General Woodworking

Learn how to install a Wooden Screw, Heavy Duty Workbench Vise on your Woodworking Workbench Summary: What is the best way to install a heavy duty workbench vise? A traditional wooden vise can be installed by carefully laying out and chopping a shallow mortise for the

 The bowling alley project is dead in the water. I thought I had some maple left over from a step ladder I made but I didn't. I had one 5/4 board that was too thin and not long enough. So I pivoted and started on the bookcase for grandson #2. I do have a couple of projects in the queue from daughter #2 but I'm waiting on her to send them my way.

Kreg pocket hole jig box

This is done. I got the last coat of shellac on it (4th) and it has a check mark in the done column. I will leave the lid propped up for a couple of days to let the shellac set and harden.

3 flat boards to start with

The first two I dug out were cupped and not suitable for the sides, top, and bottom. I will try to use one of them for the base. Unfortunately I don't have any clear boards left. All of them are peppered with small brown knots.

prepping

Planing my reference edges and faces first. From them I'll saw them to width and length.

need a dutchman

This is going to be a painted project but paint will not stick to a pitch pocket. I thought it was shallow but I was wrong. BTW this doesn't extend out to the opposite face.

done

I used a 3/8" thick dutchman and it sucked up a 1/4". I didn't knife it carefully enough because I have a gap on the inboard edge I'll have to deal with. This will be at the back of the bookcase too.

the top

1x12 pine is only 11 1/4" wide and I need a board that is 11 3/4". I don't like gluing skinny width boards to wider ones. I glued on a 3" board and I'll saw it to the final width by taking it off the wider board.

filling the gap

I packed the gap with super glue and pine sawdust. I will check it in the AM and give it a second helping if needed.

brown knot work

Brown knots can and will shrink and possibly fall out. I soaked all the knots with super glue and then used the putty knife to push it down into and around all the knots (on both sides). I thought of covering them with dutchmen but nixed it. The superglue and paint should hid them all.

almost

The bottom of the bookcase is dovetailed and the top of the sides are in a housed dado in the top. I am use to four corner dovetails I laid out tails on both ends of this side. I caught it when I checked that the layout triangles on the sides and the bottom agreed.

barely

I had to move the Moxon to the left because the workbench foot was in the way. If this hadn't worked I would have piled some boards on the bench and clamped the Moxon down on them. I have a couple of stools in the shop that I could have stood on to saw the tails and pins.

hmm.......

Not going together off the saw. I made the pins a wee bit too fat. Did the same for the left side too.

rasped them 3 times

I didn't have much to trim and I prefer to use a rasp for taking off a few thin frog hairs. I find the pins keep their angles and squareness better than I can do with a chisel. It took 3 dance steps of rasp and check before the sides mated with the bottom.

spacer

Got the sides seated and squared off the bottom. I sawed this piece of 1/2" plywood to the distance between the two inside faces. I will clamp this to the inside at the top when I knife the sides to the top housing dado.

shelf layout

I am trying to make this a clone of the first bookcase which I think is Miles's. I'm not shooting for an exact match but a visual one. When I made Miles's bookcase I had made a me-steak when I chopped the housing dadoes. Chopped on the wrong side of the knife line changing the spacing. I'm keeping the mistake spacing for Leo's bookcase.

double triple checking

Making sure that the dadoes line up and they do. I have made some bone headed me-steaks laying these out in the past. No such hiccups today but I still have to chop the dadoes starting in the AM.

wow

I had come back to the shop a little after 1200 not intending to stay long. I had looked at the clock and was surprised by how late it was. I got into the flow of things and time just slipped by me. No hiccups with the chemo cocktail I had yesterday. I felt good today and I wasn't coughing much neither. I hope tomorrow will be a good shop day too.

accidental woodworker 

I had my 3rd chemo cocktail today with my final one scheduled for the 22nd. So far I still haven't experienced any of the scary side effects. Fingers crossed that holds true for the last two. One thing I'm looking forward to is today and tomorrow is the chemo has knocked down my coughing (and fits) significantly on the previous two infusions. So far today I've coughed but have yet to have a 5 minute fit of it.

I left before 0800 to have blood work before my appointment. I didn't get back to the barn until a little after 1200. It made for a long day and the delay was with the blood work. The doc didn't get the results until after 1000. I guess I'm lucky with only one more to go. The other patient in my room was going into his 8th month of chemo. Needless to say I didn't get a lot of time in the shop.

nope

I had intended to return to the shop after dinner last night but didn't make it. I was bone weary tired and kept my butt cheeks molded to my desk chair. There isn't anyone holding a gun to my head to get this done.

first glamour pic

This done for all intents and purposes. The top needs one more coat of shellac but you don't know that just from looking at this pic. Got the cup pull install with no hiccups.

cup pull

This oil rubbed bronze is running neck and neck with polished brass. IMO I thought brass wouldn't look good against all the white of this poplar. I got the cup pull from Lee Valley and no screws come with the pull. I used black oxide, oval head #6 screws I got from Blacksmith Bolt and Rivet Supply. The color match between the two of the is perfect.

side glamour pic

My wife likes this because the wood is white but mostly because there isn't any pronounced grain on the legs and slats. The shelves not only have grain they have green streaks in them (which I like). I had to put something in this that I liked too. This is going to North Carolina to live in daughter #2's house.

half lapped shouldered dovetail

I like how this looks. There is just enough color difference to highlight it a wee bit. Even the plug fits and doesn't stand out (at the bottom left corner of the drawer).

If I make another one of these it will have adjustable shelves. That is the only thing I would change. This fixed shelf looks ok but I like the ability to change the shelf spacing based on what you want to put on it. The reverse of that happens with this arrangement.

hmm........

This is the large half pin after sawing off some of the height. I don't like skinny half pins because I don't think that they are strong enough but this size is over kill. It is almost the size of the tail.

got around to it

I leave this chisel on the workbench and use it for the odd things that I don't want to use my #1 set of chisels. Its only draw back is this chisel will not hold an edge for long and the bevel edge chips just looking at it. But right off the stones it works flawlessly.

hmm......

The hinge holes don't line up. I had left the hinges on when I applied the shellac and that wasn't the correct thing to do. I couldn't get the holes/hinges aligned in any orientation of the lid. The big me-steak was the right hinge went south on the express.

ouch

The right hinge warped, bent, cupped, and bowed all at once. I guess I abused it too much clamping it in the vise to drill the pilot holes. I shitcanned the both of them and I'll be using two new ones.

next project?

I've had these bowling pins for 6-7 years. I had started to make it once and abandoned it. Thinking of making it for the grandsons. Not sure if they will use it though. Miles is into anything trains and Leo is a baseball nut. But this will take a couple of shop days to do and give me a chance to think of what next to make.

makes me sad to look at

I really like the look of these marking gauges. It has been years since I used any of them. I had stopped using them because the head/fence couldn't be secured. I went nutso using them before I realized the head was slipping and moving as I marked with them. I tried all three again hoping the summer had swelled them but no joy there. 

All three slipped and moved just like the three bears. The baby one moved too easily. The mama bear one moved with a little pressure. Papa bear almost worked but I couldn't mark a line all around the end of a board. You can't use a marking gauge that won't hold its head when set.

nope

I had put a U bent piece of metal under the screw to help it bite down on the arm and stay stationary way back when. It didn't work then when I first tried it and today it didn't disappoint me again. I cranked down on the screw and marked the end of a board. No dice, as the line didn't line up on two faces. Did it again and I could see the fence moving slightly as I marked around the board. BTW this was the mama bear marking gauge. Still pretty looking but useless as marking gauges IMO.

accidental woodworker

cooked

I resisted the urge to come back and play with this after filling the supper pie hole. When I sawed off some excess the half pin it left was a wide half pin. Due to that I wanted the box to cook overnight in the clamps to strengthen those corners.

sigh

Made another boo boo, brain fart me-steak. Sawed the groove wrong again. Didn't I just do this a couple of days ago? I'm not going to fill this.

sigh, again, and again

I made this boo boo when setting the fence on the tablesaw. I'll fill this one in because it is on the outside face. At least I caught it before I got to the other end.

the lid

Got lucky that I found two scraps of New Zealand pine to make the lid. It isn't my preferred way as I like one board lids but this is a shop box. A two board lid will keep out the dust just as good as a single board lid.

two options

The bottom is overkill and too large for this lid. The top one is doable.

nope

This hinge isn't swaged (not a deal killer) but this does kill it. There is no countersink for the screws. The screws when tightened down would be proud of the hinge leaves. That means the hinge will not fully close even with a generous mortise for the hinge.

right one is the winner

I wanted to use the left one but the screws in the box and the lid would have been too close to the edges. BTW these are both 90° stop hinges which makes them borderline acceptable.

needed some work

The hinge is sized for a #3 screw but all my #3 screws are flat heads and this needs a round head. Drilled it out for a #4 RH.

pilot holes

Used a numbered drill for the pilot hole. My smallest fractional bit was too small. This is about all I use this eggbeater for. It excels at it and the only annoyance is the chuck needs help to open and close.

box prep

Planed the four sides leveling and flushing the pins/tails. Filled in a couple of gaps and once it has set I'll sand it.

hmm......

I had to reset this hinge. The barrel was below the top of the box. The hinge on the opposite side has its barrel sitting less then a frog hair above the top. As is the lid would have protested when opened/closed.

it works

Used a scrap to check the swing the of the hinges. I used tape and the truncated lid swung freely. Both hinge barrels are inline now.

3 hours later

Sizing the lid. I barely had enough overhang R/L but squeaked by. I ended up with the R/L with a couple of frog hairs overhanging with the front of the lid being flush with the front face.

done

Whacked out a quick finger grabbie thing. I had thought of putting a catch but nixed it. No need for it IMO. This is ok for giving a place to open the lid with thumb or finger.

last step

Used the sanding sticks to smooth the end grain ends. Next batter was slapping some shellac on it.

3 coats

I steel wooled between each coat. I'll do that for each coat I put on from here. I also ran my fingers across the top to make sure it was still flat and smooth. 2 more coats and this should be getting a check mark in the done column.

accidental woodworker 

finish done

I can't see a color difference between the blonde shellac and the super blonde underneath it. I'm happy with the build and the shine. I'll check it in the AM for drips, runs, and holidays.

shelf bottoms

I put two coats of the blonde shellac on the bottom. The build was iffy after one and the shine wasn't there. With two coats the build and shine is now good enough for the bottoms.

Kreg jig box

Can't do anything else on the honey can you so I'll be whacking out the box for the pocket hole jig.

hmm......

I must have dropped this because one corner was dinged and below its mate (more than the half pin). I sawed off 1/8" to remove it and square this end again. I had plenty of room because I had about 3/8" of wiggle room to play with.

it was lunchtime

The tails were done and I got the pins sawn. In the PM session I chopped them and fitted the box together. I have been thinking lately about sawing out the waste on the tails and pins with a coping saw. I am seeing this step on You Tube more and more. 

oops

 The box is too big. I am ok on the length and depth but the height is way OTL (out to lunch). I thought I had sawn the box to width already. I thought wrong boys and girls.

hmm......

There is over 2" of dead space which is too much. About 1/2" of the dead space will be eaten by the bottom but it still leaves too much.

better

I dry fitted the box and flushed the bottom with the #4. Then I sawed off about an inch leaving a little less then an inch of dead space. This is acceptable and I'm going with the height as is.

divider

The router is small but it works but it has its annoying quirks. Both the height adjuster and the lock loosen with use. The divider separates the screws from the pocket hole jig doo dads.

everything fits

I was going to saw the top off but I changed lanes on that. Instead I will hinge an applied top. I glued the box and divider and set it aside to cook until the AM.

yikes

Before I killed the lights I ran my fingers over the top and I thought I was dragging them across a washboard. I tried initially using 120 grit  to smooth things but that did diddly squat. It gummed up from the shellac and I had to drop down to 80 grit before the top felt smooth. I sanded it back up to 180. I'll get shellac on it starting in the AM.

accidental woodworker 

Slow shop day. Nothing exciting happening and I spent most of the day molding my butt cheeks to my desk chair watching You Tube. The honey can you is essentially done. I need to slap a few coats of shellac on the carcass, install the top, the shelves, and the cup pull for the drawer. I had ordered that from Lee Valley and it is coming sometime on Monday. I'll put off the glamour pics until then.

came at lunch time

It looks like any other blonde shellac I have bought. Smells the same and the flakes don't look any different. I was kind of expecting something from the bottom of the barrel full of bug parts and tree debris. And it weighed a little more than 1.1 pounds. Mixed up a batch to have it ready to go for tomorrow.

hmm........

This shellac whizzed up into the finest powder I have seen. The batch from two days ago was powdery but it was coarser then this batch. Based on the finest of it I expected it to dissolve immediately. 

dissolved rapidly

I mixed up a 2 pound cut - 6ozs of flakes and 3 cups of alcohol plus a wee bit more to fill it to the top. Initially the flakes dissolved easily with a little bit of clumping. The clumping went away with extra stirring and clumped a wee bit more when I stopped and checked it again 15 minutes later. 

The batch I mixed two days ago dissolved immediately and stayed that way. An hour after first mixing it there were no more clumps and it looked ready to slap on the project.

no difference

This batch wasn't as thin as the two day old batch (which was 99.9% gone). After waiting 2 hours I put a coat on the shelves, top, and drawer front. I couldn't feel or see any difference in its application then I did with the previous batch. It dried to the touch within five minutes and I think I'm calling it done. I think this coat is the 4th one and that is adequate for the undersides.

almost done

The slats have 6(?) coats on them I think. Three spray coats and 3-4 brushed coats. I used up the previous batch getting the last of it on the carcass. I like the build and shine so far but I am going to slap on at least one more coat of the 2lb cut shellac. (that depends on how it looks on the undersides) I am going to wait until the AM to do that. It will give the previous shellac time to set up.

accidental woodworker 

first one

Last night after dinner I went back to the shop and put on the first coat of shellac on the shelves, the top, and the drawer. Doing the tops of them first followed by the bottoms. I hate this part of a project. I don't enjoy applying finish and certainly not the wait time between applications. Not to mention I can't do much of anything else while I do these dance steps.

got 3rd coat on

This one pound coat isn't building and it is going to take more than 3-4 coats before it shines like I like it.

hmm......

I hadn't forgot this box for the Kreg pocket hole jig. I got the layout for the tails done but I don't have any room to get the Moxon vise on the workbench.

in the workshop

The humidity is/was high today. I didn't want to bring it up to the driveway and chance having the shellac blush on me. 

first coat

The vertical slats look darker than the legs and rails. It was a little awkward applying the shellac to the interior - there wasn't a lot of room to spray.

PM session

Got 5 coats on the shelves, the top, and the drawer front. I got four coats on the interior of the drawer and I'll put four on the bottom of the drawer.

hmm........

Got two spray coats and I rubbed them down with 4-0 steel wool. Applied the 3rd coat and I didn't have a warm and fuzzy with how much spray shellac I had left.

its dead Jim

The can went dry spraying the on the 4th coat. I only got one side of one of the vertical slats before it gave up.

hmm........

Used about 2/3 of the batch I mixed up yesterday. I hadn't expected to use so much of it just on the shelves and the top. I still have the bottoms of them get shellac on. I got a pound on order but it won't be here until next week. FYI - the cost of 1 pound of dewaxed  super blonde, with S/H, was $87. That is about $20 or so more than my last order. 

I had bought it from shellac dot net and the price of the same shellac on 4 other sites were all within a few dollars of the shellac dot net price. I then checked on Amazon and dewaxed  super blonde was the same price. However I found blonde shellac, 1.1 lbs, for $30. I don't know if it is dewaxed or not but I'll have it tomorrow. Fingers crossed that I will have enough of the current batch to finish this project.

accidental woodworker

I started blogging here 16 years ago today. Now I have decided to bring the Literary Workshop blog to a close. This is the 400th post on the blog, and I expect it to be the last one.

When I started the Literary Workshop Blog back in August 2010, I was just a couple years out of graduate school and had only a couple kids. A whole lot has changed since then.

When I started the blog, I didn’t set out to build an audience or promote a business or anything like that. Here’s how it happened: I used to post regularly on a woodworking forum called WoodNet, but the posts on that forum lasted only a year before being deleted. As an avid hand-tool woodworker, I enjoyed showing off my projects and trading woodworking advice with other traditional woodworkers. So I started this blog as an archive of the longer posts and projects I had put on that forum. Eventually the blog took on a life of its own. Internet forums declined in popularity, and I continued to learn about hand tools, make furniture, and discover traditional woodworking techniques. I’m a compulsive writer, so describing these things came easily to me. Part of the fun of starting a new project has often been planning the blog post(s) and photos that would feature it.

So what has changed in the last 16 years?

First, today’s media ecosystem is different. When I began the Literary Workshop Blog, most of the high-quality information on hand tools was still on forums and blogs, as well as in a few select magazines and books. If you wanted to work wood with hand tools, the information wasn’t going to find you. You had to read up on it. Now in 2026, the online space is flooded with short-form how-to videos, and once social media algorithms figure out that you’re interested in hand-tool woodworking, it will keep delivering that content to you automatically. The sheer amount of video content available is overwhelming. And a surprising amount really is fairly high in quality. That means there’s less demand for written content than their used to be. But I’m a writer, and I’m just not interested in creating video content. And even if you’re more of a reader than a video watcher (like I am), you can get very high quality content on hand tool woodworking from several good sources, like Lost Art Press and Mortise & Tenon Magazine.

I also maintain this blog at the pleasure of the WordPress platform, which I don’t control. Tomorrow the owners could decide to delete everything I’ve written over the past 16 years. If I were going to keep writing seriously about woodworking, I would want to publish it in a more stable, permanent form: a book. But I’ve written books, and I know what kind of time and expertise such a project takes. There are much better woodworkers than I am writing books right now, and I’m very grateful for them. I have neither the time nor the desire to compete with them for a publisher’s attention.

I’m also concerned about the rise of AI large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, which have taken advantage of all the free information on the internet and are able to synthesize it for users, often without regard to the credibility of the content, let alone the identity of the people (like me) who labored to produce that content. I am not interested in providing even more free content to feed those AI beasts.

But more importantly, my free time has become more limited of late. Writing about a project takes a significant amount of time, and the more time I devote to the writing, the less time I have for the woodworking itself. That’s one reason why I’ve gone from posting a couple times a month (at my peak) to posting just a few times a year.

If you’ve never tried to write up a project for a magazine article or a blog post (or done a video shoot of it), it’s hard to imagine how much extra time it takes to do the content creation on top of the actual woodworking. I estimate that writing a high-quality series of blog posts about a project can add a good 50% to the total time the project takes. If the project is really involved, doing the content creation can easily double the time. So if it was a 12-hour project, but I want to document each step and write up a series build-along posts, it’s now an 18-hour project, at least.

These days, I don’t have a lot of time for woodworking itself. Most of my kids are teenagers, and I’m always running them to practice or rehearsal, or attending a game or a show they’re in. And my oldest now has kids of her own, so my wife and I are having fun doing the grandparent thing. I’m also in a leadership position in my local church, which is an honor but also a big time-commitment. And my current job doesn’t allow me to step away from work during school breaks like my previous job did. All in all, it’s a good phase of life! But I have fewer stretches of uninterrupted time in which I can get a project done. Woodworking is still important to me, so if I’m going to spend any time woodworking at all, I can’t also be committed to writing about it.

Besides, I feel like I’ve said pretty much everything I wanted to say about woodworking and related topics over the years. The really important things I’ve learned and shared here can be summed up pretty easily:

• Make things you need. You get started by figuring out what you need, learning some skills, and trying to make it work with the tools and materials you have most readily available.
• Read widely. You can learn things about your craft from the most unlikely of authors.
• Sharpen your tools. Sharp fixes everything.
• Simplicity is a virtue. You can do so much with a small kit of essential tools.
• Use what you have. Most jobs don’t require new tools. You may already have something that will get the job done.
• Keep your eye out for good material. There is a lot of good stuff out there if you know what you’re looking for.
• Be picky about what you keep. There’s a lot of junk that’s not worth taking home or holding on to.
• Quality matters. Spend the money to get the good tool, and spend the time to make the joint fit just right.
• Specialize. There are so many sub-fields in woodworking, and nobody can learn them all. Pick just a few and get really good at them. Skills in one sub-field will transfer over to another.
• Build relationships, not just projects. It’s good to bring people into your process and to share what you have with others.
• Selling your work will change everything about your craft. You may or may not like the changes.
• Learn by imitation and experimentation. Find excellent models to imitate.

I do want to say thank-you to you, my readers, especially those of you who have taken the time to post encouraging comments on posts, or to ask follow-up questions. The writing comes easier when I know there will be at least a few people reading. And if you find yourself wanting to read more of my writing, you can always go back to the very beginning of this blog and start reading from there! A lot of the pictures are now gone from my earlier posts, but many of the really important photos remain.

If you run across a post you like, but you find broken links and/or missing photos, please post a comment letting me know. If I have time (and if the photos still exist), I’ll try to update the post with the missing material. And if you want to interact with me about woodworking, I am willing to reply to new comments on old posts, at least for the time being.

Eventually, though, I will close down users’ ability to comment on posts and turn this blog into a true time-capsule. I have no idea how long it will remain accessible to other people. I suppose it could still be floating in a digital archive a century from now. Maybe in a couple hundred years some historian or anthropologist will stumble upon one of my posts and discover something really interesting about the Hand-Tool Woodworking Revival of the early twenty-first century. Or maybe some distant descendant of mine will get interested in genealogy and discover more about his or her ancestors than anybody really needed to know. Or maybe a freak solar flare will obliterate this whole blog before the end of the year. There’s no telling how long anybody’s writing is really going to last.

Even though I won’t be writing new blog posts anymore, I’m not really going away. I’ll still be right here, doing the things that I’ve always written about: reading books, building furniture with hand tools, making spoons and spatulas, and spending quality time with my wife and kids.

Farewell!

Stephen J. Schuler

Springfield, Ohio

hmm.......

This back doo dad thing needs to be secured now. There isn't any way for me to clamp it after the top is secured. And speaking of the top, it is going to be tricky to do. I will have to place the carcass on the top upside down so I can screw the table top clips. The doo dad thing is going to be a PITA then.

centered

I got the top, the doo dad thing, and the carcass aligned on the center. The overhangs are less then a 16th off. I thought I would have trouble getting an even overhang because the the top was out of square. It looks good to the eye and no one is going to measure it.

 

hmm......

I have cleaned up glue squeeze out a bazillion different ways. A toothbrush, hands down, has been the easiest and cleanest way to remove it. I've had toothbrushes in the shop for years and never used them. I saw a japanese You Tube woodworker using a toothbrush to clean up squeeze out. I won't be using a rag and a putty knife to clean it anymore.

cooked for 3 hours

Probably wouldn't have mattered but I planed the doo dad thing flush with the back edge of the top. 

overkill

I used 5/8" pin nails to temporarily hold the top while I screwed it. Two of the pin nails were proud and I hammered them flush. I'm not going to bother with setting and filling them. Who (besides me) looks at the inside front of a drawer?

hmm.......

Missed filling in two. I filled in the back and the opposite side yesterday and missed these two.

snug fit

I sawed a piece of the same wood as the drawer box. Used a chisel to shape it to fit the hole. When the drawer is opened now you won't see any holes.

another oops

The end grain on the ends was coarse and rough to the touch. This would look like crappola with shellac on it. Sanded the ends from 80 to 180. My 220 sanding sticks need fresh sandpaper.

slight gap at the bottom

The gap was a lot bigger. I had loosed the screws on the inside at this end and clamped the drawer front to the drawer box. Tightened the screws again but I didn't get it all. I did manage to get the opposite flat and tight. There is a slight cup to the drawer front that wasn't there yesterday.

branded

I like to apply the brand to a fixed, non removable part of anything I make. The top is removable as is the drawer and shelves.

for tomorrow

I had a little over 3 ounces of flakes so I mixed up a 1 lb cut. I'll have to put on a lot of coats to build it up. I have pound on order.

hmm.......

The end grain chamfer is a little rough. I was expecting this to be smooth coming off the router. I felt it when I playing around with the doo dad thing.

done

I didn't need to go through all the grits. 150 and 180 made it baby butt smooth. I did the three shelves also. Now I think I'm done with the woodworking.

canned shellac

The left can is almost empty but the right is full. I intend to use the spray shellac on the vertical slats. If it is sunny in the AM I will try to get 4-5 coats on them before the lunch bell rings.

accidental woodworker

Sandusky Tool Co. was in business from 1869 to the mid- or late-1920's.  I used to think it was named for a person, but it was named for the city in which it was located, Sandusky, OH (about 50 miles west of Cleveland).  This rabbet plane started life as a 3/4" wide plane.  It was a little shy of that when I got it, but it's thinner now after I had to plane one side a bit to get it back in shape.

Sandusky 3/4" Rabbet

The logo on the toe.  Looks like it also has a "146".

On the heel: I think this originally read "3/4"

Thanks to the Internet Archive, I could find a 1925 Sandusky catalog, and there was a #146 skew rabbet plane shown.  The 3/4" size sold for a whopping $1.40, though that was probably a lot in 1925 dollars.

The plane needed some truing up.  The sole was not flat - it was a bit high just behind the mouth.  And the right side was twisted such that behind the mouth, the plane body stuck out about 2 mm more than it did ahead of the mouth.

High spot on the sole behind the mouth

You can see by eye how much higher the body was by my finger than it was ahead of the mouth.

I planed the sole and right side flat and square to each other.  I did these things with the iron installed, but safely out of the way of my bench plane iron.  With the iron and wedge installed and tightened, a check of flatness on the sole gave a different result than when the iron was out of the plane.  I didn't bother truing up the left side of the plane.  That doesn't make any difference in how I'll ever use it.

Sole and right side square to each other

For the iron, I ground a new bevel and ground a little of the right side so it would sit in the plane right.  When set up as I've read it should be, the right side of the iron should sit proud of the plane body by a few thousandths of an inch.  I went though a few iterations of grinding and fitting in the plane until I was happy with how it looked.

I also noticed during these fitting steps that the iron's bed (back wall of the mortise) had a step that didn't allow the tang to move right of center.  So I fixed that with a chisel.  Fortunately that didn't affect the fit of the wedge, though I might still mess with that a bit.

After sharpening and honing the iron, I made test cuts in pine and oak.  Both came out good, though it's always a challenge to get an unfenced rabbet plane started.  I prefer to cut the rabbet a little shy of the width line, then clean up with sideways cuts to the line.

Cutting a 1/2" x 1/2" rabbet in pine

Cleaning up the side wall, pulling the plane back toward the camera

I think this will be a nice plane.  It's practically perfectly quartersawn and the grain patterns on the sides are beautiful.

Update: I've used the plane a few times now and it's a real winner!  It outperforms a homemade 3/4" straight-across-iron rabbet plane that I made long ago.  The skewed iron really makes a nice difference.

Bill Anderson shows how to Identify Antique Molding Planes to Discover Rarity and Historical Significance Affiliate Disclosure: When you purchase through certain links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission, at no cost to you. Learn more.

last one

What a PITA installing the back screws on the bearers. I hope that the next time I make one I'll remember this hiccup.

hmm......

Replacement shelf fitted. No more gaps at the front/rear between the legs.

another sneak peek

I sawed another shelf and the top first thing this AM.  This is the new shelf fitted along with the top dry fitted. I didn't feel like screwing the other bearers on to see what all the shelves looked like. This was good enough to give me a sense for the overall look.

Lowes run

Laid 1/4" spacing on all four sides and attached the drawer front with pin nails. I was happy with the fit of it and secured it with six 3/4" #6 FH screws.

still catching

With the drawer front applied the drawer is catching again. The bottom edge of the drawer box was catching on the top forward edge of the bottom rail. I rounded it over removing the arris - it helped but it was still catching. I don't know what else I can do to stop it so I'm leaving it as is.

last one

Planed the top and the 3 shelves smooth. The step for the final prep is to sand the end grain edges - 80 grit up to 220.

routed the chamfers

Routed a chamfer on the drawer front first. The top and the three shelves I chamfered just the sides and the front. Left the back squared off.

had to check the look

I like the look of the chamfer. Readily evident at the front and not so much on the sides. At the back from 4 feet away I couldn't tell you if it was chamfered or squared off still.

I was hoping to get this fully prepped today and ready to apply shellac. That didn't happen boys and girls. The shelves and the top are ready for shellac but the carcass needs the arris knocked back on the legs and the slats. But I think the all the woodworking is done. I'll have to screw the table clips and the shelves but that is a minor operation. 

I had to quit early because tomorrow is garbage day and I had to saw up some branches. They won't take anything that is longer then 3 feet. I had to drag two 33 gallon shitcans full of yard waste out to the curb. That was a chore. What should have taken 3 minutes got stretched out to 20. The shortness of breath is getting worse. I had to stop and rest several times bringing them curbside. Maybe I'll sleep good tonight because I'm feeling dead tired as I type this blog post.

accidental woodworker

The view from our booth

I don't have much of a blog this week because I've been busy preparing for Handworks. Handworks is the best hand tool show in the world. The show is held in Amana Colonies, Iowa, next Friday, Sept. 4th, and Saturday, Sept. 5th, 10am - 5pm both days. Admission is free. Here are some pictures from the last one - in 2023. We showed off our prototype folding treadle lathe at the last Handworks, and this year we'll have lathes for sale, along with lots of other stuff. The real attraction for us, however, is getting a chance to meet in person so many people who have supported us over the years. It's wonderful to see the energy behind hand tool woodworking. People have a great time.

So this past week we have been putting things in boxes and putting the boxes on pallets. I'll be representing TFWW at this year's show along with Alyson, whom many of you have spoken with on the phone or in person.

You can get a sense of the influence and excitement Handwork generates with the following story. A customer came in this week mostly to buy Festool, but he also loves hand tools. At the spur of the moment he decided to go to the show and began looking at plane tickets. I'm hoping that many of you reading this post can indeed find attendance worth the airfare, long drive, etc. Friday is usually mobbed; Saturday is a little mellower - but a great time is had by all.

The reason that all the pictures except one are from the Festhalle Barn, where are booth is, is that being a vendor, unfortunately, I never get a chance to see the show and rarely leave the barn. If I grab you by the shoulders and ask you keep an eye on the booth for a little while - it's because we need a break.

Roy Underhill doing the keynote speech. This year it's Chris
Alan Dorsey explaining what's going on with the treadle lathe
Pat Leach's booth of vintage tools which was across the aisle
Awesome display of miniature tools by Paul Hamler
Demo rasps and saws at our booth
The one time I got outside at saw stuff in the tent

 

half laps done

The shelf bearers fit perfectly F/B. These were on the to do list for today. Spoiler alert - got to them in the PM session.

can't see it

Got lucky that the errant groove is the front of the drawer. I hadn't tried to match it for grain/color but I stumbled into it. It took me a while before I could pick it out.

fitting the drawer

It is a snug fit on the height and no go on the R/L. This is ground zero and I'll have to account for the drawer opening being out of square.

drawer planing set up

The clamp on the left (by the coffee cup) keeps the drawer tight to the workbench edge and from lifting up. The 5 1/2 tends to lift up the back end as I planed forward. 

knocking down the top

I got the side to side partially fitted but the top needs to be dropped down a few more frog hairs. There is only a paper width of clearance and I want at a minimum a 32nd.

hmm......

I thought I had the side to side but I was wrong. It is hanging up before the 1/2 way point.

one step forward, one step back

At this point I had already planed the top edge 3 times. There some clearance but the drawer while being pushed in was binding and being uncooperative. However, I like the process of planing, checking, and fitting. One important thing I have learned is to resist the urge to take one more swipe. That is the difference between a smooth in/out and a sloppy, binding, hesitant in/out.

wee bit more than 1/2

The first half is smooth but the back corners of the drawer are up tight on the side rails. There is clearance at the front so I only have to plane in about a 1/3 from the back of the drawer. This is because of the out of square hiccup.

done

Drawer slides in/out easily and smoothly. There is no annoying shifting and binding as the drawer goes in/out.

top needs more love

Although the drawer is moving in/out ok there still is barely more than a paper thickness of clearance. I almost went nutso on this but caught myself and calmed down. I made four passes and I was happy with the gap I had at the front between the drawer top and the top drawer rail.

hmm.......

The arris on the back was catching on the bottom drawer rail as the drawer was pushed it. Planed and sanded the arris off and all was well in Disneyland again.

hmm........

Due to the out square hiccup, the drawer front needs a little more love. I want the applied drawer front to lay flat against the legs and the rails. I will have to plane off a taper that is about a 16th at the widest point.

fixed

I got some tear out planing the taper but not a problem, It will never be seen again once the drawer front is secured to the drawer box.

nope

This was going to be the drawer tilt doo dad but not anymore. Centered on the back means there is a conflict between it and the table top clip slot.

the work around

Going with two tilt doo dads positioned between the table top clips. I am going to screw these to the underside of the top. The front to back length is about 1/4" short which is for expansion. That gap will be placed at the drawer front.

hmm......

Forgot that I had these - hide glue brushes. I had wanted to buy more of them but the French company stopped making them. Found these while working on my bar clamps.

came yesterday

I couldn't find the little tubes of this so I bought these - the cheapest price I saw. I also two more clamps, I have 14 of them not 12. The bars I got from my old work in the attic. These were the hangers for the fluorescent lighting circa 1958. The bars are thick walled and heavy, perfect for clamps. Now I don't have to deal with the clamping heads rotating as I use them. 

ok

Drilled a pilot hole in the bottom of the shelf bearers. Checking to make sure that the screws aren't too long.

finally

Trying to get the screw in the back of the shelf bearer was a miserable job. I tried a bazillion different methods and the vise grips got the Kewpie doll prize. It was still slow going due to the space constraints I had to deal with. Glad that I only have four of these to do.

the goodie parade

The big problem with the back screw, other then the lack of space, was I couldn't get a pilot hole for the screw. I'm securing the bearers with brass #8 round head screws and they suck for trying to screw into wood without a pilot hole. So what I did was to vise grip a #8 sheet metal screw to make the pilot hole for the brass one. Worked fine on the first two but it was slow going.

sneak peek

Got the shelf bearers for the top shelf done. I will remove the bearers and the shelves before I slap on the shellac. It would be a ROYAL PITA to do that with all the shelves/bearers in place.

nope

I wasn't getting a warm and fuzzy with this shelf. The gap on the left was noticeably wider than the right. This part of the carcass is relatively square when I checked it. The top is off 3/16 and this space is a strong 16th off.

better

The vertical slats aren't in line with the inside edge of the legs and that was throwing me off a lot. I got the shelf to be snug at the front between the legs and the same for the back. I had to plane the outside edges at the back a little to get the shelf to fit properly.

happy with the fit and look

I am going to chamfer the edges of the shelf. Thinking of just doing the front and sides and leaving the back squared off. Plenty of time to figure that out. 

Tomorrow I'll finish the shelves and make the top. The drawer front I'm thinking will be 1/2" poplar. Lowes has 1/2" poplar and a 1x4 would be perfect. The drawer opening is 3" and a 3 1/2" wide poplar board would span the opening by a 1/4" on all sides,

accidental woodworker

Plow plane to cut beads Completed Profile

Before I talk about carving just a brief explanation of how I create my closed corner frames. They begin with 5/4, rough Basswood. Most of the time I use what I call my 15° profile so it will accommodate a stretched canvas. I lucked out on this piece of Basswood, it was actually 6/4 so my 15° profile method wasn’t needed to fit the canvas. If you’re unfamiliar with that method and are interested in it here’s a LINK to that post. After the machine work is completed I always use my bronze smooth plane to eliminate any marks left by the planer. For this profile 3/16″ beads were plowed to leave a 2″ wide area for the carving. Sight edge has a slight chamfer and is rabbeted to accept the canvas. Once the profile is complete the profile is mitered and assembled using biscuits. Frames are glued and clamped and allowed to dry overnight before any other work begins.

Left & Right Chisels Used Noting Chisels used on Frame

This may seem like overkill and I don’t always find the need to do it. Since there are 4 corners and 8 hopefully similar designs it’s very easy to get confused and …. one wrong chisel cut is all it takes to mess things up! To me it’s worth the time to at least flip the pattern in a Pages program so that I have a left and right to look at, believe me; when you are bent over the bench and it’s 105° in the shop the mind gets a bit fuzzy. Sometimes I’ll write notes on the wood too. After I’ve done two of the corners most of it is in my memory but still; better safe than sorry! Without a doubt, there are some minor mistakes you make that are easy to conceal but in my experience these precautions save time and possible confusion in the long run.

Initial Outlining of Design Initial grounding out with #2/5

The way I prefer to carve is to first outline the design with the appropriate chisel. I use a a small, 11oz. brass mallet for that initial outline. That is followed up by grounding the design out, generally I only use a #2/5 and start 1/4″ +/- from the outline. Next the chisels are used to outline again but this time only with hand pressure, going all the way around the design. On the second round of grounding out I’ll use the widest #2 , #3, or whatever will work to get the area around the design about 1/8″ deep. The reason I prefer my outlining technique over using a V-chisel is the limited space and grain changes especially by the miter. For me it’s too easy to slip with the V-chisel in tight areas, especially between leaves. Keep in mind that a picture frame; unlike carving a piece of wood that can be repositioned to accommodate grain direction, can only be accessed from the outside edge of the frame.

There’s a lot of wood that needs to be removed at the miter so using the widest chisel that fits is a wise choice. Small fishtail chisels and spoons are helpful as well. I try to get an all around depth of 1/8″. The areas between leaves require small tools, one of my favorites for that is a small Pfeil spoon gauge #2a/3 which allows me to almost “pluck” the insides out after they’re outlined. Chiseling is followed by lightly sanding with 220 grit paper. The leaves and stems are modeled, separated , etc. until I’m satisfied with the overall look of the frame. Wood is a living thing and subject to changes in how it works, cuts, smooths, etc. More often than I’d like to think it’ll happen that one side of the miter works like butter and the other side feels like it’s made of granite!

Sweet Sunshine by Diane Eugster

Here is the completed work. The painting is oil on stretched canvas and measures 20″ x 20″. For the finish I used Real Milk Paint from RMP Finishes. It’s a product I’ve been using for quite some time and I really like it. This is their Arabian Black topcoated with dewaxed Platinum shellac. What I like about it is that it comes in a powder so there’s no waste. Two ounces of powder, mixed with water is plenty for a frame of this size. I apply it with a foam brush and use Mirlon 1500 and 2500 pads between coats to smooth it out. The shellac is sprayed on with a mini airbrush from NoName this little gun will put down a 3″ wide pattern so is perfect for my frames. I allow the shellac to fully cure for about a week and then use a short, stipple brush and rottenstone to reduce the natural gloss of the shellac. The final step is an application of Liberon Black Bison neutral wax.

I realize this got a little bit long winded (no surprise!) but if you were able to get some information from it I’d appreciate hearing from you. Many times I’ve mentioned how my blogs serve to continue my teaching career and sharing but also to remind myself down the road the many ways I’ve conquered a challenge in my woodworking — John

I want to address a few of the most commonly asked questions I hear about Suction Controller. If you have others, please ask away in the comments section at the bottom.

Q: Can suction be directed to both hoses, or is it either one or the other?

A: Suction Controller allows full control over how suction is directed to the two ports. The ratio of suction going to each side can be set at any level – just slide it left or right to reduce or increase suction as required. It’s perfect for fine-tuning the suction going to sanders, as too much can cause pigtails and make the tool difficult to control. Or, if supplying suction to two sanders, send 65% to the 6 inch sander and 35% to the detail sander. If feeding suction to the top and bottom of a router, you can use the Suction Controller to direct suction where it’s needed – 70% to the fence’s port and 30% to the top.

Further, Suction Controller can be used with one hose or two. With two hoses, it allows effortless switching between two tools (e.g. mitre saw and sander). With one hose, you can dump excess suction out the empty port so you have just the right amount of suction going to your sander to prevent those pigtails, or suck up all the dust and wood chips off your bench without getting the heavier nuts, bolts, and screws.

Q: How is Suction Controller different from Festool’s Y-Adapter (452898)

Festool’s Y-Adapter is designed to allow you to connect two hoss to a dust extractor. The long neck provides the necessary clearance for it to work with their compact CT MINI, CT MIDI, and CT15 dust extractors which have ports inside the hose garage. However, that long neck makes it stick out a lot from the front of any other dust extractor, including their CT SYS, CTC SYS, CT 26, 36, and 48 models. Made of a single piece of antistatic plastic, it is not adjustable in any way.

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Many of the better dust extractors do have adjustable suction levels, but sometimes they are stepped and usually they do not go low enough for all situations. Two examples are hand sanding blocks, which require very little suction and with too much “stick” to the workpiece, making sanding difficult; and vacuuming up lighter materials like wood dust and chips and leaving behind heavier items like metal fasteners.

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 The light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter. There isn't much left to do on the honey can you project. I just have to finish the drawer, put on the top and the three shelves and I'll be done. A couple of days to slap on some shellac and I can be oohing and aahing maybe this coming weekend.

drawer stock

Got a snug fit on the height and the R/L. I didn't have to be so fussy with this because I am applying the drawer front to the drawer box.

last one

Went together directly off the saw, no trimming necessary. 

flushing the bottom

Before I could do the grooves for the bottom, the bottom had to be flushed and straightened out.

oops

Got the bottom fitted and saw a boo boo. I brain farted when I sawed the grooves for the bottom. I don't know if this is the back/front of the drawer or not. If it is I'll put this at the front.

the fix

I used one of the off cuts from the drawers to fill the groove. This isn't the first time I've been to this rodeo.

drawer runners

These will be screwed on only, no glue. These are a high wear item and just being screwed will make it easier to replace them.

double checking

The drawer runners are square and straight to the front leg and bottom drawer rail.

hmm........

The shelf bearers got thrown a curve ball. The inside edge of the front leg isn't in line with the inside face of the back leg. This will make the shelf bearers a wee bit interesting to do.

test bearer

I had an extra bearer and used it check that my layout was correct. It is looking like I won't be able to center a screw at the back but I'll find out for sure when do it.

I am going to change the shelf spacing because it will no longer be adjustable. I had played with it briefly but nothing is carved in stone yet. I'll do the final spacing when I have the two middle shelves to play with.

the front edge

This looks a bit softer than leaving it squared off. This may get rounded in the final iteration. Depends on which compass point the wind is blowing from.

for the AM

Got the angle done on the bearers and in the AM I'll do the half lap for the back end. Three shelves and the top are on the A list for the AM too.

accidental woodworker 

 The last word! The Nava New Model mandolin and its happy owner!

Cheers Gary

 

sigh

As I was eyeballing this I saw two gaps that I know weren't there on the dry fit up. Way too late for an immediate fix now.

ugh and double drats

The bottom shoulder is tight but there is a 1/8" gap on the top one. How? Maybe it has something to do with the top being 3/16" out of square?

right side

There isn't a gap on the right. The 'gap' is actually the pencil layout line. The teeny gap here I would call borderline acceptable.

drilling jig

The plan was to use two adjustable shelves. I had initially planned for two shelves to be 10 1/2" apart. These shelves will be11 1/4". I glued two pieces of 1/2" thick plywood together and after it has cooked I'll drill the holes.

nope

I was going to make the drawer box out of 3/4" poplar but nixed it. That is too thick IMO so I'm using 1/2" thick New Zealand pine that I've had in the shop for a couple of years. I will apply the drawer front to the box which will be 3/4" poplar. I'm going with an overlay drawer front, not an inset one.

yikes

There isn't any room to drill holes on the back legs. There also isn't any room for the back of the shelf neither - the slats are in the way. Change one upcoming.

done

I chopped three slots for the table top clips. I forgot to do them with the router before I glued it up.

top drawer rail

I put a one inch #6 screw into each tail on the top drawer rail. I will attach the top to this rail with a couple of screws. The screws will beef up the rail and strengthen it against the pull of the top. Glued in a shim to close up an ugly looking gap on the left tail.

bearers

The bottom shelf will be fixed and secured to the bearers. One each on the four sides.

hmm......

The heads on these clamps will not stay tight. It is annoying when using them and the head flops around. I have 12 of them I'll try red loctite on each of them. Spoiler alert - ran out of Red Loctite, more on order.

happy face on

The left end of the bottom rail which had the big 1/8" gap. I had to stare intently at it at the distance I shot the pic and had trouble finding it.

ditto

The left side looks just as good. I can't say the same for the top rail gaps. I filled them with the long grain shims facing out. At least 2 of the 4 came out ok.

accidental woodworker 

last chance

Eyeballed the sides for a while before the glue up. I was thinking about what to do next and if gluing the carcass up would interfere with that. I couldn't think of anything but I went topside for a coffee break first.

Lowes run

Decided to add pocket screws to the front and back, top/bottom rails to strengthen them. I was a little shocked at the cost - this haul was $49. Cheaper options were available on Amazon but I didn't want to wait for it to come from them.

instructions

The instructions are clear and a little confusing at the same time. There is no indication for 1" stock. It jumps from 3/4" to 1 1/2". I was putting the  pocket screws in 1" thick stock. I had to play with it on a scrap of 1" thick stock to figure out how to set the drilling guide. It took me 5 tries before I got it.

step one

I glued the dowels in to each rail, each end first and let them cook for an hour. This should cut down the time needed to glue and clamp the carcass up later. Made the Lowes run while these dowels were cooking.

done

This step gave me the heebie jeebies. I must have double, triple checked myself continually a bazillion times. Didn't catch her but I drilled the pocket holes on the back top rail on the wrong face. Missed that there weren't any slots for the table top clips on the same face.

hmm.....

I did twenty bazillion checks of the connection before I drilled the pocket holes. I kept confusing myself because I was flipping the rail from one side connection to the other the wrong way. I finally sorted it out but delayed doing it. I went topside and filled the lunch pie hole.

update

I bought this glue bottle last year (?) and so far I'm happy with it. I thought the size would be a PITA to keep refilled but that hasn't been a headache at all. I next thought I would give it flying lessons because it dispensed glue through a tiny opening. Again, not a hiccup at all. I've found the amount of glue it dispenses actually worked in my favor. I  found out that I don't have rivers of glue squeeze out to deal with like I did with pint/quart Titebond dispensers (which clog shut regularly).

I had tried this bottle because I was tired of the other dispensers clogging shut. This one isn't perfect and it has clogged on me a couple of times. Clearing the clog was easy and it was due to me not cleaning the tip after each use. Even with this infrequent hiccup it performs 100% better then other dispensers I've tried.

yikes

I had clamped up the carcass and moving it around on the workbench the top back rail came off. I had to run a clamp from the bottom rail to the top to pull it back into alignment.

hello idiot

Not paying attention before doing the drilling. At least it is at the back and won't be seen. I had sawn out a1/8" thick piece of poplar to fill it but nixed it. 

clamped and cooking

I checked the diagonals on the inside of the top and they were off by 3/16". I checked it late and I couldn't fix it. I tried clamping across the long diagonal and nada - it didn't budge a frog hair.

next project

I'll need a box to stow the Kregg pocket screw jig. I will make it big enough to hold four boxes of screws - I'm missing the 1" & 2" sizes. I'll finish this maybe tomorrow but definitely some time next week. 

accidental woodworker