Accidental Woodworker

Made good progress on the glass door cabinet today. Door is half done and I put a decent dent in getting the muntin bars done. Happy with how this coming out. There isn't much more to do. I'm sure the door is going to consume the most time to finish this cabinet. I ordered the hinges from Horton Brasses and they should be here the first of next week. Hinges don't fill me with dread anymore. I'm looking forward to knocking them out easy peasy.

door rail measurement

The door is isn't dead nuts square. It is off about a 32nd which isn't that bad. I decided to make the door oversized by a 1/8" in the width and height. That should be sufficient wiggle room for trimming and fitting the door to the opening.

dowels

I have never doweled a door of this size together before this. Four dowels in the top rail and 5 for the bottom rail. I didn't screw this up and drilled the all the holes correctly.

set up and rock hard

All of the holes I filled in with the epoxy were all still proud. None of them had sunken or dripped away. Flushed them with a blockplane and touched them up with some 120 grit sandpaper.

dry fit

hmm..... it would seem that I made the door a 1/4" wider than the opening. Not a big deal because I made all the stiles and rails a 1/8" wider. 

glue up time

I thought doing this glue with yellow glue might be a PITA due to open time. I wasn't sure that I could get glue on all the dowels and in some in the holes before the glue froze. I managed ok and no hiccups. Did the dowels/holes on one stile, added the rails, and repeated it on the other stile. Worked well and nothing froze and I got a got a nice line of squeeze out on all four corners.

center rail

This rail is dry - no glue or dowels. It is to help keep the stiles from bowing in/out and from twisting during glue up.

glued and cooking

I clamped the the top and bottom over and under to keep the rails straight into the stiles. I also made sure that the door was laying tight against both clamps. Trying to fix a door that is twisted is like trying to put socks on a pig. 

bottom front rail

This front bottom rail ended up proud of the bottom of the two sides. Used my big LN blockplane and frequent checks with the straight edge to flush it.

door stop

I'm thinking of two more door stop possibilities. Maybe another full width one at the bottom and a partial one on the stile where the knob will be. The partial one is a definite maybe because it will also have the magnetic catch to keep the door closed.

muntins

I made the muntin bars 7/8" wide and 3/4" thick. Still running how to do the muntin bar rebates for the glass through the brain bucket. Going with wide muntins to help stiffen the door. 

asymmetrical layout

The top and bottom muntin bars are 7" high with the two between them about 13" high. I may change the height of the top and bottom after the center vertical bar is installed.

1/2" plywood

The bottom isn't going to be visible and short people won't be able to see the top. Either way both are getting painted and that will hide what type wood it is. Glued and nailed both of them in place with 1" brads.

top done

The top overhangs on 2 sides because neither the top or the bottom is square. 

flush trim bit

This plywood is a )(@&%&)@Q&%*)(Q@_ to hand plane. Decided to flush the sides and front with some electrical help.

no twist

It looked flat/straight to my eyeballs but I wanted confirmation. The sticks said that there is zero twist in the door on the either face.

a wee bit proud

3 of the 8 rail/stile connections were a bit proud. Scraped the glue off first, then knocked most of the proud off with the block plane, and followed that up with 120 grit sandpaper.

what a mess

I had planned to do the rabbet in the door from the git go with the electric router. I couldn't come up with a game plan for doing the stopped rabbets by hand that I liked. After listening to the router scream and the mess it made in the shop maybe I should have brain stormed a wee bit longer.

last corner squared off

The rabbet is 1/2" deep and 3/8" wide. 

vertical muntin bar

The ends will be buried in the top and bottom rails about 3/4". That should be enough to provide a secured glue joint and keep the muntin bar from twisting.

will it fit?

Got the tenon and the notch chopped without incident.

hmm.....

Top was too tight and I had to plane the top outside faces before it fit in the notch. I didn't make the tenon long enough. The bottom face of the muntin bar needs to be flush with the face side of the rails.

it fits

There is slight gap at the top and bottom where the muntin bar shoulder meets the rail. I will epoxy a shim in them when I glue the muntin bars in.

less than 16th

I purposely marked and sawed into the waste side when I did this. I thought I would end up having to trim it to fit but I got a couple frog hairs worth of a gap to deal with.

I'm hoping tomorrow that I'll be done with the muntin bars. So far it is going much quicker then I expected and with no screw ups. Fingers crossed that joy continues in the AM.

accidental woodworker

 About 49 (wowie?) years ago while I was in BEE school (basic electricity and electronics) in the Navy I was late for school one day. There were 11 other late comers all in a line being drilled by the Master Chief as to why we weren't where we were supposed to be? I was 4th in line and 3 previous all said the alarm clock didn't wake them up. When he got to me I told him I had no excuse I wasn't where I supposed to be at the time I supposed to be there. Me not having an excuse threw him for a loop and he  asked me if I would do it again. I told him no because I didn't like the idea of having to stand here explaining why again.

When the Master Chief got done he let me go and kept the other 11. I was the only one to own up to being late with no excuse. All of them blamed their problem on alarm clocks. That was the only time I was late or missed an appointment until today. I woke up at 0705 having a podiatry appointment at 0730. I couldn't get a hold of the clinic until 0816. Embarrassed to have to make that call and reschedule. I don't oversleep often and I certainly didn't think I would do it today. I'll blame it on being 70+ years old and not setting the alarm clock.

last dry clamp

Got all the biscuit slots done and did a dry clamp to rehearse for the real one with glue. Did it twice hoping that hiccups would bite me on the arse.

needed two more

I forgot the biscuit slots for the bottom front rail. The backer was to allow something for the entire fence of the jointer to rest on. Without it, almost half of the fence was hanging out in the air. This is a pic of the top front rail slot. I found I hadn't done the bottom ones on the dry clamp run.

glued and cooking

Got this done just before the lunch bell chimed.

hmm......

Checking to ensure that the door stiles have lots of wiggle room.

hmm......

Happy with the diagonal report - less than a 16th off from each other. Repeated the same for the back.

sneak peek

There is a base coming for this that will raise it up 4-6". Haven't decided on a design for it yet but it will be something simple.

side sneak peek

I just realized that with the back I did this could be viewed as finished from all four sides. There won't be a need to bury the back up against a wall.

with home made filler

I was going to buy some Bondo to fill in screw heads and biscuit slot ends but then I remembered this. Epoxy and silica dust will work just as well and save me a few $$$.

over filled

I am not sure how well this will stay in place. This will go vertical and the filler may flow out with gravity helping it. This epoxy also takes 24 hours to set up and stays workable (from past uses) for at least 45 minutes. I'll find out in the AM if I need to do another round.

accidental woodworker

out of the clamps

There is a slight gap at the shoulders. The cheeks are tight and gap free. I planed the the two arms flush. 

one point for the home team

The wooden square is still reading 90 degrees according to Big Red. And it still read 90 with the legs switched.

smiley face on

Found my Union saddle square on the tablesaw fence this morning. I almost bought one last night from Lee Valley and I'm glad I didn't.

cross brace

Laid this out based on the brace and arms being 3/4" thick. After I laid it out I realized that I had planed 1/8" off the legs. So I ran a second gauge line on the brace above the pencil line to compensate.

nope

I have a bazillion routers and none of them had a base plate long enough to span between the shoulders. The LN rabbet blockplane worked flawlessly after removing the bulk of the waste with a chisel.

too small

The LN rabbet blockplane wouldn't fit and I reached for the Record 073. I didn't bother to check doing it with a router plane.

first dry fit

The brace is a wee bit proud. It is a strong 16th shy of being flush with the bottom. Did a second leveling of the brace half laps.

still reading 90

I didn't get the top flush but I was ok with that. I stopped once I had removed 1/2 of the brace half lap. The brace doesn't have to be flush with the legs top or bottom.

clamped and cooking

I screwed the half lap on the legs on both sides but no screws for the brace. I am going to rely solely on the glue to keep it together.

ring box

This doesn't look too bad with one coat. The 'white' on the box sides doesn't show much evidence of a finish. Another coat in the AM and then a coat of wax. I am going to give this to my sister Donna.

don't remember this

This was kind of square, only a few spots needed to be knocked down. The pine is beat up a bit and there was a split on the end of one of the legs. Both legs were also out of square on the face. I could see it without needing to check it with a square.I must have made this just to see if I could do it. I don't recall needing a square of this style or need.

fixing the split

There is a partial rabbet on both legs for 3-4 inches at the ends. Can't think of any reason for them which makes me think this was an experiment. Maybe I knocked this out when I went nutso and made a boatload of wooden squares?

flushing the brace

I'm not doing any round overs or other design on the ends of the legs. I want that part to stay flat so I can put a clamp on it.

top front rail

Placing this rail as is and the door will be an insert one. This rail will also provide the space to put a molding and not interfere with the door opening/closing. It will also shorten the length of the door stiles which should increase them staying straight and flat.

bottom rail

I don't want this one to be the same as the top rail. If it was it might be a pain in the ass to lift things over it to put them in the interior and to get them back out. There shouldn't be any stress on either of these rails. All they are doing is keeping the sides parallel top to bottom.

oops

I don't use biscuits that often anymore and I screwed up setting the height of the biscuit jointer. I initially had set it for 3/4" thinking the jointer saw blade would centered on 3/4" thick stock. I was wrong again and it worked as it should when I set it for 3/8" - now it was centered for 3/4" stock.

glued and cooking

I wasn't going to glue a biscuit in this errant slot but changed my mind. I'll do the correct slot in the AM.

biscuits laid out

The sides will get attached to the back with a biscuit every 7-8". I was hoping to get that done today but it didn't happen boys and girls. Maybe tomorrow where I should be able to get a rough idea on the height/width of the door. The stiles for that still eyeball straight and flat. 

accidental woodworker

squaring them up

The plan was to square the bottoms of all three and then get the height adjusted and finally square off the tops. It didn't go as to plan. I couldn't get the bottoms of the sides to read square. I could read square from one long side and the opposite one was slightly off. Just enough to be annoying and needing attention. 

I went back and forth seemingly forever trying to adjust this. I ended up sawing the long sides (parallel) on the tablesaw. When I had measured them the sides were a strong 16th off from top to bottom. After I got the sides parallel I had to square the bottoms again because both ways were off.

Now I got square from both sides. Then I got the length of all three the same and finished by squaring the tops.

making the battle plan

Decided to use biscuits to attach the sides to the back. I'll biscuit one side and let it cook before doing the opposite one. Got both sides dried squared here to get the length on this top front rail. Switching from dowels to biscuits and screws (?) to attach it.

The biscuit operation didn't happen. I didn't have enough to do the sides but it worked to my advantage. I hadn't sanded the inside faces of the three panels yet. That was next and I only sanded it with 120 because this is getting painted.

need a bigger square

The black ones work for keeping the ends square but I don't have anything for the middle. I didn't feel like making a road trip for biscuits so I made a larger clamping square.

oops

I sawed the half lap on the bandsaw, wrong. I thought I had set the fence (with 3/8" set up bar) so the half lap would be strong. I positioned the set up bar so the blade was past it by strong 32nd (wrong way). I should have did it so the blade was a 32nd the other way. I'll plane the two legs flush after the square has cooked.

only need the outside

Dry clamped to see if this was feasible. This will work - I'll be able to glue the half lap and clamp it while also clamping the wooden square to Big Red.

yikes

Where is the missing tool? FYI - it is my Union 90 square. Lost an hour scouring the shop trying to find it and nada. I even emptied two shit cans sifting through them to check I hadn't swept it up. I couldn't find it after spending over an hour searching. On the flip side of the coin, the shop is swept clean and tidy now. I'll give it a few days before I buy another one - I use this constantly and the Blue Spruce one I have is too big.

accidental woodworker

 What a miserable way to spend more than half a day. At 0830 I was at my local Firestone tire store because my driver side rear tire wouldn't hold air. While I was there, I noticed the passenger side rear was looking soft and sad. To shorten my tale of woe, I got back to the barn just before 1400 - $497.37 lighter with two new rear tires, OUCH, OUCH, and OUCH again. I wasn't expecting to spend this much and it will put a serious dent in my discretionary $$$ for fun stuff this month and maybe a part of september too. 

after dinner last night

Went back to the shop to glue that weird hiccup on the edge of this ass'y. It looked good after the clamps came off. I could readily pick out it still and I'll have to use some putty to flush it. Paint will hide any evidence of it after.

afternoon session

Stayed late in the shop today to have something to show for it. Clamps off and used the LN 102 to knock down the high/proud on the rails/stiles.

too much twist (?)

I'm not sure if this came from me when I clamped this. I do know that I didn't check the glue up to ensure that it was laying flat/tight to the clamps. Regardless I will have to deal with it.

bottom

Not as bad as it is at the top but I still have to flatten it out.

better

There is almost nothing here at the middle rail. The plan percolating in the brain bucket was to try to spread this out across the width of the back. I didn't want to take all the wood off the uplifted side stile.

it is working

Definitely had to remove more on the left side than the right but I think I balanced it pretty good overall. I didn't go nutso trying to get it flat +/- an atom or two. I concentrated on outside 1" getting that flat between the left and right stiles.

stopping here

Nothing is married to the face side of the stiles. The outside edges will be secured to faces of the side rear stiles so it is only important that these two surfaces are square to each other.

dead square

The back panel ass'y is dead nuts square. The diagonals were barely off the width of a black division line on the tape.

back

The two sides are pretty good on size, both width and height. The back is 1/8" taller than the sides. Not sure if I want to leave it and plane it square after the sides are attached or plane it off now. I got time to figure it out.

sneak peak

This needs something at the front to help hold it together. A rail at the top and bottom to keep the sides from folding inward or falling outward. Just thought of another issue that has to do with the door. Should it be a overlay or insert door? I had planned on an insert door but an overlay door would be easier than an insert one.

door stock

The two long ones are the stiles and they look straight and flat to my eye. Fingers crossed that they will still look the same in the AM.

muntin stock

This should be more than enough for the muntins for the door. I even have extra for several oops if need be.

garbage and ....

The left one is the plywood I got sunday from Woodcraft. Two thin veneers for the outside faces with a single ply between them. 6mm plywood on the right, 5 plies. Two thin outside face veneers with 3 plies between them. Should have bought the 6mm and sanded/planed it fit the grooves. Sigh.

insurance

The bottom rail for the door is 3 1/2" wide and got two of them. Got two top rails at 3" wide. All of them look flat and straight for now.

maybe

I might be able to use one or two of these as a back stile. One of them has a groove so that one isn't a good candidate. 

wonky

All three of these are straight and flat until this short area at the end where it wanders out into left field. I didn't measure it to see if it is long enough because I didn't want to find out they were a 1/2" short. 

needs some attention

The back bottom isn't square and one side ass'y is out of square at the top. Tomorrow I'll square up the bottom edge and set the height too. I'll then saw the two sides to match it. The top and bottom rails are an 1/8" wider - the top at 3 1/8" and the bottom at 3 5/8". I did that to allow for trimming and squaring things up.

accidental woodworker

old bookcase

This is the only project that I made with divided glass lites. I have made several cabinets with glass doors but all were made with one piece of glass. I made this 10+ years ago(?) and I eyeballed it to see how I did it. I had been thinking about it for for a couple of days and nada. Once I saw this the light bulb finally came on.

glazing putty

I put on rabbet all the way around on the inside. Then I put in the glazing bars - two pieces, a front flat one and an thin inside one. The panes are held in place with glazing putty and glaziers points. I want an unsymmetrical arrangement of lites for the current cabinet too. Now I have a starting point for making the current door.

hmm......

Yikes! This is a screwball type of a hiccup. I only found it because it stuck a sliver of wood into my index finger. Now that I'm typing this I realized I totally forgot to fix it. I'll have to make sure that I do it in the AM.

happy face on

Fiddled a bit more on the tenons and did a dry clamp up. Happy with how all the rail/stile connections look. Any misalignment I'm sure I can easily feather out.

width measurement

I thought both the upper and lower width were dead nuts.

I was wrong

 Almost a 1/8" difference, but how? I checked it again and I hadn't fully seated one of the sticks in the groove. Checked the two of them again and now they were dead nuts on.

height sticks

Didn't make the same mistake with the height. I put the top measurement on one side and the bottom one on the other face. The top panel is 1/8" taller than the bottom one. 

experiment time

I want to use a dowel joint but I wasn't sure how to do it with the dowel max jig. It is a 'T' joint. The first part was easy but the 2nd mating one made me feel like I didn't haven't an IQ with double digits.

hmm.....

My jury rigged test failed. I don't know how I ended up with this offset. I was feeling a little smug before I saw this. When in doubt, RTI (read the instructions) as the last resort.

T joint instructions

These were initially as clear as mud. I read them a bazillion times and nada - I was still clueless. One thing I couldn't reconcile or understand was the drawing on the right side page. 

5.67mm plywood

I set aside the dowel max and made a road trip to Woodcraft. There was one 30x30 6mm plywood panel but it was too thick at 6.43mm. I bought a 1/4" thick 24x48 plywood panel that measured this. The panel edge plies look liked complete garbage compared to the 6mm edge plies. However, it fit snug and is self supporting. The other bonus is I got all 4 panels out of this with some box making stock left over.

dry fit

Got a good fit with all four panels. I checked for square measuring the inside of the panels and all said I was square.

glued and cooking

Met my goal of getting the side assemblies glued and cooking. I'll start on the door tomorrow. I think I will only saw out the stiles and rails. I won't make it until I have the sides and back together. I'll need to have that to get the final size for the door.

ta da

Finally figured it out. Turns out the drawing and the instructions don't tell the complete story to do a 'T' joint. You have take one part of the jig apart and put it back together so you can drill the dowel holes in the face of the mating piece. Nice feeling to see the joint come together correctly.

the 'T' joint place

I have been thinking about using this joint at the top front of the cabinet. Still undecided about whether or not to place it horizontally or vertically.

it will work

As I was looking at the placement of the rail (above pic) I thought that the jig wouldn't fit for the 2nd part of the 'T'. The excess horns did a job with my head making me think that it wouldn't fit where it should. I was wrong and the proof of the pudding is the jig placement itself.

accidental woodworker 

first side panel ass'y

Initial check of the tenons said that not only did they fit but they were snug and self supporting. In the on deck circle was trimming the tenons and checking the fit of them fully seated.

first dry fit

Happy with this. The tenons haven't been sucked down fully but they look ok at all the rail and stile connections. This first dry fit confirms that the tenons are good as is.

fully seated

No hiccups when I clamped across the three rails. The rail/stile joints are dead nuts flush and none are off more than a frog hair or two.

2nd side panel

The bottom rail/stile connection (IMO) is unacceptable. It is about a strong 32nd on both faces and the same headache on the opposite end. The difference is too much to sand/plane and feather out. The other four connections are acceptable.

plywood fits

I got the panel to slide into the corner without having to beat into place with a mallet. However, I don't like this as I can see a slight misalignment between the rail and stile groove walls. Most likely I sawed the tenons of this one wrong from the other two in this set.

see it?

I got the thin and thick walls between the rail and stile as it should be. I don't like not having the groove walls aligned. This little bit may bite me on the arse at glue up if I leave it. The fix is to either remove some wood from one face of the tenon and shim the opposite face or enlarge the mortise and shim the tenons afterward.

and the winner is....

Decided to avoid thinning the tenon and reducing its strength. Instead I am going to enlarge the mortise but only by removing wood from the thick walled side of the groove. A bit tedious removing some wood and then checking the fit repeatedly.

oak veneer

When I got close I checked the fit of the tenon and it was decent with this oak veneer. I still had more to go and in the end the oak veneer turned out to be too thin.

bandsawn veneer

I only needed two shims, one on each tenon. I sawed these a bit fat so after they were cooked I would have to trim them to fit.

almost

Slow going moving the rail flush with the stile. I think at this point I had moved it forward about 3/4 of the way. I was using a chisel and a rasp. One problem I had was I went from a tapered wall (side to side and not up/down) to one with a hump. Removing the hump tried my patience big time.

done

There is a huge improvement in rail/stile flush. It is close enough that I can feather it out flush with sanding. It took me over an hour to get this rail flush with the stiles.

cooking

Glued on the shims and set them aside to cook for a couple of hours. Killed the lights here because watching glue dries sucks.

90 minutes later

I am liking this LN rabbet plane more and more for trimming tenon cheeks every time I use it. It took almost no time at all to get both cheeks fitting snug and almost flush.

first one fitted

Haven't decided yet but I could place this on the inside of the cabinet. That will depend upon how it looks after it is glued and sanded smooth.

done

Got the second one fitted quicker than the first one. Both of them came out snug and self supporting.

I only have one 30x30 6mm plywood panel which will only give up two panel inserts and I need 4. I will make a road trip to the Walpole Woodcraft tomorrow. On sunday the traffic will be almost nonexistent. I'll saw up the panels and get the two assemblies glued and cooking. Then its on to the door.

accidental woodworker 

out of the clamps

I was mildly surprised by how the rail/stile joints looked after coming out of the clamps. I didn't see/feel any of misalignment seen/felt on the dry fit up.

the worse one

This rail/stile is misaligned about 3 frog hairs. Happy with how it turned out. I think the stiffness of the  6mm plywood had a lot to do with it.

6mm  fillers

I got the fillers from ripping off the walls on the off cuts from the rails. They are almost a perfect fit - I'll just have to shave a wee bit to flush them.

sawing the horns

I laid out a pencil line a few frog hairs proud. Sawed it off on that and planed the stile ends flush with the bottom of the rails.

done

Much easier than I anticipated. In the back of the brain bucket I envisioned a lot of scenarios where I butchered this saw cut. Out of square in a bazillion directions were the headliners.

last one to smooth, flush, and square

I'll have to repeat this dance steps when I do the sides. I think I'll approach them with a lot less apprehension.

6mm fillers

I didn't leave the stub when I sawed the tenons to width. Once the cabinet is together the empty hole will never be seen. Filled it in mostly to give me a warm and fuzzy about keeping the bottom from twisting.

side project

Both of these are covers for my cell phone. If I put the cell phone in my pocket, as I walk it will intermittently shut off, lower the volume, or load a new you tube. Putting this on top of the phone between the screen and my pocket shut down 99.9% of this nonsense. I listen to podcasts on You Tube on my post lunch strolling - the cell phone blue tooth goes right to my blue tooth hearing aids.

chopping side mortises

I got two stiles done before lunch time rolled around.

3 coats

I'm going with 6-7 coats on these. I sweat a lot on my strolling and shellac doesn't like moisture. Hoping the multiple coats will help.

sigh

I screwed it up again. I want to scream and I did along with a barrage of expletives not to be heard in mixed company. The quirk making all the problems - the 6mm groove isn't centered. When I made the test groove a couple of days ago I didn't center it before plowing the grooves in the rails and stiles. I just ensured that I marked an X on the reference face for the fence.

That hiccup made for a lost interchangeability, that I had to check to make sure as I laid out the mortises. Here the grooves - the wide and skinny walls aligned but I laid out the mortises opposite. I put the top at the bottom on one and the opposite on the other. Result is the groove walls don't align with the mortises. I had to make a new stile.

FYI

One thing I've learned over the years is to leave the tools set and don't change them. If I need a different groove set up I will set and use another plow plane - I have five of them. I will not break down or stow a tool until the project is complete, finished, over with, a check mark in the done column. And it seems I lost my ability to count again because I have 3 extra stiles so I guess that is serendipitous.

double, triple checking it

There isn't a huge difference in the groove walls but it is enough to throw off sliding the panels in place. I stopped and walked away 4 times before I said it was aligned and it was ok to lay out the mortise locations.

side rails

Before I started the tenons I checked that all of these aligned. I used the X reference face to ensure they matched.

snug fit

Cut the tenons on the tablesaw and got a good fit and it is also self supporting.

sawing the cheek waste

old habit

I will save the off cut waste for just in case. I checked two more tenons for fit and I was happy with them. Probably won't need them and the pack rat in more says to save them for .......

chopping mortises again

Here you can see the two outside walls are just a wee bit fatter then the two inside ones. A subtle difference that will bite you on the arse and draw blood.

sigh or oops

These two rail tenons are too thin. They are a strong 32nd or more too loose in the mortise. The thickness of these two rails is about a strong 32nd more than the 3rd rail in this series. Hence the loose fitting tenons. Rather glue veneers on the cheeks I opted to make two new rails that are the same thickness as the 3rd rail (the bottom one).

extra rail stock

These are unused due to the change in the layout for the panels. I can get both the middle and top rails from these two.

done

Replacement rails done and test fitted. Snug and self supporting. All is well in Disneyland again.

6mm filler

The replacement rails came from stock that was grooved on both edges. The top edge of this one (which will be the top rail) I will fill in the groove. It will never be seen once the cabinet is finished. Filling it in will allow me to nail, screw, or glue along this edge as needed.

Looking ahead to tomorrow to finish chopping the mortises and get the side assemblies glued, clamped, and cooking. Then I can start on the door and how to make the divided lite glazing bars.

accidental woodworker

 It was hot, humid, and sticky today. The post lunch stroll was a PITA. I did a 3 Stooges routine trying to peel my sweat soaked T shirt off when I got back to the barn. That tired me out more than the stroll did. In spite of that adventure I made good progress on the cabinet. There is still a long ways to go but every journey starts with the first step.

hmm......

Put the opposite stile on to see how it fit. Two of the tenons fit and two didn't. Part of the fun with mortise and tenon joinery for me it the fitting.

30 minutes later

Dry fitted and clamped. Happy with the rail to stile connections. All of them look good but a couple of them aren't flush. Some of the rails were slightly cupped - enough to cause a misalignment with the stiles. I didn't plane it because I didn't want to thin the rails at all. I'll deal with the alignment issues with planes, sanding, and wood putty because after all it is getting painted.

width first

setting the tablesaw

These sticks are for the height of the panels.

3 sets

I used leftover banding moldings for my measuring sticks.

3 panels

I don't have enough 6mm plywood for the cabinet. I figured this out before I brain farted and cut one wrong too. Another road trip to the Walpole Woodcraft is in the near future. I'll bring calipers so I can measure the thickness of the plywood.

oops

I made the bottom panel too wide or too tall. Depends upon whether you are a 1/2 full or 1/2 empty type personality. Spoiler alert - me-steak upcoming.

too small

I should have, would have, could have, but didn't eyeball the panel before running it through the saw. I didn't check to ensure that I had the orientation correct before trimming it to size.

not again

dry fit

I did an asymmetrical layout on the panels. The top and bottom panels are the same size with the middle panel being 1 1/2 inches taller.

hmm.....

Both of these squares are the only ones that I have that don't have shoulders. They lay flat in the panel and say all three are square. The wooden squares when checked with Mr Starrett are a paper width off square at the far end from the 90. Both say the panels are square and the diagonals are dead on too. I was having a deja vu sensation but the light bulb never came on. How can the say it is square when they are a frog hair off? Does that make a difference when used wood on wood this way? I'll look around for a small framing square or something similar.

side rails

Before gluing up the back I plowed the grooves in the six rails for the sides. Decided to go with two plywood panels in each side. I did that because the width of the plywood panel will be about 9 inches. The height around 22 inches.

going well

No hiccups or urges to find my 3lb sledge hammer. The first part of the glue up went off without a hitch and zero stress. Glued on the last stile, clamped it, and set it aside to cook. Hoping that the sides glue up as easy as this one.

paper thick gap

When I sighted down the stiles they looked pretty good to the eye. Not dead nuts perfectly straight but good enough maybe. I just have the two ends clamped and there is a varying gap everywhere in between the clamped ends. Just to be safe I did the stiles for the sides the same way I did the back stiles.

done

It took me about 30 minutes to plow all the grooves in the rails and stiles.
 

mortise layout

This story stick is a mess with a few incorrectly marked mortises. It was a bit confusing but I slowed down, took my time and got everything transferred correctly. Here I did the top, bottom, and the middle rail mortises.

got lucky

I grabbed the correct bottle for me. I got this being reversible from watching Rosa String Works you tube vids. It isn't as quick and easy as hide glue, but it is doable.

accidental woodworker 

what a clown show

I laid out the two stiles, one at a time. Then I laid the two against each other and they didn't agree. I have absolutely no idea how I screwed it up and gave up trying to figure it out. Instead I clamped the stiles together and planed as much of the layout lines off as I could. And I started over again

switched lanes

I didn't erase as much of the layout as I thought. What was left was confusing me and it took me a while checking the existing lines against what the layout stick had before moving forward for the 2nd time. 

two times was the charm

This finally worked and everything clicked into place. I clamped the layout stick and the two stiles together before I transferred mortise locations. The first time I tried this I couldn't get top or the bottom mortises to line up. Got it on the 2nd try.

not much

I double, triple checked the two stiles against each other a bazillion times. I even went topside, got a coffee came back and checked it one more time. Once I was satisfied that the plow plane had bottomed out it was on to chopping the mortises.

my first set of chisels

I got this set in the late 1970's or very early 1980's and for over 20 years I never knew that it was metric. Duh.

6mm chisel

I measured it with my calipers and it said it was 5.94mm. The chisel fit in the groove with a few frog hairs of wiggle room. It took me a few chops to get used to it. The flat on the top of the blade was a bit difficult to zoom in on to keep square in the groove.

about 3/8" at the widest

Both of the stiles are bowed - here I have them as they will be R and L.

gone

It takes almost zero pressure to flatten out the bow. I don't think the plywood will have any hiccups keeping the stiles straight. This is the back and I'll be able to flush the outside edges of the back stiles against the back edge of the sides.

first four chopped

This went surprising quick. It took me a little more than 30 minutes to whack them all out.

2nd set done

I left a lot of extra at the top and bottom of the stiles. A wee bit more than needed but then again I didn't get any blowouts on any of the top/bottom mortises I chopped.

test tenon

I increased the bottom rail from 3 to 3 1/2 wide to strengthen the back against twisting. Doing a test tenon to check the water first. It has been a while since I have done one. The plan was to do the cheeks to width on the tablesaw and hand saw the cheek waste off.

self supporting

It took some fiddling but the width of the tenon was good. I had to pare the walls of the mortise before I got the test tenon seated. Not happy with the rail not being quite flush with the stile - on either side. 

last one

I thought I had made the tenons too thin (visually based look) but I hadn't. These are 6mm and not 1/4".

all self supporting

I decided to go with a ladder style back for strength and stiffness. Still debating whether to use this for the sides too are just one rail in the middle. Chopping the extra mortises didn't cause any hardship. I'll have to see how many panels I can get out of the 30x30 panels. I've got a sinking feeling that I might be disappointed.

The tablesaw is working fine with the new V belt I installed. No hesitation, no slipping, and no bogging down in the cut. It spins up to speed instantly and it doesn't falter when wood is fed into the saw blade. It slowed a wee bit when sawing the tenons in the jig but that is normal. I didn't feel or see any difference doing the tenons with this belt than I did with the original one. All is well in Disneyland again.

accidental woodworker 

layout

I am starting with the back first. I am also making R/L sides a copy of it. Used the story stick to layout the mortise locations along with the OAL (over all length).

not enough

Got most of the stock sized to rough dimensions but I forgot a couple of pieces. Didn't realize it here though. Plowing the 6mm grooves was in the batters circle.

grooves plowed in the rails

had a bow

Both stiles had (still do) a healthy bow in them. Clamped them in the vise this way to flatten it so I could plow a true and straight groove.

2nd stile

Both of the stiles had about the same amount of bow. Clamping them in the vise this way straightened them out. Fingers crossed that the 6mm plywood in the grooves will keep the stiles flat.

gap killers

In the area of the vise there weren't any gaps. I had to add a few clamps to remove slight gaps on either side of the vise.

transfer time

A story pole makes sense (to me) to transfer the needed info on each stile. Thinking ahead, I don't think I'll need a story pole for the rails.

hmm......

This is a wee bit tight. I thought that 6mm was a few frogs wider than a 1/4". I had planned to use the chisel to chop the mortises. I just remembered that I have a 6mm chisel - the very first 6 piece chisel set I bought over 40 years ago. I'll check that chisel out in the AM.

the forgotten pieces

Missed prepping the center stile which is two pieces. It is two piece because the plywood is only 30 inches and the inside of the back is around 48 inches.

two more forgotten pieces

These are the cross rails for the center stile. I might be able to get the two out of one board but just in case.

hmm.....

Eyeballing what I have here to see if I brain farted on any other required pieces. Turns out I have one extra cross rail. I can use that for one of the sides.

nope

I am not liking this at all. But because of the length of the plywood I can't make the center stile taller. I want the cross rail to be close to the top - I was thinking 1/3 of the length from the top to the bottom rail. I could split it in half - the plywood is long enough to accommodate that.

thinking out loud

If I use three cross rails between the top/bottom ones it would look better than the center rail layout above. This set up will add 4 additional mortises and tenons to fit. Having the one rail centered is looking like a better look/solution. I could then glue and secure a center shelf to it which would help with rigidity of the cabinet.

been a while

Another option for the mortising to come. The 6mm bit fits the groove with zero wiggle room. Drill out most of the waste and clean it up with chisels. I shopped for a 6mm straight bit with an imperial shank but nada. The mortise I intend is roughly 1 3/8" deep and I couldn't find a 6mm straight bit longer than 1".

I stopped here because I had to think about this before I did any drilling/chisel work. I still haven't settled on the width of the cabinet and that led to me questioning the width of the sides? The back width is driven by the size of the glass door. I won't want it being too wide - I'm thinking 20" wide tops.

accidental woodworker

 I was wondering why today as I was strolling why so many places were closed. Then it dawned on me, today is VJ day or as it is officially know, Victory day celebrating the end of WWII with Japan's surrender. The littlest state in the union is the only one that observes it as a state holiday. However, when I worked at the VA they didn't recognize it because it isn't a federal holiday. And federal trumps state. After 80 years maybe it is time to join the other 49 states.

Woodcraft haul

I got back to the barn around 1115 with these three 30x30 6mm birch plywood panels. Along with a quart of Titebond glue that I didn't check to see if it was the original formula. That one you can reverse the glue bond like hide glue. I got zero time in the shop for the AM session.

I think I only need one full panel and a partial piece from a 2nd one for the cabinet. I bought a 3rd one for just in case. A 30x30 panel cost $22 and a 48x48 panel was $69. I was going to buy one but not for that price. It was cheaper for me to drive to the store and buy it over ordering it via the internet.

lots of variation

I could see a thickness variation in the three panels I got. This was the thinnest one, the baby panel.

mama bear panel

papa bear panel

There was no mistaking that this was the thickest one. I would rather deal with an oversized panel than one that is too thin.

mama bear panel

I made a 6mm test groove. It fits on the mama bear panel with out having to beat it on. Not overly snug and not loose neither. Didn't check if it was self supporting.

the baby bear panel

The test groove easily slips onto the panel. Not fall down and out loose but just a hint of being a wee bit sloppy. I plan on gluing the panels in the groove so this will work.

papa bear panel

It will fit if forced but that is something I don't want to do. I want a easy fitting panel that doesn't require any persuasion at all. 

back panel stock

I have the side panels (R/L) settled but the back I'm still not sure of. Initially I thought of making the sides and back panels all the same but I'm not 100% sold on that. Thinking of a solid wood back instead of stiles/rails and panels. Plenty of time to decide on that.

side panel stock

All the stile and rails are 3" wide. Going with that width for rigidity and strength. The stiles and rails on the cabinet I saw at my niece's house were 2" wide and they looked thin to my eye.

stickered

Nothing moved, cupped, or bowed when I ripped out the stock. Fingers crossed that none of it does any stupid wood tricks overnight.

potential door stock

All of these are flat sawn but all of them are clear. No knots and all the boards are flat and straight. The outside edges are close to rift sawn so they would be best for the stiles and rails. This is going to be painted so I don't have to agonize over grain/color matching.

two more

The right board has one knot but I can get the long stiles out of it. Both outside edges of these two are rift sawn too. I have three more boards but they have knots in them and I can't get any required long lengths out of them. It sucks that they have the best rift sawn possibilities. Sigh.

It made it up to 99F - 37C today and it isn't going to cool off much for a couple of weeks. The shop temp is hovering around 77F - 25C which is comfortable once I start working. Before I know it I'll be pissing and moaning about it being cold.

accidental woodworker

future picture gallery

I have 3 blank walls in the back hallway for my Stanley Tool pics. It is also the only blank walls left in the house. There is zero wall space in the shop so this will have to do. It is going to be a bit tricky hanging the pics in here - there are steps in the way of setting up a ladder.

why not

I waxed the newest pic frame with the LAP wax. I liked the shine of the shellac but I also liked the wax finish afterward. The frame didn't look as harsh in reflected light.

one more round of touch up

After I ran the gray pad around the frame a few more white specs popped out. Had to touch them up one more time before I could shellac them.

one coat of shellac

The three frames looked good after one coat but it was still wet too. I couldn't see any evidence of the spots I had touched up. Fingers crossed that won't change as the shellac dries.

two coats

I could see a couple of spots that I had touched up after the first coat had dried. With the second coat of shellac I couldn't see them anymore. Either way it doesn't matter because I'm stopping here at two coats. Where these will hang I won't be able to get close enough to see the touched up spots.

ready for tuesday

Brought the new frame upstairs to await its journey to the Frame It shop. I am going to give a mini japanese toolbox to Maria when I bring the frame. I meant to give it to her when I picked up the previous 7 frames but I had forgot to bring it. 

Made my mind up on the frames for the glass door cabinet. I initially I had been hell bent on using dowels but realized the futility of that. I am going to use mortise and tenon joinery. I couldn't think of any other way to plow grooves in the stiles/rails and attach them with dowels. 

With mortise and tenon joinery I can plow straight through the rails and stiles and not run into any hiccups. I will have to get some 6mm plywood for the panels though. I will try the closest Woodcraft to me first and see what they have in stock. 

accidental woodworker

old tablesaw V belt

This is the easiest way to figure out the belt needed. The other involves measuring the pulley diameters and the distance between them. According to the roll tape the length of the belt I need is 44 inches.

face side

The gray scotch pad is so different vice sandpaper. It leaves little sanding dust but the surface is smooth to the touch. More importantly the gray pad doesn't sand away leaving bare wood. The plan is/was to get 3 coats of shellac on the front. I want to bring this to Maria on tuesday.

almost ready

Cleaned up the frame with a damp rag. Just had to wait for it to dry before shellac.

got lucky

I was on my way to the Auto parts store when I thought of this. I had bought this belt for the bandsaw but I didn't use it. The on center spacing of the pulleys on the table saw and the bandsaw matched. Tried it, it fit, and I made several test cuts with no hiccups. Saved me a road trip and a few $$$.

new side project

I need a box to keep my peeper helper in. It is a PITA to take my eye glasses out of their soft holder. With this box they are protected but way easier to take out and put away.

glass door cabinet

I haven't forgotten about this. I've been thinking about how to do the grooves for the panel inserts. I still haven't decided on how to do them. The current leader is using a 6mm router bit because there isn't a plywood imperial 1/4" router bit. The router bit headache is finding a 6mm router bit that comes with an imperial 1/4" or 1/2" shank. I don't have any metric collets.

sigh

I had laid the frame face down on the workbench and when I put it on the shitcan to start shellac I saw 4 holidays on the bead moldings. Wasn't expecting that and it threw a monkey wrench in applying the shellac. I had to touch up the holidays and I got the first coat of shellac on after I got home from my post lunch stroll.

box is done

These aren't the glasses that will call this home but they work to check out the specifics. I wasn't sure if I had made the height too high but it looks and works ok as is. I also waxed the entire project with the LAP wax.

3 out of 7

Maria told me that some of the frames had stuck together and it left a few holidays. I touched the 3 frames up and I'll shellac them when I do the big frame.

fingers crossed

Just realized that I had painted over shellac and I'll be covering the paint with shellac again - effectively a sandwich. Thinking ahead I hope I don't end up with the touch up spots blinking like a neon sign at night.

accidental woodworker

 Hopefully this isn't going to bite me on the arse predicting this. Got the picture frame painted, two coats, and it is ready for a couple of coats of shellac. Done. Fingers crossed that tomorrow in the AM I'll be doing that.

done

Happy with the two coat coverage on the back. Consistent everywhere I looked. No bare wood peeking out through the black. Time to wash, rinse, and repeat on the opposite face.

first coat

If I was in a hurry I could probably get away with one coat. This is the best coverage I have gotten with this paint. I also used a scotch brite pad (gray) to sand between coats on the back. Much better finish with the gray pad. With 320 grit sandpaper (what I was using) it was too coarse and it would sand down to bare wood even with moderate sanding pressure. The gray pad is definitely the thing to use between coats.

LAP wax

Visually there isn't a lot of shine. I waxed the right side of the cherry and left the left side bare wood for comparison. The dark wood I waxed it all - only thought of the half and half trick after doing it. 

the opposite side

I can see a definite difference on this side. Still doesn't shine like shellac but I like how this looks.

buffed out

I can see a difference on the cherry. The matte, satin look isn't too bad. The dark wood doesn't have the same look as the cherry though. This could be the look of bare wood if you hadn't seen a comparison.

hmm......

Don't need them but I made a couple more bead moldings. I'll stick them in the boneyard for a future use.

an hour later

I can feel a difference in a finger tip touch between the bare and waxed parts. The waxed parts definitely feel smoother. The same goes for the dark wood. I'm a bit apprehensive about waxing an entire project but in order to make a call on the LAP wax that will have to happen. I'm not a fan of a matte finish but I'm open to see how it looks on a hardwood project. I don't see any value in waxing a pine one.

fingers and toes crossed

I am maybe a wee bit too confident that I won't have to done a 3rd coat. I'll double triple check this after dinner when it is dry. As it is now I am liking the coverage very much.

hmm.....

Rather then tossing these scraps of pine I am making 6 bead moldings.

six 3/16" bead moldings

I can get 3 more bead moldings from the center off cuts. It is looking like two 3/16" and one 1/4" bead moldings with them.

happy face with a wide grin

All the bead moldings I made in the past few days sailed through my bandsaw. A huge difference in the old 1/2 HP motor and the new 3/4 HP one. The taper hiccup in the moldings I made was mostly non existent. There was zero hesitation pushing the stock through the blade. The sawing action was smooth and easy. 

I found a John Heisz You Tube video on a bandsaw sharpening jig that I'm thinking of making. However, I'm a bit confused on what to sharpen. I thought that I would sharpen the inside downward curve of the teeth. But every thing I've seen on sharpening it is the top outside face of each tooth that gets sharpened. Still researching this so I can wrap the brain bucket around the science of it.

accidental woodworker 

that's a big hole

The epoxy had set up overnight. It is flush and it is hard. It is looking like this going to last - fingers still crossed due to it being a pitch pocket repair. I'll have to wait for paint to see if the outline pops under it.

planing jig

This didn't work. I had superglued the stop and on the first planing run it popped off. I nailed on the next one and that one lasted for all 8 pieces. I just had to plane and smooth the bandsawn face.

last inside one

I fitted the two short legs first and then the two long ones. No hiccups with the inside ones.

last outside one

This is the dry fit. I glued and nail the two short legs and one long leg first. Then I will plane and trim the last leg to fit. At this point that was the grand plan.

perfect

The last leg is a wee bit too long which means I can sneak up on a perfect fit.

sign

I was not expecting this at all. I only took two swipes and I thought that was mostly to square/clean up the miter at this end. Turns out that something was amiss. I must have checked the dry fit incorrectly somehow.

new bead molding

This is the 2nd replacement bead molding I made. The original one was short as was the first replacement one. Forgot to snap evidence of that me-steak. Found another scrap of pine to make a 3rd one.

why not

With how my track record was going I made two bead moldings. Spoiler alert - I didn't need the extra.

done

I like the look of the two different sizes of the bead molding. I like how my eye goes from the fat 1/4" outside bead to the thinner 3/16" inside one. Kind of draws your eye from the outside to the inside.

set and filled

While the putty set up I went on my post lunch stroll.

grain raising

Raised the grain with water because I have had coverage problems with this paint in past applications. The paint I'm using (IMO) doesn't cover well on pine but it does do a better job with raising the grain first.

hmm......

I wasn't terribly impressed with using the LAP wax. But I was not expecting eye popping results. I do like that this wax doesn't seem to have an odor and it was easy to apply and buff with the woopie towel. I have a couple pieces of cherry that I will try it on next.

first coat

I spent a lot of time applying the first coat. I double triple checked it 3 times to ensure that I didn't leave any holidays (spots with no paint). I always paint the back first to gauge how well the paint coverage is. I was happy with how this looked. There weren't any faded areas and the coverage looked consistent. I'll get the 2nd coat on in the AM.

accidental woodworker

sigh

Three coats of shellac and it isn't blending in. The shellac isn't the problem, the area I shaved is blinking like a neon sign at midnight. I'm leaving it as is, I don't think either grandson will notice it. I also checked with the boy's mother and she told me that they both needed a pencil box for school.

going vertical

This is what the new picture frame is for. I looked at these horizontally and I thought the over all length was too long at over 31". With them placed vertical the OD is about 24".

this sucks pond scum

The belt separated twice on me during use. I had noticed that the blade was bogging again and I had to push stock through it a lot slower - this turned into toast. I'm going to have to find a replacement belt somewhere.

quarter sawn

I got two pieces of stock 2" wide that were dead on quarter sawn. This should be perfect for a picture frame.

it fits

There will be a 1 1/2" border on the outside edges and in between each of the pics.

oops

Got this one wrong. I doweled the frame together and I missed aligning the jig somehow with my X marks. I don't know what I did wrong but the fix is easy enough.

the fix

Glue in dowels and saw them flush.

drilled it right this time

I was about a 1/2 of a dowel diameter off to the right.

dead nuts square

I was very happy with how flush the corners turned out. They weren't dead nuts perfect but, wow they were awfully close.

came this close.....

Besides the one corner I screwed up I had to scramble to get this glued up. It was like trying to figure out a Rubik Cube. The three other corners had some screwy drilling and I had to figure which way the corners went together. It took me four frantic tries before I got that.

faux rabbets

These thin pieces of stock (3/8x3/4) will form the rabbet for the glass, mat, backing, and the pics which is about 3/8".

1/4"

This is all Maria told me she wants/needs for what she does.

done

Glued and nailed. After it has set up I'll plane a small chamfer on the outside edge of the rabbet frame.

oops

Pitch pocket that I had seen and was going to put on the back of the frame. Obviously that didn't happen. 

set the nails

Filled them in with putty. Not necessary but I did it anyways.

deep hole

As far as I know and from experience, nothing sticks to pine pitch. I used picks, carving chisels, and chip knife to dig out the pitch and out to clean, pitch free wood.

epoxy

It took almost 5ml of epoxy to fill in the hole. I didn't go nutso on the bottom but the top 1/8" is all clean wood. I cleaned out the hole first with paint thinner and then filled it in.

1/4" bead

I wanted to plane a chamfer on the inside and outside edges of the frame. I can do that on the inside but not the outside. The dowels on the outside, closest to the outside edge, could become exposed by the chamfer. So I'm putting a bead on the outside and inside edges.

like butter

Decided to do a bead on the inside too but 3/16" instead of 1/4". The smaller bead on the inside shouldn't distract as much as a bigger bead would.

the difference

trying a new finish

Lost Art Press had this wax kit in a recent posting and I bought one. Although I am still not sold on wax finishes, I'm willing to give them a try. News, pics, and film on an upcoming 11 o'clock news.

accidental woodworker

a few ideas

I've been thinking about how to make this cabinet. I don't have any plans, just a pic of the original banging around in the brain bucket. I've been thinking about this for a few days and I'm starting with the sides and back first. These aren't carved in stone so they might change here and there as I progress but I like this so far.

Still mulling over how to attach the top and bottom. Dovetails are out so that leaves a rabbet joint, biscuits, dowels, or simply nailing the top and bottom on. As for the last one I can see doing that for the bottom but for the top it won't look good. Plenty of time to sort that out.

too snug

The lids fit and I can remove and insert them ok but I am not sure that young kids have the finger strength to do that. Let alone have the patience to attempt doing it. Time to shave the ends with the LN 601/2.

done

Took a few plane and check before the fit was sufficiently loose. I don't think the grandsons will have any problems opening/closing these now.

too loose

This is the famous big box store 1/4" plywood (always less than a 1/4") that is too loose in a 1/4" groove. It is not terribly sloppy loose but it also isn't self supporting. I plowed this groove with an iron I had made for me that is undersized. In a 1/4" groove (true 1/4" wide) this plywood is a sloppy fit.

6mm plywood

The groove is a true 1/4" wide and the 6mm doesn't fit. I can thump on it and get it to seat in the groove and I can also see the groove side walls move in protest. I could sand/plane this and get a snug fit if I had to.

6mm fits

I planed the edges with two shallow runs and it fit. Self supporting but just a wee bit too snug. It would be a PITA fighting this to seat in the groove during glue up. I want a snug but a slip fit also.

LV plow plane

I have a 6mm iron and the fit is tight. I could get it seated but at the risk of snapping off a groove wall. A quick sand with 120 and I got a slip fit that was also self supporting.

I was thinking of using solid wood panels but I like plywood better. I don't have to worry about panels expanding and contracting with it. I am going to use 6mm Birch plywood from Woodcraft. I can order a 30"x24" piece for about $40 delivered. Or I can drive to Walpole and buy it direct. That outcome depends upon how impatient I get.

6mm groove, 6mm plywood

I am planning on painting this cabinet so plywood is a good choice. Next headache is how to join the stiles and rails. That determines how the groove for the plywood panels will be done. Self supporting and kind of easily fitted to the groove. I should be ok inserting the panels during glue up without wanting to give anything free flying lessons.

With mortise and tenon joints I can plow straight through both the stiles and rails. If I use dowels or splines, I can't do that. I'm leaning towards dowels but I am banging around ideas in the brain buckets for how to plow the grooves.

first change

The overall height of the cabinet minus the base will be about 53". I can't buy a 4x8 foot panel of 6mm plywood. If I add a couple of rails towards the top I can do. Woodcraft sells 6mm in 30x24 inches panels. I like this look even more than just having the lone center stile. This gives it more a craftsman flavor/look.

ouch

Got my 7 Stanley posters from the Frame It shop. Each one is matted, mounted, and behind conservation glass. A wee bit expensive at roughly $70 each. Sure glad I had the $$$ set aside for it although I had only budgeted $60 per frame.

Don't know where these will go. I don't see any where in the shop to hang them. I could hang them in the boneyard but I would rather have them in shop so I can see them. Another project that will can wait.

exit end

Switching back to maybe using solid wood panels. My panel raising plane makes a profile that I like but it doesn't have a depth stop. It will bottom out but it will also keep on making shavings depending upon its attitude. I thought I was doing good developing this profile but the tongue ended up too thin.

entry end - 3rd try

The entry end is ok but not as snug of a fit as I would like. This is a classic headache for me with wooden profiling planes. I  tend to be a bit heavy handed on the exit end of the planing run (tapered). It is just a matter of practice and time to master this and get a flat even profile from entry to exit end. I had this problem when I started using rabbeting planes. It took a while but I eventually mastered them. The downside is there is a lot of wasted scrap wood practicing. 

yikes

This is how much of a heavy hand on the exit of the plane run I did. I don't know of anyway to correct this because there is no more wood to remove to fix it. This effectively killed raised panels for the cabinet. I have two other panel raising planes that I don't have this problem with. However, the size of the field (the slope) is only 1" for one and 1 1/8" for the other. Both are too small IMO for this cabinet.

see the line?

To the left of it is what I shaved and it shows. I got one coat of shellac already on it and it still popped. It is going to take 3 or more coats to cover it. On the plus side the lid still slid in/out easily with two coats of shellac.

dowel experiment

The outside stiles and top rails are 3" wide. The center stile and inside rails will be 2 to 2 1/2" wide. I like the fact that I can get four dowels at each joint. That will make it stronger with more dowels. Using wide stile and rails because the sides and back need to strong/stiff enough to hang the door from them.

dowel spacing

The two end dowels are slightly off - the top has a bit more real estate. As long as I pay attention to my mating faces I should be ok with this. This is something that usually bites me on the arse and draws blood.

my new back door

I like the look of this divided light. I am thinking of using this for the divided light door on the cabinet. The opposite side is the same. I'm not sure that I'll be able to do that though. The cabinet door is 3/4" thick and my back door is 1 3/8" thick.

accidental woodworker

 I got these two done right on time. My wife is going to North Carolina next week and she'll give them to the grandsons then. Wonder if kids in school even use pencils anymore? I found out that they don't teach how to write in cursive. When I went to elementary school my class year was the last one to learn cursive with ink and a pen. 

got two on before lunch

Before I got to the shop today I made a road to Whole Foods to return a cell phone holder to Amazon. I had bought one for a iPhone SE but the phone was 2" longer than the holder. I ordered an iPhone 16 holder after comparing my phone to my wife's. Height and width were the same but the thickness wasn't. My wife's phone is slightly thicker. 

That experience went well after I got help doing it. The check in counter said that it wasn't open until 0900. The lady working the self check out area helped me send it back anyway. There was an automated self help way to log it in and send it off. She saved from me having to make a return trip because I didn't see the automated option.

hmm..... (2nd big japanese toolbox)

done

The LN 60 1/2 worked a charm shaving both ends. It took 6 tries before the lid closed and opened easily. The lid also fit in either orientation. I had to plane a slight taper on the sliding lock batten so it cleared the side when pushed into place. Shaving the end dropped it a few frog hairs below the top edge of the side.

hmm......

I checked the outside and inside for square with each one of these. Surprised to find that all read square no matter where I checked. I did the drill again with Mr Starrett and confirmed the same as the wooden ones. However, the wooden squares were still slightly off 90 when checked with Mr Starrett. I don't understand it and it doesn't change my mind on favoring metal squares.

got 3 on

I didn't feel or see a difference in brushing this new batch of shellac on (mix with denatured alcohol vice Everclear). The build is different but that is because I mixed a 2 1/2 lb cut instead of my usual 1 1/2 lb cut. I will try to get the 4th and final coat on tonight after dinner. I want to give the shellac as much time to set up and harden as possible before they travel south.

it is mine

Decided to keep this one for myself. I already have the wooden squares in it and I'll put any other no home tools in it too. The first toolbox I made in this style I gave to my sister Donna for her husband. I told her if she doesn't want it to give to her son Sam. This box will reside in the boneyard.

accidental woodworker

new pencil box lid

A wee bit too long and too fat on the width. Still a bit apprehensive about the length but not the width. That I planed until I was happy with the wiggle room.

hmm.....

I have seen several makers of japanese boxes that used this method of battens on the lids. It doesn't lock the lid it just secures it.

finally done

These lids are continuing to bite me on the arse. It took me 3 tries before I got this fitted. Sigh. It was obvious to me that the more I make of these it ain't getting any easier.

figured it out????

You would think having to deal with only 2 fixed battens it would be a no brainer. But I think I might finally understand this. On one end of the lid the fixed batten is short about a 1/4". It is the second one that determines the outcome. I think I've been placing the fixed batten (or the sliding battens) too close to the other end.

With this lid batten method, the 2nd lid batten doesn't butt up against top box batten when it is closed. It was then it dawned on me - I could put the 2nd batten almost anywhere on the lid. Ta Da.....

a fortunate me-steak

The bottom box was first and the top one second. It was on the 2nd one that on put the 2nd batten on the wrong side of the layout line. This mistake made the placement of the 2nd batten instantly clear. Dare I say that I think I'm finally over the hump on where to place it?

nope

Pencils fit in the box but not dropping in directly between the battens. If I had made the sides longer it would have made the interior length too big. The pencils fit diagonally with space to spare.

worked  well

I used extra long cocktail toothpicks and a #49 number drill. Picked these because they were round and the others were flat. I put three toothpick nails in each top box batten. None on the bottom - I'm going with just the glue bond.

the layout

I'm glad I noticed this - the blade guard extends into the bottom and would hit the batteries. I wanted to push them up tight against the back wall but that isn't happening now.

done

I wanted to put a charger in here but there wasn't enough room . The depth was ok but I couldn't get it and the batteries in the bottom. I picked the box up after it was packed and carried it out to the truck and back down to the shop. The blade and batteries stayed home. I'll have to get by with taking two fully charged batteries to wherever this gets taken.

impatient

I went to the package store but they didn't have any large bottles of Everclear. Being impatient and needing a fresh batch of shellac, I'm using this alcohol. This is what I used to use to mix shellac before I got hung up on water content. Thinking about that I wonder what 'alcohol' the old masters used? Rum, wine, or some other distilled spirit? From reading recipes from the 17th/18th century they say to mix in spirits. I haven't read anything indicating the old masters were concerned with water in the spirits. I needed a new batch of shellac to apply to the grandson's pencil boxes.

curiosity

This is shellac is a dark brown with some red. I'm curious as to what it would look like applied to pine. Would it look like a dye? I'm about to find out. I'll have to make a road trip to the paint store and buy some empty quart cans.

another curiosity

I've had this button lac for 5 years? Bought it and the Maroon shellac above as a sample. Both of these are meant to be used with mahogany, walnut, or cherry but I'm going to try both on pine to see what 'dye' properties they have.

toast

The drawer where I stow my shellac had these squares in it. I checked everyone of them with the Starrett and all were off square. I know when I made them they were dead nuts on but over time they have drifted off into La La Land. It is because of this that I don't use them. I don't want to be bothered to stop and check that it is square before using them. So far none my metal ones have drifted in the least. However, I don't check these before use, I ass-u-me they maintain square.

accidental woodworker