for the grandsons. 

sigh

Gave up on this again. The slip nuts were nice with adjusting but I couldn't get all four miters closed and gap free.

hmm.....

And this slip nut wouldn't tighten, as it got close it slipped. Go figure on that. I switched it with another one and the same thing. I didn't feel like playing with it to find what went south. I won't be playing with this clamping method for the foreseeable future.

nope

I was able to get 2 then of the 3 miters to close up tight. I fiddled and faddled with it and then gave up. I went back to the miter shooting board and touched up the miters again. That didn't improve it and one miter was still open a frog hair.

sigh

I was expecting this to be the winner. I even tried sweetening the miter heels with a block plane. It worked for one but with the 2nd one I started chasing my tail around the frame.

this surprised me

This is the first time I can remember all four miters closing up tight with these miter clamp doo hickeys. I took it apart and repeated it with the same results. Decided to glue it up with these. If this hadn't worked I was going to try my metal band clamp.

success

With glue applied, one miter wouldn't close up tight. I tried but with glue applied I didn't have a lot of time to play with. I put bar clamps on and that worked closing up the miter tight. I put two more clamps the opposite way to equalize the force. I'll let this cook until the AM.

Clamping this up wiped me out. I didn't feel winded or tired, just spent. Like I had nothing left to give. I think I'm coming down with a spring cold because my snot locker fills up quicker than I can empty it.

Didn't go back to the shop for a PM session. Instead I sat at my desk and watched Unforgettable on Amazon prime.

accidental woodworker

The body of the mandolin is now together, so what’s next? In this video, I look at routing the rebate for the purflings and bindings. The purflings take quite a while to fit as there are tricky mitres to cut and the bindings (made from walnut) need to be bent on the bending iron to fit exactly. All good fun! Oh, and a bit about the fretboard too!

Cheers Gary