General Woodworking

What to look for or avoid when searching for an antique beading plane? 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. What should you avoid when looking to

 The foot was a wee bit sore when I rolled out of the rack this AM but it was so much better feeling than yesterday. No problems walking or standing but I took it easy nonetheless. I wandered up down to the shop several times but I didn't exert myself. I think the most strenuous thing I did all day was to sweep the deck in the shop.

sigh

I can't bring myself to shitcan these cherry scraps. Went searching the shop for something to put them into and nada. I'll have to make a Lowes run and buy a 5 gallon bucket. 

hmm........

Thinking about doweling Leo's desk. I read the literature again on the Dowel Max and tests showed that doweled joints were stronger than mortise and tenon. I had no problems doweling the small table. I don't anticipate any headaches with the desk. I checked and I can get 7 dowels on the ends of the top rails.

only one

I put 2 1/4" long screws in the top - one at each block. On the bottom I put one screw at each end and two in the middle block. On the bottom I don't have to allow slots for the table top clips.

ouch

The screw I put in at the top split the end block. It wasn't a complete break and it closed up nicely when I glued it. Instead of putting a 2 1/4" screw back into it, I put a 2" screw. It held and the block didn't split, break, or crack again.

youngest grandson is an artist

I am going to hang this one in the shop somewhere. I will have to do some rearranging but I'll find a hole for it.

for my wife

My wife is fascinated with old township/district maps from the late 1700's to the middle 1850's. 

proof

This is one of five frames that I made for my wife. All of them are still together. All the miters are tight still and zero evidence that they are planning to go south.

Union #3

Because I am brain dead I pissed away a couple of hours trying to get this spit a shaving that was the full width of the iron. After the umpteenth time putting it back together I noticed that when I screwed down the right screw in the frog, it titled backwards pushing the bottom edge at the mouth up. 

Screwing down the left screw wasn't the same - no tilting or  movement. With that one screwed down first the right still cause movement in the frog. But it wasn't as bad as when the right one was done first.

unbelievable

I put the plane together for the last time intending to put it on a shelf and forgetting it. However, I tried to make RML shavings one last time. I couldn't believe what I saw. The last time I had made RML shavings the lever adjust was fully over to the left. Today it is full over to the right. ????????

RML shavings

All three are the same thickness but the right one isn't as long as the other two. I made two more runs and I got RML shavings that were all about the same. The right ones were a wee bit more wispy than the RM ones.

I'm done with plane. Now that it is together I put it on top of my shop cabinets to gather dust.

accidental woodworker 

I didn't sleep that well last night. My right foot was sore and achy. It woke me up a couple of times to shake hands with me. When I got up the foot really said hello to me. It hurt like hell to walk and I limped for the entire day. The pain lessened a little but it flared up off/on all day. Something is not right with it and I'll be calling the foot doc for an appointment.

I thought of going to Highlands today because it turned sunny before lunch but I didn't. I'll be going on friday which is supposed to be partly sunny/cloudy here and sunny in New Hampshire. 

Getting ready for that trip I filled up the pickup and I was less then a second from having an involuntary bowel movement. I had gotten gas less then two weeks ago for $3 and change a gallon. Today the same gas was $4.17 gallon. The trip to NH is going to be expensive I have fill up before I leave (done), fill up again before I leave NH, and one last time after I get home. Ouch - it was $45.87 to fill up from a 1/2 tank today.

forgot this

This pen box was the third thing I worked on yesterday but I forgot to include it in that post. It is done - four coats on the inside and outside. Tomorrow I'll rub it down with wax and ship it off to my sister.

glamour pic

Plain and simple with little adornment or embellishment. Just the way I like it. 

done

The two cherry bookshelves are done with 3 coats of shellac. The walnut one I'm giving to Maria at the Frame it shop. It had a blemish on the shelf that I had to add another coat of shellac to.

Don't know what I'm going to do with all bookshelves I made in the past couple of months. I have 12 of them - one is being used (my shop books),  two are going with Miles's and Leo's desks, and one to Maria tomorrow. The other eight are waiting adoption.

rejects

Worked on sawing the slats to width and thickness. These are the rejects from thicknessing. I added 8 more when I sawed the slats to width. I had to do this in batches because standing wasn't that comfortable. Surprisingly going up and down the stairs was easier than walking and standing.

plenty

I might have to make a new 2" wide slat. When I measured it after cleaning it up with the 5 1/2 it was dead on 3/8" thick. All the narrow slats are 1/64 more than 3/8". I'll check the fit of it after I chop the first narrow slat mortise.

the drawer runners

Went to Lowes to get some 1/2" maple for the drawer runners but nada. What they for sale was all twisted, cupped, or bowed. Bought some New Zealand pine instead. I'll let this relax in the shop until I make the drawers.

more drawer stock

The prefinished plywood will give up the two drawer bottoms. I have enough poplar to make one drawer. I have my wood list for Highlands and it includes two six foot 1/2" poplar boards. 

I might be taking it easy tomorrow too. Maybe the walk I went on yesterday is the cause of my current foot headaches. I could check up on my reading because the pile isn't shrinking at all.

accidental woodworker 

The gorgeous large advertising and movie posters that were popular in the 20th century were mostly printed using color lithography, a wonderful, but complicated and expensive process. For more modest budgets, and for traveling shows where the signage had to change based on locale, woodblock printing was a much more economical approach.

I was at the Poster House Museum, one of New York's best small museums, this past weekend to see their to see their fabulous new exhibit "Act Black: Posters from Black American Stage & Screen." And while the color prints for the movies are spectacular, I was also drawn to the very simple, but large basswood wood blocks that were used to promote traveling shows and other events. These are fairly large blocks, all of basswood, with large blank spaces where you could separately add extra text and imagery for a custom design based on each venue.

The printing blocks in this show are from 1925 or 1946, but the prints are recent "restrikes" made from the original blocks. (As the exhibit noted, heritage printers will reprint from the blocks out of appreciation for the artistry of the posters, but also - more practically - if the blocks aren't periodically used, they will dry out, crack and deteriorate.) This is why there aren't any inserts with details. But this is the type of hand bill and poster that you would see to tell you these acts were coming to town.

Basswood is still a common wood for carving in the US, although these blocks are pretty big. Unlike finer grain and harder woods that can take smaller detail, basswood is a far better material for something easy to carve, in a big vibrant block meant to be noticed from a distance. Most of the details, including the lettering, looks like it was done with a chisel, but there is a fair amount of gouge-work too. The non-printing areas, which are about 3/16-1/4" below the surface of the material, are pretty consistently leveled, which would ordinarily suggest a router for blanking stuff out. But these blocks date back to 1925, so that wasn't likely. These blocks were carved by professionals who knew what they were doing, with a lot of skill involved. The blocks do show some gouge marks that indicate hand work, and since all the blocks are covered with layers of ink or paint, there are probably plenty more that are obscured.

A great show of the practical aspects of woodworking.

The museum's other major show, "Love & Fury: New Yorks Fight Against AIDS," focuses on the AIDS awareness posters from the early days of the AIDS crisis, including the ground-breaking "Silence = Death" project.






Most of the exhibit had awesome color posters - well worth the visit

 The VA appointment was easy peasy. The tech took my vitals and then I walked for 6 minutes, and he took my vitals again. They both agreed - oxygen was 97 pre walk and 95 post walk. The blood pressure readings were almost the same. 

The only time they do this test is at 0900. I couldn't reschedule so I went. I wanted to go to Highlands because today was sunny. The next sunny/partly cloudy day is friday. I'm going to try and go then but is there is another sunny/cloudy day in between that, I'll jump on it.

ready

Out of the clamps and all is well in Disneyland. The drawers fit one frog hair loose R/L but no fit top/bottom. 

top rail

The top rail is 1 1/8" wide and the bottom is 3/4". The top is wider because it will get the table top clips. Noticed that the rail has bowed a wee bit. Not sure how to address that to straighten it out. I've got plenty of time to figure it out.

hmm.......

Cherry is such a pretty wood. This is after the first coat of shellac. 4 more and it will get a check mark in the done column.

sigh

I had wiped the shims I stuck in the gap with a wet rag. Still got some residual glue squeeze out. I cleaned that up by chiseling the end grain like I do on half pins with dovetails.

scraps

I need 34 narrow 3/4" slats and one slat 2". I think I have enough with the left overs from Miles's desk to get want I need. Should have a few extras too on the narrow slats.

1st round

Got the 2" wide slat and 37 narrow ones. As I was ripping these to rough width/thickness I saw a few iffy ones. With these slats it pays to have a few extras. 

60 narrow slats

I went nutso on the extras. I could have stopped at 40 but I had two more boards. I should have more that enough to pick and chose from.

almost forgot

My friend asked what/how the ends were so important. First step is to saw the rail length a couple of inches more than needed. 2nd step is to saw out the top and bottom rails. 3rd saw out the center block (mine is 3"). 4th is to cut out ends leaving them long. 5th is to position the ends in towards the center block. That is too make up for the saw kerfs and the length of the drawers. Glue it up and let it cook.

Went for a walk today for the first time in a couple of months. Back in November when I was first was told I might have lung cancer I said screw it to the diet. Now that is up in the air and the doc said it will be 7-10 days before I get the results of the CT biopsy. Still waiting.

The result of that is my weight ballooned. On april 21st I weighed 267 pounds. My heart rate is higher and my blood pressure is elevated. I piled on 72 lbs and I am now back on the wagon. I want to drop some tonnage so my BP drops down to what it used to be. 

My normal range was around 110/85 and now it is running 150/90. I had a good run and ate like a condemned man. Cookies, ice cream, candy, and lots of take out. All gone now for the foreseeable future. Looking forward to getting back down to 195-ish.

accidental woodworker 

last night

I didn't glue it up but I did do a dry clamp up. Everything fitted nice, nice. I left it in the clamps until the AM.

clipped the corners

I don't like leaving the corners of the shelf at 90°. I don't think a round over fits in with the overall 'square' look of the bookshelf so an angled corner it is.. 

happy face on

Getting better at chopping these mortises. All four came out with clean with crisp edges. I hope the upcoming slat mortises for Leo's desk come looking just as good.

ready

Planed and sanded the insides of the ends and the back slats. In the on deck circle are four clamps and glue.

Leo's front drawer rail

I was going to motor up to New Hampshire tomorrow but that got nixed. I have a VA appointment with pulmonary for a 6 minute oxygen evaluation walk, whatever that is? But I can work and get the drawer rail done. 

Tuesday is supposed to be sunny/partly cloudy. The rest of the week has rain forecasted until the weekend. It will be next week before I can go north to NH so I'll have to fill in my shop time with something new project wise.

layout done

I think I got this one figured out. The drawers will have a continuous grain flow L/R (or R/L). I'll have a good piece of this left over - roughly half the board. 

done

I sawed out the parts and dry clamped them back together. I won't be repeating the brain fart with the drawers I did with Miles's desk.

happy face on

The drawer fronts are a couple of frog hairs longer than the drawer openings. The key is making the two far ends (that get the tenons) longer than necessary.

been a while

I haven't used this shooting board for a whole bunch of full moons. Checking the plane body square to the stop. Spoiler alert, it wasn't. The drawer fronts weren't square and I shot them square and a wee bit smaller then the drawer opening R/L.

snug fit

I didn't plane the top/bottom to fit the opening. I'll do that when I start on the drawers.

clips came

I thought that these were thinner than the ones I used on the small table. Turns out that they are exactly the same. These new ones are lighter in color but they are the same.

blurry pic

Cleaning up the 2nd cherry bookshelf. The pic I snapped is blurry and I don't understand why. I shoot my pics with the automatic setting selected. Usually when I get a blurry pic it is because the automatic setting got moved somehow.

last two

The 2nd one is in the back. I'm leaving the top as is. No round overs or clipping the corners. I also didn't make the top of the ends  parallel to the bottom.

one down, one to go

Most of the pre prep for shellac is sanding the end grain. Cherry is a wee bit harder to do - takes more time and calories than doing pine.

sigh

 

My nemesis shook hands with me again on both sides. Small gap but my OCD goes into overdrive no matter what the size is. I glued a piece of cherry veneer in both.

ready for shellac

Sanding and branding is done. But no shellac today. Mickey's big hand is on 12 and the his small one on 3. Quitting time but I might get a coat on after dinner.

hmm.....

I don't know what this is (top board), certainly not a gum pocket. It is exactly where the half blind tails want to live forever.

worth a try

I soaked then with super glue. I don't know what or how they will like being sawn and chopped. Hopefully the superglue will consolidate and fill up the voids?

accidental woodworker

 

hmm.......

I am liking this rag ball for applying the final shellac coat. It flattens the brush strokes it makes the top looks like glass. Thinking out loud, would a foam brush do the same?

nope

Out of the clamps and the lid won't close. It fits on 3 sides but still won't close. I knew that it would take some fussing to get that to happen.

the fix

I have made several of this type of box lids and none have closed without any help. The sanding sticks make it a quick and easy process.

sanding stick safe edge

The safe edge on the sanding sticks keeps me from sanding a groove into the top edge of the bottom.

closed

Took a while but I finally got the lid to close. It needed a wee bit more fettling because it was too snug. With shellac applied it won't close. I want the lid to fit loose so it is easy to take off and put back on.

finally

Got the lid to fit on the bottom in both orientations. However, it is loose one way (X on the lid/bottom aligned) and tight the other. Too tight to call it ok.

getting closer

The left side is a few frog hairs higher than the right. The corners were keeping the lid from freely closing. I used my 1/2" shoulder plane to knock down the corners because the sanding sticks were working too slowly.

ta da

The shoulder plane worked a treat. Lid closes easily both ways and a little on the loose side. That should tighten up when I apply shellac.

hmm......

I should have used this plane from the start. Sanding sticks are still the ones to use on squirrely grain keepers but with anything else the shoulder plane goes to the head of the line.

splotches

They are hide glue bleed through from the glue up. I wanted to use a oil/wax finish on this but I didn't. I know shellac will lay on hide glue but I don't know if the oil/wax finish would do the same.

two coats

Started applying the shellac on the box doing the bottom of the bottom and the top of the lid. After I get 5-6 coats I'll switch and do the interiors of the bottom and the top.

cherry bookshelf

Getting the depth of the back slat mortises the same as the shelf dado wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. The key for me was to chop the first run shallow and sneak up on it. I did it mostly by scraping the bottom of the mortise with the same chisel until Mr Starrett said I was to depth.

rasping the feet cut out

I survived another angled bottom cut. I had to make a a couple of trial cuts to make sure I would get it right. The angled cut should be done (and the cutout) before the glue up. Much easier to get it done before the glue up.

ready for glue up

Planed the inside faces of the ends and chamfered the ends of the back slats. The dry fit of the back slats were snug. I had to plane the left end of the shelf before it fit in the dado.

sigh

Glad I caught this on the dry fit before I laid down any glue. I glued and clamped this boo boo and set it aside. I was hoping to get this glued and cooking but it didn't happen boys and girls. But it might if I haul myself down to the shop after dinner.

coat hanger

This is what I came up with to hang the frame. Wedged a board between the floor joists. From that I hung a short length of coat hanger to catch the wire on the frame.

for air flow and standoff

Silicone feet to keep the frame from touching the cement wall and let circulate behind it.

looks good

Maria did an awesome job of matting this. The glass is a conservation glass that blocks 99% of UV. Helps with keeping the poster underneath it from fading or discoloring. It cost me $90 which I think is a bargain. 

accidental woodworker 

easy table top clip installation

I still have to put in 4 more clips but I was surprised by how strong the clips I did install were. The top was tight to top of the rails and easy to pick up and move around. And no headaches with getting the last four done - nothing in the way of that. 

bottom shelf

The shelf is flat and tight to the bearer with two clamps holding it down. Nothing moved when I screwed it. No glue - just one screw at each end. This way any repairs will be easy.

6 ounces of shellac

Running out of shellac so I mixed up a new batch. 6 ounces of shellac and 3 cups of alcohol giving a 2lb cut. Turned out that I didn't need this because I had just enough from the last batch to finish the table.

splines

I don't want to rely on the miters staying together even with the help from the top/bottom panels being glued in the grooves. Going with 1/8" thick  cherry splines to help out the miters.

WOW

Went to the Frame it Shop before lunch and this is all that was ready. I think this looks absolutely awesome and I can't wait to get it hung. Maria told me the other stuff I gave her will be ready by wednesday.

its new home

I got this painting after I got out of the Navy in '94. Never thought of framing it but it is going bye bye now. The Periodic Table of Wood is going to hang there now. Just have to figure out how to do that so the frame doesn't touch the cellar wall.

sigh

I had tapped each spline with a hammer to fully seat them. This one didn't get the memo. I'll fill it with a piece of the scrap shims.

sawing the lid free

I saw a You Tube vid where someone was sawing a lid free. Normally I start sawing at the corner but I tried it the way I saw it by first sawing about 1/8" down on the shortest side. From there I sawed down a long side using the kerf on the short side to guide me. Worked well and I did good sawing the lid off. I'll have to try this a couple of more times before I can say whether or not it is a game changer.

Had no problems sawing it off and cleaning it up with a couple of planes. Planed a small chamfer where the lid and bottom meet for visual interest. 

cherry keepers

Dry fitted with mitered corners. It didn't fit on the bottom in either orientation. I'll dial that in after it is glued and cooked.

Initially I was going to hinge the box but changed my mind. The lid height wasn't high enough for the surface mounted hinges I planned to use. Went with keepers instead.

glued

One of the long sides had a gap that I didn't like. The keepers need to be tight against the inside of the lid. If not fitting it can be a headache.

glued, clamped and cooking

No more gaps. All the keepers are up tight against the inside of the lid now.

hmm.....

Saw two white spots on the bottom shelf. I don't think are glue because they are too large. I scraped them with a card scraper and applied shellac over them. The seemed to disappear with the shellac.

ready to use

Been a couple of hours and the shellac is already to use. Whizzing the flakes up in a spice grinder speeds it up dissolving in the alcohol. I added a little more alcohol to the shellac to knock the pound cut below 2.

first glamour pic

I like this a lot and if I had room for it in my house I would keep it. But my daughter already yes to adopting it. Just hoping that my wife doesn't convince her to paint it down the road.

glamour pic #2

Side view. Still on the fence with the number of slats. I like the wide center one but maybe I should have added two more narrow ones?

A quick and easy project that I whacked out lickety split. Fingers crossed the weather will be nice next week. I have to go to Highlands to get cherry for Leo's desk. Thinking out loud, will the 2nd one be done quicker?

accidental woodworker 

 

a good sigh

First of the make up mortises on the correct side of the rail. I think it is now impossible for me to screw this up again.

hmm.....

Got the banding at the top done all the way around. When I did a sneak peek preview, the bandings were not visible with the top on. There is a one inch overhang of the top past the outside edges of the legs.

bottom shelf

The new bland bottom shelf. I had thought of sizing the bottom shelf so that it extended to outside faces of the legs. Switched lanes and decided on this - the shelf in between the inside edges of the legs. However, I think I made it too tight R/L. I don't have to worry about expansion/contraction this way but I didn't like how tight it was.

hmm......

I think this will look more balanced if there is a slight gap on the ends.

another look

I don't think this looks out of place. The important point is that my me-steak table top clips are covered and hidden. When I chopped the mortises on the correct face I ended up with through mortises. I had chopped them (both sides) about a 1/2" deep and the rail is only 3/4" thick.

hmm.....

My normal glue up would have been two boards of equal width. That would have put the glue joint right on the screw in the bearer. With unequal width boards, the screw wouldn't be on the glue joint line. I am hoping that the shelf will only need one screw on each end to secure it. With one screw I don't have to worry about expansion/extraction.

clearances

There is a 16th of a gap on both ends and a 1/4" on each side of the shelf at the legs. The 1/4" clearance should be sufficient for the shelf to expand and contract. The 16th gap on the ends gives a shadow line.

low angle jack

Giving this a try - planing the end grain to see how smooth it comes out. Did this to avoid having to have to sand them from 100 to 220 grit.

the last bookshelf

I had glue a blowout on the top so I started back on the bookshelf. Checking the ends for twist before planing them down to thickness.

done

I had sawn off the waste fairly close to the knife lines. I didn't have to make a lot of runs with either plane before the the knife lines disappeared.

three times

This chip threw a big hissy fit. The planing on the end grain kind of worked but I still had to sand it. The chip was blown out with a sanding stick. The first two times I glued it, it came off when I pulled the tape off. The third time was the charm for me.

2 coats

I routed a chamfer on the top and shelf, smoothed both with the #3, and followed it up with the RO sander up to 180 grit. I will get the 3rd coat on the bottom of the shelf and top after dinner.

This is almost at the finish line. My tabletop clips are scheduled to arrive on monday but I don't need them to attach the top. The 4 that will be missing I can install after they come. I should be done with this by sunday at the latest.

accidental woodworker

Preventive Maintenance: Don’t start today by doing yesterday’s work.

– Deniece Schofield

Maintaining, transporting and storing handplanes and other handtools is a simple job, but some review might be useful.

High-quality handplanes are not cheap, and when you have a good one in good fettle, the time and effort it takes to maintain it ready to rock and roll immediately is never wasted. Indeed, it’s a solid investment that pays higher dividends than General Electric stock ever will, I promise you, on condition that the maintenance is done right, and your handplanes are stored and transported properly. On this subject as in many others, knowledge is power, so let’s get some.

Maintenance

The quote at the top of this article by Deniece Schofield describes a sound policy, especially when it comes to tool maintenance.

There are several items to consider when maintaining your handplane. We’ve discussed how to set-up and fettle a Japanese hirganna handplane in previous articles, all listed at the end of this article. In this article we’ll examine how to maintain it while we’re using it, and how to store it when we aren’t.

Sharpening

A dull plane may make excellent firewood, but it’s as useful as a screen door in a submarine, so the first step in keeping it useful is sharpening it. The true value of the high-quality-forged blade in your plane is that it’s easily and quickly made extremely sharp, and it will retain that sharp edge a long time, reducing the time, trouble and cost of maintaining it. Does your time have value?

For detailed directions about sharpening, please read the series of 30 articles linked at the end of this article. They will explain the what and why of the blade of a high-quality plane. If you haven’t already, please read and digest these articles.

Maintaining and Storing a Handplane In-use

The following is a list of maintenance items you should consider performing and the specific conditions under which I think they’re applicable. These are suggestions not rules, of course, but unlike most of the woodworking gurus on the internet, I didn’t steal them from noobtube, nor suggest them because they’re good clickbait, or fish them out of my fundament because they smell like lilacs, or because I think they’ll sell tools or books to the gullible. They are simple and they work, but it’s important to understand the conditions detailed for each item.

1. Condition1 – Overnight Storage: The plane is working fine, its blade is still sharp, and you intend to use the plane in the same place for the same jobs tomorrow, but just need to set aside on your workbench for a few hours, perhaps overnight. You may want to take the following actions:
   • Don’t remove the blade and chipbreaker, but simply wipe the body with a clean, dry rag and clear dust and shavings out of the blade opening with a clean, dry brush. Purpose: To prevent wood resin from accumulating and gumming things up (depends on the wood), and to prevent corrosion.
   • Oil the cutting edge using your trusty, ever-faithful oilpot.
2. Condition 2 – Short-term Storage: The plane is working fine and the blade is sharp, but you need to relocate it to another location for a short time. In this case, you may want to take the following actions.
   • Safe the blade by retracting it into the body using your wood, plastic or leather mallet so it doesn’t become damaged, or damage other tools while lounging in the tool box or tool bag during the relocation.
   • Remove dust and shavings from the plane, especially the mouth opening, because they will make the toolbox or tool bag dirty.
3. Condition 3 – Short-term Storage: The plane is working fine, the blade is sharp but we need to store it out of the way short-term.
   • Remove blade and chipbreaker entirely (see previous article)
   • Clean the blade and chipbreaker of sawdust and wood resin. Resin may have accumulated on the blade and chipbreaker which, if not removed in a timely manner, can harden over time increasing friction. Use you oilpot and a clean rag and/or a small stick of wood to scrape-off built-up resin resin. If that doesn’t work, use acetone or lacquer thinner.
   • Clean dust and shavings from blade opening and mouth with brush/rag.
   • Wipe down the plane’s body with a clean rag.
   • If the body is dirty with oil, sharpening stone mud or fingerprints, clean it all over with your oilpot and wipe. If that doesn’t make it clean enought, dampen a clean rag along with drop or two of dishwashing liquid (neutral PH), then wring it out as hard as you can. Scrub the body clean with this nearly-dry rag. Caution: We need the soap and water to remove oil and dirt, but making the body wet may cause it too warp. When you’re done, make absolutely sure the body is perfectly dry.
   • Oil the blade and chipbreaker.
   • Reassemble the plane but leave the blade’s cutting blade up inside the mouth opening. How tight should you fit the blade/chipbreaker? Tight enough to firmly retain blade and chipbreaker so they won’t rattle out, but no more.
4. Condition 4: Long-term Storage:
   • Remove the blade and its chipbreaker entirely.
   • Clean the blade and chipbreaker removing sawdust and all accumulated wood resin as described above.
   • Apply a protective coating of a paraffin wax-based corrosion prevention product such as CRC 3-36. For longer storage under more difficult conditions, CRC SP-350 or CRC SP-400 are even better.
   • After the carrier has evaporated to some degree, wrap the blade and chipbreaker in aluminum foil and store them together with the wooden body so they won’t become separated. Don’t assemble the parts!
   • Clean the wooden body removing all dust and shavings.
   • Place a mothball in the body’s mouth and wrap the body, along with the blade and chipbreaker, in newspaper, or place it in a plane bag. This will be good for a number of years in any condition except underwater.

Plane Storage on the Workbench, Atedai or Planing Beam

There is some disagreement about how to set down one’s handplanes when they aren’t being used. I won’t consider all the possible options, but will simply present the one that I was taught and use.

The old boys who trained me insisted that it is improper set down a plane with its sole touching the workbench, atedai, tatami mat, carpet or ground for any length of time, but one must instead rest it on its side. After many years of using handplanes, I feel this is a good habit to develop for both Japanese and Western handplanes.

Since I’m right handed, this results in the plane resting on its right side with the cutting edge oriented towards towards the left side as shown in the photo below. This position takes up less space on the workbench, and protects the cutting edge and sole of my plane from contacting anything but air.

Is it rude to rest the plane sole-down, or will it damage it? Probably not, but seeing a handplane with it’s blade oriented up or down bothers me like a bug crawling on my neck. OCD?

I also rest my planes on their sides when placing them in boxes, toolboxes or toolbags even for long-term storage.

One can place a plane on any stable surface it’s willing to sit on, and where it won’t be kicked or fall from, even a chair, bench, board, carpet, floor tile, or other flooring material, but never directly on gritty surfaces such as bricks, paving, concrete, or heaven forfend, the naked ground.

Place the plane resting mouth-down only when the plane is actively being used or it’s wrapped in cloth or newspaper.

Do all Japanese craftsmen follow this rule? Heck no. Why do I recommend these habits? Well, first of all, because this habit shows proper respect to my tools, to the craftsmen that made my tools, and to those who taught me how to use them. Second, because these habits help my tools last longer with less damage. Thirdly, because it helps to keep my workplace better organized.

Until we meet again, I have the honor to remain,

YMHOS

Other Articles in the Japanese Handplane Series:

• Handplanes Part 1: East vs. West
• Handplanes Part 2: Blade Adjustment
• Handplanes Part 3: The Blade
• Handplanes Part 4: Fitting Blade and Body
• Handplanes Part 5: The Chipbreaker
• Handplanes Part 6: Setting-up and Maintaining the Sole
• Handplanes Part 7: Bedding the Blade – Correcting Some Common Misunderstandings
• Handplanes Part 8: Operator’s Manual
• Handplanes Part 9: Maintenance & Storage

Links to Articles in the Sharpening Series:

• Sharpening Japanese Woodworking Tools Part 1
• Sharpening Part 2 – The Journey
• Sharpening Part 3 – Philosophy
• Sharpening Part 4 – ‘Nando and the Sword Sharpener
• Sharpening Part 5 – The Sharp Edge
• Sharpening Part 6 – The Mystery of Steel
• Sharpening Part 7 – The Alchemy of Hard Steel 鋼
• Sharpening Part 8 – Soft Iron 地金
• Sharpening Part 9 – Hard Steel & Soft Iron 鍛接
• Sharpening Part 10 – The Ura 浦
• Sharpening Part 11 – Supernatural Bevel Angles
• Sharpening Part 12 – Skewampus Blades, Curved Cutting Edges, and Monkeyshines
• Sharpening Part 13 – Nitty Gritty
• Sharpening Part 14 – Natural Sharpening Stones
• Sharpening Part 15 – The Most Important Stone
• Sharpening Part 16 – Pixie Dust
• Sharpening Part 17 – Gear
• Sharpening Part 18 – The Nagura Stone
• Sharpening Part 19 – Maintaining Sharpening Stones
• Sharpening Part 20 – Flattening and Polishing the Ura
• Sharpening Part 21 – The Bulging Bevel
• Sharpening Part 22 – The Double-bevel Blues
• Sharpening Part 23 – Stance & Grip
• Sharpening Part 24 – Sharpening Direction
• Sharpening Part 25 – Short Strokes
• Sharpening Part 26 – The Taming of the Skew
• Sharpening Part 27 – The Entire Face
• Sharpening Part 28 – The Minuscule Burr
• Sharpening Part 29 – An Example
• Sharpening Part 30 – Uradashi & Uraoshi

My local tool collectors group, PAST, got together on April 18th.  As always, it was great fun talking to the folks and checking out the tools.  I wasn't planning to purchase anything this time (though I did bring extra cash just in case ...).  But I saw these two auger bits that were in pristine - I mean, absolutely shiny and sharp - condition for $3 each.  And when I talked to the seller about them, he said "I'll give you both for $3".  Mind you, I don't really need more auger bits.  But I have a partial set that goes from 1/4" to 5/8" and these two were 11/16" and 3/4" - perfect!  I flipped him a 10-spot and said keep the change.

In the original cardboard tubes

The labels on the tubes read:

I have another bit that is from the same company, but I always thought it said Taylor-Guede (stamped on a worn shank).  It's good to get it right, but I wonder how I'm supposed to pronounce Gjede.

These bits are the type with a single cutting spur.  I generally prefer bits with two spurs, but these spurs are plenty long to score the entire perimeter of the hole before the cutting lips engage.  I didn't have to touch them up at all - they're nice and sharp and the hole they cut has an incredibly smooth wall.

Here's the two bits next to the holes they just bored

The tool show had a guest speaker this time - James Wright of the "Wood By Wright" YouTube channel.  James flew out here on his own dime to speak about scrapers.  He brought along a bunch of different types of scrapers - card scrapers, cabinet scrapers, scraper planes, paint scrapers, etc.  And he gave a nice presentation, answering lots of questions from our members.

James with a table full of different scrapers

James is involved with the Midwest Tool Collectors Association (MWTCA) - I think he has something to do with their membership, but he certainly is doing a lot for outreach.  We can't thank him enough for coming out to our meeting.

In alignment with James' presentation and as part of our tool show, one of our members displayed his extensive collection of scrapers.  This was unbelievable!  I'm really trying not to be a collector, but I can see I'd never match up to some of our members.  I usually only ever see the stuff they bring to the tool meets to try to sell.  I'm realizing now that some of these guys (and gals) have much more extensive collections than I ever realized.

Here is the display of his scrapers.  It's four pictures!  One picture would not have been sufficient.

Scraper planes and shaves of many types - some with patent info

Spokeshave-type scrapers

More spokeshave-type scrapers

Paint and/or floor scrapers

These scrapers ran the gamut from user-made to manufactured, but all were interesting.  What a collection!

first one

This looks a lot neater than the first six. For whatever reason, I thought you couldn't chisel the outline a 1/8" wide mortise (too narrow?). I was wrong and this looks almost as good as the routed mortises.

done

These will probably never be seen again but at least I know how well they looked.

yikes

My 18" Starrett holder gave up the ghost. I pulled it out and the pine doo hickeys broke off. Made a pit stop to repair it because it is something I use every time I'm in the shop.

long rails

This glue up went off without a hiccup. I let this cook for a few hours. I wasn't having any issues with the lung biopsy, but I still took it easy today. No pain, soreness, or shortness of breath, still working but at a more leisurely place. 

sigh

I'm beginning to see a pattern here. I chopped these 3 table clip mortises on the wrong side. I hadn't checked before I chopped them that I was on the right face. I have made a rash of avoidable me-steaks on Miles's desk and now on this small table. Note to self - take your head out of your ass and look and verify before jumping.

the fix

There is no way to 'fix' this screw up quick and easy. The first thought in the brain bucket was to fill them in with shims. That didn't appeal to me because this is a show face and the filled in mortises would be visible.

Union #3

Gave up on getting this plane to make RML shavings. All I could do was to get shavings to spit out on the left side. The problem is the left side flat frog seat. It is chowdered up for about halt of it and it is lower than the right one. 

I thought of trying shims to raise it up but that would be a PITA. The sensible fix IMO is to braze/weld up the left seat and then mill all three seats parallel/flat to the sole of the plane. For a plane that I paid $25(?) for, a repair like that isn't warranted. I'll put it back together and put it on a shelf to collect dust.

sneak peek

The bottom shelf is history. I am giving this to daughter #2 and she doesn't share my love for grain (she didn't like the pic I sent her). I will reuse this top on a miniature chest. I've wanted to make one out of cherry for a long time. Which means that I'll have to make a new bottom shelf.

new bottom shelf

I used my Stanley doweling jig to put in three dowels to help with the glue up. Didn't have to, but I'm experimenting and getting used to using it. Killed the lights here and let the shelf stay and cook overnight.

accidental woodworker

Learn to make the Incredible Through Mortise and Tenon Joint using Vintage Woodworking Hand Tools! World's Most Incredible Wood Joint? In my humble opinion, the mortise and tenon joint is the most incredible wood joint in the world! Why? Because it's so universal, versatile, and simple. It's

The lung biopsy today at the West Roxbury VA went well. No hiccups and after almost 6 hours in the PACU, I was allowed to go home. I had instructions to not operate any equipment nor engage in any stressful activity. Tomorrow I am cleared to resume my normal ADLs  (activities of daily living). Which for me means I can work in the shop.

No results on the tissue they took from lung though. All I now for sure is that  the lab said the tissue was ok to analyze. I'm hoping that they have something for me in a few days.

Before I left for the Providence VA at oh dark thirty five, I sprayed one coat of shellac on the end panel slats. After that I looked around the shop for a few and killed the lights. Headed out to catch the shuttle to West Roxbury.

back home and hmm.....

It can't be all that stressful to remove the clamps from the bottom shelf.

side by side

The top (right) and bottom (left) can't be confused with being from the same tree. I'm going with this side for the bottom shelf too. I like it too much and I believe it adds a lot of visual interest to the table. 

the other side comparison

These two are very similar in graining but not so much in color. However, once shellac is on it that should blend and agree more. Moot point as it will be facing the floor.

before I hit the rack

I got three more coats on this before I went to bed. Spraying the slats beats the snot of brushing them. No matter how careful I am, I always have drips and runs to deal with. 

I had to scrape one slat because it had 2 glue drops that I missed seeing on the first two coats but caught on the 3rd one. Shellac will stick to the glue but it will not hide it.

hmm......

After seeing (and liking) how the mortises for the table top clips looked like off the router I am trying something different with the make up mortises for the end panels. I knifed them all the way around. They should come out a lot cleaner looking then the first errant ones I chopped.

I would have chopped them after dinner but I declined. The doc said to take it easy and I didn't want to push the issue. I can whack these out in the AM lickety split.

accidental woodworker

Here are four bullnose infill planes from the late 19th to the early 20th century: the oldest on the left is by Holtzapffel & Co (1828-1922); the two in the middle are by Norris (1872-1943); and the one on the right is by Arthur Price (1924-1967). All three companies were London makers. Bullnose planes are not that useful in a shop, so all of these planes show very little wear. The Holtzapffel plane does not have a steel sole for wear (planes without steel soles are less common that ones with steel soles). The two Norris planes are essentially identical, with the only real difference is the width - 1 1/8 vs. 1 1/4 - and wedges - one has a rosewood wedge and the other one has an ebony wedge. The plane with the rosewood wedge has never been ground and has just been honed a few times.

Who Made These Planes?

We know what brands the planes are stamped with. We also know that Norris didn't have a foundry. At the very least, someone else did their castings. Or did they buy castings from one of the various vendors that sold infill castings and simply finished them? Or did they outsource all their small cast planes like these bullnose planes in their entirety to a special maker that only made cast planes like Slater or Price? Norris and Holtzapffel planes are quite collectible, so we know a lot more about them. But there were many retail sellers of infill planes. For example, in Rd. Melhuishs 1912 catalog, a complete range of infill planes are shown with their own brand. However, while there are "Meluish" planes that survive, I don't know if the catalog branding extended to stamping the actual tool too.

I admit that these questions may not be that interesting to most plane collectors. But for someone like me who is fascinated by the process of manufacturing, these technical questions are very interesting indeed.

First let's take a look at the castings. All of these planes share the same DNA. The castings are essentially the same, but they are not from the same pattern. There are slight differences in proportion in the Arthur Price plane versus the Norris. The Holtzapffel plane is a little smaller. This difference can be attributed to one of three reasons: Each company had its own patterns that they had cast via third party foundries when they needed to make bullnose planes, all derived from the same original design; they all used the same castings from the same vendors and the differences reflect the fact that these planes are made over a period of about 90 years. They also might have purchased casting from one of the various retailers that sold plane castings. The last solution is certainly the easiest. All these makers were capable of filing a casting to clean them up. The hand filed decoration details by the different makers are quite different.

But I think the real answer is that Norris and other companies went to makers such as Arthur Price for small cast planes. The number of surviving Norris cast planes is quite high. The number of early Arthur Price planes is quite low, but the number of Arthur Price planes that date from the 1950s - after Norris closed - is actually high. Normally you would assume that a tool maker like Arthur Price, which stayed in business for a good stretch, would have more surviving planes. Unless the company dramatically altered either the number of planes produced or the method of production, their earlier planes should not be so scarce. This makes me think Arthur Price's early plane-making was devoted to planes sold under other brands. It also makes absolutely no sense for Norris to spend time making the cast planes when they have the special expertise for dovetailing steel planes. Outsourcing was incredibly common. Norris itself made planes for other brands. Robert Towell, the early 19th century plane maker pioneer, made planes under his own brand but also made many planes under other people's brands. As far as I know, Holtzapffel made very little outside their lathes. In general, the practical maker assesses their capabilities and resources and outsources everything for which they don't have a unique advantage. That having been said, we dont have any real evidence one way or another, so my theories are just theories.

I enjoy the premise that planes' commonality of design, and the efficiency of outsourcing, point to a London community of tool makers that supported each other.

I would love to find some documentation about how the hardware manufacturing business worked in London in the 19th century.

House brand infill planes in the Rd. Melhuish 1912 catalog

Machined casting ready for stuffing from the Rd. Melhuish 1912 catalog

Not much shop time today. I rolled out of the rack late and I had an appointment at the VA. No complete glue up but I at least got the ends cooking. I had to do the vampire act also. The doc put an order in for blood work and they drained me to fill 11 vials. Never had that many with any previous blood work.  

Tomorrow will be a zero shop time day probably. I have a lung biopsy at the West Roxbury VA at 0900. I expect to get home late - after 1800 so I'll only get to go to shop and look around and fondle whatever tools I have on the workbench.

sanded

Last night after dinner I had done some sanding. I finished that up first thing this AM.

hmm......

I'm a wee bit short on these clips. I need four more of them. Ordered a 100 of them from Lee Valley last night. Woodcraft sells them too but the last ones I got from them were stamped and they were thin. I like these because they are thicker and stiffer. I haven't deformed any screwing them down like the thinner Woodcraft ones did. (I've since shitcanned them)

before I glue up

Wanted to chop the mortises for the table top clips now before the legs are attached.

glued and cooking

Made good progress. I wasn't sure I would get these done before I left for my appointment.

shelf

Squeezed in gluing up the shelf. It will be roughly 12-13 inches wide and about 28 inches long. One board will be 9" and the other about 5". I didn't do equal width boards for the shelf. I didn't want the screw through the bearer to screw into the glue joint between the boards.

wow

I like the grain pattern on this side. Black gum streaks, soaring cathedral point, and a sliver of sapwood are all like eye candy for me.

stress free glue up

I got an almost dead flush glue joint on both faces. The only hiccup were these two clamps needed a helping hand laying flat on the top.

the front runner

I like this a lot but I am not sure others will share that opinion. At this point it is the leading contender for being the up face.

opposite face

This face grain is a lot tamer. On the glue joint there are matching black gum streaks that make this look like it is one wide board. Both sides IMO are a winner but I'm still leaning towards the one above.

just noticed this

I have done a lot of bone headed, brain fart induced me-steaks but this has got to be the leading contender for the #1 spot. How could I chop 6 of these mortises and not see that I was all by myself out in La La Land? I'll have to chop six more on the correct edge.

last 8 mortises

Did these with the plunge router and a carbide 1/8" router bit. A lot cleaner looking than the hand chopped ones.

shim stock

I don't think these slots will visible but I am going to fill them in anyways. I was hoping to bring these out to the driveway and spray shellac on the slats. I might be able to squeeze that in after dinner.

last three

This filled up the mortises better than I had hoped for. The mortises weren't that clean and smooth but the shims filled them in good.

accidental woodworker

 Almost got the table glued up but it didn't happen boys and girls. No life alternating glitches or brain farts stopped it, just the work flow didn't go as fast as I thought it would. Maybe tomorrow I'll get it glued and cooking. All I have to do besides some mind numbing sanding is to glue up the bottom shelf.

Miller Dowels

Put two dowels into the shelf from each end. I didn't put any in the back slats. The bottom shelf will keep the bookshelf together. The back slats were fitted snug into the mortises with glue. I doubt that they will ever give up the ship.

epoxy clean up

This isn't 100% cleaned up but close. It looks good with no bubbles and the color is uniform through out.

table top epoxy fill

The epoxy shaves off easily even with a dull iron. 

the opposite face

There is a void on this side. Debating whether or not to fill it in. This is the underside and will never be seen. hmm.......

sigh.....

I was planing the burn marks off and both stretchers bowed on me. The left one you can see. The right one bowed up. Both of these are toast so I'll have to come up with another plan for securing the bottom shelf.

bottom shelf bearer

Three times is the charm for me. That is how many attempts before I got it right. I'll have to fill in a few holes after this is done. I screwed the bearer to the bottom rail dry, no glue.

chopping mortises

The depth of the bottom mortises are 3/8" deep and I chopped the top ones 1/2" deep.

fitting the slats

I purposely made the slats oversized in the width and thickness. Planed each one to fit their respective mortises.

not a me-steak

I forgot to saw the slats to length. Not a boo-boo but a work slow down. 

another boo-boo

One tight fitting dowel threw  hissy fit. It broke off flush with the top of the hole when I tried to pull it out with pliers. I had to drill it out again with the doweling jig. I left it on the bench just in case I ran into this again. Measured for the length of the slats with the end dry clamped.

left side

I like this. IMO it better than not having any slats at all. 

done

Got both ends dry clamped and two of the slats have gaps. All the slats fit snug and I don't need to glue them. The two gaps are at the ends that I will fill in with wedges.

hmm......

I don't like this look. The miter heels should be facing down and not up. The miters will be partially visible and will look better that way.

super glue

This rail has a bazillion little cracks that I filled with super glue. I don't know exactly what they are but I filled them mostly so they won't show when the shellac goes on.

Weather has gone screwy lately. Last week it was unseasonably hot for a couple of days. Now the temps have dropped and the overnight temps will be close to freezing (0C) for a while. I was going to shut the heat off but that won't be happening for a while yet.

accidental woodworker 

blurry but readable

Unclamped it and checked for more splits and I found none. Both of the two 3 1/2" wide boards will give up the aprons/rails for the table.

hmm......

I am going to dowel the table together and the doweling jig matches the width of the apron/rail boards. I was expecting to get maybe 3 dowels and not all 5.

done

Having 5 dowels on each end will strengthen the leg to rail connection. I paid attention to the alignment tic marks before I did any drilling. Paid off because I didn't screw up any of them. I usually brain fart on this step due to not paying attention and jumping before I look.

birds eye cherry

I looked this up and there is such a thing as birds eye cherry. There isn't a lot of it but enough to catch my limited attention. I have two 6 foot long boards of this.

got it right

There is a 3/8" spacer with the jig which put the center of the dowel holes dead on the center of the leg. 

no problems

The dowels don't hit/touch on each other. I was able to fully seat both of the rails and close them up gap free.

survived

Doing the leg doweling was nerve wracking. First baby steps were getting the layout for the aprons/rails. There are 6 of them, two each on the sides, and two at the top front and back. There are no bottom front/rear aprons/rails.

Once I sorted that out, which took a while and involved a whole lot of erasing, I drilled the first one. I set a reference face for the doweling jig and I agonized about getting it right for all six locations. A lot of second guessing and double checking but I finally got it done with any brain farts.

sneak peek

I like this but after seeing it I think I should have made it a little higher - 4-6 inches?

hmm.....

A single stretcher on the bottom isn't enough. The bottom shelf will be in between the inside of the bottom rails. I will have to put two stretchers in to support the bottom shelf.

side slats

Played around with this and initially went with 5 slats and then changed that to 3. Finally settled on this, one center wide slat with two outside smaller ones.

filling some holes

I stuffed a bunch of cherry shavings in the hole on the top before filling it with epoxy. The one on the rail doesn't extend to the opposite face. When I checked it an hour later it had sunk below the top. I'll have to fill it with a second round of epoxy. The second hole on the rail didn't sink so it won't need to  be refilled.

the new table

Everything needed to make the table except for the bottom shelf. I am still deciding on whether to use the birds eye or plain sawn cherry.

sigh

The first stretcher I sawed out bowed before I set it aside. The next two came out flat and straight. I'll let them relax for a couple of days and fingers crossed they stay this way.

accidental woodworker 

 I went to Koszela Lumber today and got the cherry for the upcoming small table. I finalized the plans for it in my head but that doesn't mean that is what I'll make. I'm still a little fuzzy about how to attach the legs and the number of aprons are still subject to change. Hope to start on that in the AM or monday at the latest.

4/4 cherry

I was hoping for rough sawn but she didn't have any. This 4/4 is dead on 3/4" thick. Two, five foot boards 3 1/2" wide for at least 4 aprons. Three six boards 9 1/4" because they looked too good to leave there. Two of the boards have a bunch of pin hole knots that look like birds eye maple. One of those will be for the bottom shelf.

sigh

I think I finally have solved this plane. The right side flat seat is lower than the one on the right. This is the best I could come up with to measure it. Would be better if I had some machinists measuring tools to do it properly.

hmm.....

This is a new iron from Lie Nielson for my 9 1/2 blockplane. There is a flat at the toe which means I have a lot of runway work to do first. I set this aside and picked a different iron to start with.

Donna's pen box

The toes aren't dead on even, but there aren't any gaps.

the cherry top

The rest of box looks on the plain side. Maybe I should inlay some banding to break all the whiteness of the poplar.

first iron

The iron is out of square. Not much but enough that I need to address it. I have found over the years that it way easier to deal with multiple iron problems one at a time. There are two with this iron - first I addressed the out of square by dragging the iron vertically down the runway until it was square.

The 2nd problem was sharpening the iron. I find it is easier to not drive myself postal trying to sharpen and square at the same time. Of course I had to expend a ton of calories to sharpen because squaring the iron left a flat on the toe.

got lucky

I found a piece of 5/4 scrap cherry under the sharpening bench. Now I have enough stock to redo the ends for the 2nd bookshelf.

messy work

With all the runway grinding I had upcoming I changed the sandpaper on both runways. I usually use mineral spirits to soften the glue residue but I gave alcohol a shot because it doesn't smell as bad as mineral spirits does. 

Might smell better but mineral spirits softens the glue residue a hundred times better than alcohol.

3 left

Got two irons for the LN 102 and 103 block planes both of which have flats on the toe. The last iron to be done is for the violin plane. It was almost 1300 when I got back to the shop to finish this up. I had thought I would have been done before lunch but it took a lot longer than anticipated.

violin iron

These jaws for the LN honing guide are for short length irons etc. I can't use my normal 25° setting jig but this old Lee Valley setting jig works fine.

done

Seven irons finally done. Three were out of square, three had flats at the toe, and two just needed to be honed.

RML shavings

After the stones I stropped each iron before getting each one to spit on a set of RML shavings.

ain't done yet

Missed one iron - left it in the block plane. Didn't notice it until I tried to put a freshly sharpened iron in it.

almost there

Most of the waste got (>1/4") removed with the tablesaw and the ryoba saw. I just have to plane it down to the knife lines. Just found out that I've been spelling the japanese handsaw wrong. It is Ryoba not Ryobi.

yikes

Big split on the apron/rail stock. Opened it up, slathered some glue in/on it and clamped it.

hmm.....

Turns out that there were two splits that required my attention.I will let this cook until tomorrow and I'll eyeball it for any other splits in the AM.

accidental woodworker 

The past two days this blog got an average of 164 views -then today it got 1,585 views. Must be Chris – yup Chris Schwarz included a link in his post today – to something I wrote almost 14 years ago! About using hand tools, why I do it, etc. I’ll add some up-to-date thoughts on that subject in a minute. But first, thanks for the nod, Chris. If you are one of the 1,500 people who came here today, welcome. These days this blog mostly serves as an archive of my work. I started it in 2008 – and still post something here once in a while, but mostly I’ve been writing on my “new” blog at Substack – https://peterfollansbeejoinerswork.substack.com/ – I started there in 2023 – after seeing Schwarz’s substack blog. That blog has changed my life – the support I get there is a great benefit for which I am very grateful. When I first left museum work, I spent a lot of time on the road, teaching classes in Maine, Connecticut, North Carolina, Minnesota and some further-flung places too. All that travel got pretty draining and made shop work very choppy. Now I’ve reduced my teaching to just a few times each year and instead I put a lot of effort into the blog – trying to make sure that the readers there get their money’s worth. I try to post at least twice a week and aim to make the posts worth the time & money that the readers spend on them…

One thing I talked about in that 14-year old post is how the work I did for 20 years at the living history museum was a perfect situation for me – my living was derived from working with/for the museum visitors – not selling the handmade things I created. I got so much practice there that wouldn’t have been possible in the “real” world – it was quite an education. A quote from that post is “I often maintain that if I had to sell my furniture to make my living, it would not work the way I do it.”

Well – less than 2 years after I wrote that post, I quit that job and struck out on my own. And I’m still plugging away 12 years after that. And it’s partially true – if my whole income was dependent on selling my handmade items, I’d be hard-pressed. But now my income is split among a few branches of this woodworking I do – teaching a few classes each year at Pete Galbert’s in Berwick, Maine https://www.petergalbert.com/schedule , making stuff to sell – that’s mostly furniture, but also includes some instructional videos I’ve created here in my shop and some plans/drawings I developed with Jeff Lefkowitz – there’s links to those things on my little-used website – https://www.peterfollansbee-joiner.com/ The furniture I usually post on the substack blog – sometimes I put it on the website, then write a blog post pointing to it. And the books through Lost Art Press https://lostartpress.com/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage&options%5Bprefix%5D=last&q=Follansbee&filter.p.product_type= with more to come there.

So – do I still work exclusively with hand tools, now that I’m out on my own and getting older (68 going on 69) every day? Almost 100% yes. I work with green hardwoods – splitting the boards from logs. Mostly oak. Big logs. I split them at the yard where I buy them, then move the large sections here to my yard. So I gladly accept help of friends with a chainsaw to cut those large logs.

For decades now I’ve had the benefit of Rick McKee’s help when I’m log-shopping. He’s deft enough with that saw – and I’m nowhere near competent with them, so lucky to have his help. Plus it’s better to split those big ones with company too – even if it’s just to provide the rest-breaks that come with conversation. Here at my yard, when I need to saw some of the split bolts to length, I use a corded electric chainsaw. Always starts, no gas, etc. From there, all the woodwork is my usual assortment of hand tools. The lathe is still a pole lathe, powered by foot & caloric intake.

I did have some help recently from another long-time collaborator – Pret Woodburn, who helped me build the shop – did some tablesaw work for me. I made this large box from some quartersawn white oak boards – but the boards had wide sections of sapwood that needed to be gone.

If it had been riven stock, I could have split & hewn the sapwood off – but it didn’t look or feel reliable enough to split. And hewing dry stock is not all that pleasant. I can use a ripsaw, but when I marked out all the cuts, it just made more sense to get them machined. From there, I did all the planing and cutting – more than enough of it. And it was a pleasure. (same gig for a walnut box that I started about the same time.) But now it’s back to green wood that responds well to the froe, axe and plane.

The only other concession that I have is a grinder – I’ve just replaced my old Tormek with a CBN wheel on a slow-speed-that-seems-fast-to-me grinder. It’s so new I have little to report, other than good so far.

I feel like I’ve been to confession. My plan is to keep using the tools and methods I’ve used all these years til my body gives out. I’ve planed thousands of feet of riven oak boards and I never tire OF it – I get tired from it, but then after a night’s rest, I’m ready to go again. So until you hear otherwise, I’ll keep slashing away; froe, hatchet, planes, saws, chisels & gouges and more. I’m sure I’ll slow down, but I hope to get quite a few more years in. I have stuff I still want to make. And we still gotta eat.

If you didn’t see Chris’s post – here it is, with the link to my old post at the bottom https://christopherschwarz.substack.com/p/earlywood-if-theyd-had-a-biscuit