Woodworking 101--Tools and Tips

[sawduststeve]

Jim, glad your head has quit hurting and I hope the OH is ok, health first every thing else second.
I bet it's nice to get the cabinet mobile again, and can I say that the Stanley Sash Plane is a thing of beauty, a great addition to your collection.

I've just run up 30' of Oak bolection moulding for my door and I'll admit I didn't use a hand plane but the spindle moulder.It took me longer to change the cutters and set up the fence that it did to run the moulding.

 

[ez-duzit]

Nice work on the door.

 

[sawduststeve]

Nice work on the door.

Cheers mate , nice of you to say so.

 

[jimreed2160]

Wow! That door really pops. Great work and thanks for the pictures.

 

[derosa]

Pretty door

 

[cheechi]

It took me longer to change the cutters and set up the fence that it did to run the moulding

those things are crazy aren't they? That came out really nice.

 

[sawduststeve]

Wow! That door really pops. Great work and thanks for the pictures.

Pretty door

those things are crazy aren't they? That came out really nice.

Thanks guys.
Here it is with 3 coats of stain.



It'll be awhile before the locks and glass turn up, I'll post some photos when they do. The glass I've ordered from a mate of mine, who is a traditional lead light maker. He's done work for Prince Phillip, Trinity House, the royal palaces, English Heritage and the church restoration association. This week he was asked to repair a window that dates back to Henry VIII.

 

[jimreed2160]

SDS--I like the way you selected and organized the grain patterns. Excellent attention to detail. I always enjoyed working on handbuilt antique furniture. Even the utility stuff often showed such attention.

 

[derosa]

Well I have more work to do here but it is cutting nicely now. I have often wished I had an offset chisel and now I have 2.

Dang. Looks as if I lost a picture of the "repaired" blade. But anyway it is much improved.

Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk

It isn't absolutely essential that the back is flat, being concave in the middle is fine as long as the edge is flat to the areas along the side. All my Stanley 750s are slightly concave and they work perfect and are sharp enough to nick my finger when I brushed the edge of one today

 

[Craptain]

It isn't absolutely essential that the back is flat, being concave in the middle is fine as long as the edge is flat to the areas along the side. All my Stanley 750s are slightly concave and they work perfect and are sharp enough to nick my finger when I brushed the edge of one today

Absolutely. In fact it is preferable that the back is hollow. The issue with this chisel is that it had been ground to far back and I needed to hammer it in order to get my cutting edge again. All my Japanese chisels and planes are hollow back. Here is a video.

Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk

 

[250]

Here's the latest project. These 2 table tops are plywood covered in salvaged red oak flooring. Made a sled and leveled the stops with a router. Embedded measuring strip, finished with poly with no stain. Not really fine woodworking, but some much needed counter space that won't give me a splinter.

 

[jimreed2160]

250--Nice work tables. I have tape measures all over the shop but still end up searching for them. Imbedded in the top is clever. That one will never "walk away".

 

[ADNICK]

Love the red oak, it's one of those woods that can be identified by smell alone....

Tape measure is a useful feature,

Andy

 

[jimreed2160]

More light

Sorry that all projects do not involve serious woodworking. Sometimes shop projects get in the way. I was not satisfied with the gooseneck lamp on my lathe table and finally figured how to solve the light problem. Here is what I am dealing with.

A little bit of construction lumber provided a great skyhook for the new light.

I picked up a pair of 4 ft LED fixtures at Costco. Bonus is that they can be daisy chained. I installed both and moved the existing fixture to another bench.

So now I have good lighting on the lathe. Future projects will be much more pleasant.

 

[McFarmer]

Put a good LED in that lamp, I was amazed at the sharpness of the light when I did it.

 

[jimreed2160]

Mc--Thanks for the tip. I had an LED bulb in it. The light was great but the coverage was limited and the fixture was problematic. In spite of tightening, it would wander. Not that I am complaining. I got 10+ years of service out of that $9 lamp.

The new light has much better coverage and does not hang down in my way.

 

[jimreed2160]

Moulding selected

I have been searching for a moulding that I could use to demo the H&R plane set. Found it today.

Here it is.

The first task is to create a profile template. There is no copy machine nearby so I will freehand it. It gives me a chance to use my radius set. It is a handy tool that no ww should be without.

Here is what I ended up with.

And here it is beside the original.

I cut it out and placed it where it will live. I like the look.

So now it is time to raid the wood stash and find some walnut for the trim.

It is ugly, nasty and dirty but I am sure it will clean up nicely.

I need two 9 inch sticks for the sides and one 29 inch stick for the front. I always like to have room on each end, so this long board needs to be cut down to about 50 inches.

Stay tuned for next week's tutorial when we use handplanes to gnaw this walnut into a nice piece of trim. Or will I just make a pile of shavings?

 

[250]

250--Nice work tables. I have tape measures all over the shop but still end up searching for them. Imbedded in the top is clever. That one will never "walk away".

Thanks. I don't remember when I decided to add the embedded tape, probably at some moment when I couldn't find one of the 4 or 5 tapes I have. I've only been mulling on this projects for over a year so...

I like the red oak, I just wish there was some way to keep those light pink highlights when treating it.

 

[sawduststeve]

250 nice bench tops, look to good to use.

jim good choice, looking forward to seeing it done.

 

[jimreed2160]

Parker Coachmaker's vise

I was very lucky this summer to acquire this nice Parker vise. It is a Coachmaker's vise from the 19th century. My guess is that it was made sometime around 1875. It has smooth jaws and retains most of its original japan finish.

I brushed it to remove some surface rust and then set about making a base for it. I like to mount my vises on wooden bases. Stuff moves around a lot in my shop and mobility is key. This vise will replace a Wilton that was installed on the corner of a bench and hardly ever used.

First job was to make a seat for the large dynamic support on this vise. I cut it square on the bandsaw and then made the bevel with about ten chisel whacks.

I laminated this board to another for a solid base. The other bevel took about ten whacks also.

It is temporarily clamped to the table with a large C clamp. Sturdier fastening to follow. Not sure about location yet. Notice the similarity to the Gyro vise.

It has smooth jaws and an exceptionally long throat.

Here is an action shot.

I am glad to put this one back to work.

 

[mefast]

No progress on my projects, but a good friend was cleaning out a deceased relative's shop and needed to off load some tools. The workbench was free, the lathe is being loaned indefinetly (or until his 3 other lathes all breakdown) and the bandsaw/sander combo was had for a small fee. All three pieces should be a great upgrade to the shop, even if they require some work to get cleaned up and working in tip top shape.

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Now the push to get the garage fixed up with usable space is even more important....

 

[ADNICK]

That is one very fine old bench, would be proud to have that in my shop....

Andy

 

[drivesitfar]

JIM: we are almost at 100,000 views on this thread and i just wanted to thank you again for starting it. i knew it would be a idea for a thread and i just needed somebody with some skills to convince to start it and get it going cause i'm a wood butcherer at best so far. I'm really looking forward to reading all the great tutorials you and the others have posted as soon as i have some time.

i also want to know if you are maybe finally out of wood planes or have you just got started? i bet if you still have more it will be a pleasure reading about how to use them and maybe a good thing for you having to maybe find them cause you might have forgot about some of these if not for this thread. i bet you've maybe even thought of adding a few more woodworking tools since this thread has started. Again WELL DONE SIR!! and thanks for starting and hosting a great woodworking thread on GJ.

ALL: speaking of wood butchering i had a couple projects to make for my daughter's wedding that happened last weekend. if you'd like to see where almost all my tool or new shop money went it won't take but a few pictures to notice. it was a fun day and i think my little girl and my new son in law are still smiling.

one of the projects was to make just a simple wood top to make one table our of two small tables so the bride in her new wedding chair and the groom sitting on my Craftsman shop chair could sit at and have dinner at.

the request from Management (my bride and daughter) was just to make it a little bigger so the two tables measured 60x30. i went to Home Depot and they had birch sided 3/4 inch plywood on sale for $31 for a 4x8 sheet so i grabbed the young guy in that part of the store and we walked back to HD'S panel saw. he cut me a 64x34 inch piece so i could put a 2x2 (or close to that cause i had some trim scraps laying around) for an edge. i paid for the 3 pieces and headed to my garage.

i knew i didn't want my daughter (or anybody) hitting their hip on a corner so i took a small dinner plate out to the plywood after setting it up on some handy steel sawhorses i own and drew lines to cut all 4 corners off. my screw inventory is hidden at the moment cause i was in the middle of changing cabinets in my garage when this WEDDING was thrown in the mix, but i found a few to screw in from both sides to hold the edging on that i cut. the edging wasn't supposed to fit that tight, but with the tablecloths under neath it fit snug and my daughter gave it a test fit at rehearsal.

if you don't know a wedding planner and you have a daughter i suggest you get to know one. my wife's best friend is a RETIRED WEDDING PLANNER and sold a lot of her stuff after she just finished her second (and last) daughter's wedding. even though she is RETIRED and a full time flight attendant she agreed to offer up her services along with her very talented husband who's a professional artist and graphic designer.

here's what an idea of putting two tables together and a little piece of plywood can make at your daughter's wedding. if you'd like to see more pictures of the wedding and maybe make a post or comment over there please do cause the people involved with the wedding including my daughter have the link to that thread.

cheers all

 

[jimreed2160]

Mefast--That is a nice lot of tools and furniture. I think we are all drooling over that workbench. It looks like it might have started life in a high school shop.

Drives--Thanks for your encouragement. You really lit a bonfire here. We will surely hit 100k today and I still have lots of planes to go.

 

[drivesitfar]

ALL: one other sort of woodworking project i had on my plate for the wedding was this wall of books behind the table with all the cakes on it. so the wedding planer asked for 2 1/2 inch pieces of 2x8 plywood and in DRIVESITFAR'S HARDWARE STORE there just happened to be 4 1/2 inch 13 inch wide 8 footers that she said would work fine.

my duties in this little project was to figure out how to make a stand for this sign. i thought about making it all wood and after a lot of thinking (while coughing and sneezing since i had and still have a cold) i decided to buy 3 cement blocks with 4x4 holders on it. i went outside to DIF'S STORE and there were plenty of straight (i know when do you ever get a straight treated 4x4 after it's sat or been installed for a few years). anyway i do store some of my wood pretty decently and i still could do better.

ok i HATE and can i say that again HATE the look of the stapled looking treated wood. that and it had just rained 3 inches in 3 days so wood wasn't under cover and pretty wet. i set the 3 4x4's on my metal sawhorses and with my Craftsman planer that is 3 inches wide made two swipes of 1/32 on each of the 12 sides and 3 days later at the wedding put up almost bone dry 4x4's. i needed to drill holes in the bottoms for the mountings and since i don't usually build with this sort of thing i decided to call my wife to hold the 4x4's as straight up as she could and i drilled starter holes on each side. then took 4x4 down and drilled holes through and labeled them A,B & C cause i wasn't sure the guy that epoxied the post holders in had them exactly the same height.

it worked out nicely at the WEDDING VENUE and with the help of the best man and a few of my kids we GOT R DONE. i had to screw on the 4 pieces of 13 inch 8 footers and the best man came in behind me to glue and paste on old book pages over the screw heads, but i think it looks pretty good. sorry i didn't get any pictures of the stands full of cake and i only had a small piece of carrot cake maybe after we were taking everything apart, but I think it ended up looking pretty good.

 

[jimreed2160]

Moulding

When we left our nasty walnut board, it needed to be trimmed. I need about 47 inches of trim so I cut the board at 52 inches and dogged it to the bench. Then I traced the profile on both ends.

The task is to plane the board so it matches the profile.

I will start with my Stanley #45 and a 1/8" cutter. The planes were shipped with a screwdriver but I like mine better because it stands at attention.

It is hard for me to judge the cutter today. I set it up too far to the left.

So I adjusted and started over.

The shavings pile up quickly.

We are about halfway home, but the blade is tight in the groove. I need to open up the edge.

I brought out my large shoulder plane but it got clogged. It normally takes smaller shavings.

That is OK because the mouth is adjustable. Loosen the top screw and then turn the front screw. One way for tight and the other way for open.

Now the mouth is REALLY open.

This is fun. The plane cuts long spirals.

All it takes is a little work with the shoulder plane and our corner cut is done. I like to leave a little meat for final trimming.

Here is the far end.

I just realized that I should have made the interior cut first. No matter, I will adjust and do it now. Since I don't have a full edge for the plane fence, I will lower the fence.

Well, that did not take too long.

This is a good stopping place for today. I made good progress and can continue tomorrow with the other cuts.

 

[mefast]

Mefast--That is a nice lot of tools and furniture. I think we are all drooling over that workbench. It looks like it might have started life in a high school shop.

Based on the story my friend told me, the original owner was a school principal and likely the shop teacher before that. I hope to do him proud by getting the glue cleaned off, the top smoothed out, replace the one missing vise and any other maintenance items to make it a sturdy and long lasting piece.

These new-to-me tools are awesome, but will be added to the project list as well.

I also like your moulding tutorial. It seems like the natural progression that you taught us about individual planes and now how they are able to compliment one another for more complex designs. Great work!

 

[jimreed2160]

Mefast--Thanks for your kind words and good luck with your new bench.

This morning was full of appointments for the queen interspersed with the running of errands. But I did make some time to continue the moulding. We left it like this:

I decided to tackle the cove next and picked out a plane from the H&R set. It seemed to me that the #6 round was the best candidate to start with. I set the blade and made a test cut on a soft stick.

The test cut matches the profile pretty closely. I think this is the one to use.

But the #6 plane needs a surface. So I grabbed the shoulder plane and used it to chamfer the sharp corner.

This was tricky work. I needed to chamfer the corner without leaving other marks. That meant that I had to guide the plane with my fingers as it swooped down the board. And I had to maintain the angle for a consistent cut. Not easy. Here is what I finally got.

Now comes the hard part. I have to guide the slippery round plane down the middle of this chamfer. It cannot travel side to side. The only guide is my fingers. This cut took a lot of care. I took my time and established a good track. The shavings were tortured and wispy.

Once the track is established, the plane gets much easier to control. Then it is just a matter of riding the track. You can see the cove emerging.

Here is a shot from the end which shows our profile tracing.

So that is where we are stopping today. I have found through experience that my mouldings are better when I take my time. I have a tendency to rush when I get tired and that leads to mistakes. There is plenty of time tomorrow to finish the cove.

I am sure that the router and shaper crowd is hopping around now and jonesing for some electrons. That's OK. Routers and shapers have their place. But this moulding is for a special piece where electrons have not tread.

My grandmother had a house full of antique furniture. Most of it was rescued from family barns and chicken coops (literally). She had a large corner cupboard that was originally an architectural piece and later made into a standalone cupboard. It was made sometime in the 18th century somewhere in tidewater Virginia or eastern NC. The walnut was a rich red and it retained many marks from handplanes. There was tearout in a few places and some of the mouldings had scars where the plane jumped track. There was not much to do when I was inside so I studied her furniture. I ran my hands over this cupboard and felt the plane marks. It was a wonder to me.

The cupboard was over seven feet tall and not practical for modern houses. I had to pass on it when I had a chance to own it. But I resolved to make one like it. My version ended up as the bottom only. This moulding will be its top trim. All of the existing trim on the cupboard was done with handplanes, so this piece of moulding will fit right in. The cupboard needs something simple and imperfect.

 

[derosa]

I've starting trimming my whole house, makes me glad I can fire up the electrons. Mine is a simpler profile that is late18th/early 19th century to fit the age of the house and would have been done with one cutter doing each half. With 24 5.5' or taller windows I'll stick with the electrical.

 

[sawduststeve]

Jim, great story, thanks, and a good start on the moulding, keep us posted.
As a member of the electron club, I've started looking at cordless planes and for that I blame you.
Regards
Steve.

 

[jimreed2160]

Sawduststeve--Thanks for your kind words. And good luck in your search for handplanes. When projects get large, electrons are your friend. But when adding a handcrafted look, handplanes can give you an edge. Besides that, handplanes are fun to use.

 

[jimreed2160]

Handplane tips

Here is a great tip from an online buddy of mine. I have not had time to test it very much but will pass it on because it is intuitive and should work well. One of the issues with using wooden planes is keeping the blade depth in adjustment. Some planes are difficult to adjust and some blades just want to creep up the body. Of course you can tighten the wedge, but too much hammering will split the plane blade mortise or break the wedge. So here is a common product to the rescue.

ROSIN! What a great idea. So far I have tried it on one plane and it added enough tack to keep the blade in place. If you have trouble with your woodies, try this tip.

#2 Tip

One of the handiest tools in my shop is my woodworking caliper. It is marked in ww fractions and is very easy to read. For my latest project, I needed a groove that was 3/16" deep. That was easy to check with the caliper. When you open the jaws, a piece protrudes from the base so you can take depth measurements.

Yep. That's 3/16" sticking out on the bottom. Very handy.

 

[txvwnut]

Can you post a full pic of that caliper? I've just been using one of my regular verniers in the wood shop. I think it would be nice to have dedicated one for that area.

 

[jimreed2160]

Can you post a full pic of that caliper? I've just been using one of my regular verniers in the wood shop. I think it would be nice to have dedicated one for that area.

Here it is.

 

[Blue Frog]

Well, I've been negligent in posting the progress of the crib - essentially nothing accomplished for about 2 1/2 weeks due to having the flu.

I'm wrapping it up now - need to drill the holes for screws to assist assembly/disassembly, then add trim to the top of the front and sides similar to that on the top of the back - apply blue/gray stain and several coats of wipe-on poly.











Blue Frog

 

[ez-duzit]

BF--nice job on the crib.

 

[derosa]

Good looking crib. I love building them.

 

[jimreed2160]

Blue--Great job on the crib. Thanks for the progress shots.

I had a good time in the shop today and made progress on the moulding. Here is where we left it.

As you can see, it is taking shape. The plane is tuned up well when it takes a long shaving.

But I was not too happy with the shape so I got out the #4. It has a tighter radius.

Here is the first trip down the board. Whee!

Here is the aftermath of many trips. Notice the nice long shavings.

Here is a close up.

And here is the profile sketch reference.

I am pleased with how it looks and now want to work on some other spots. For the top (which is really the bottom) I decided the #62 low angle jack would be the best plane to use.

Progress shot. The dirty nasty outer layer gives away to some nice walnut.

Another close up.

I needed another reference groove on the end and the #45 was glad to do it. The wide rabbet on the finished moulding is the bottom. I will make it before I cut the moulding off. Now that I have two grooves for reference, gnawing out the middle should be pretty easy.

Now it is time to flip the board and plane the top of the moulding. The board is pretty rough.

But the #62 finished it up easily. Look at the wide shavings.

"Mr. DeMille, I am ready for my close up." (With apologies to Gloria Swanson).

Then I turned the board on its edge for the last cut. I need to put a roundover or bullnose on the edge. It seems like the #6 hollow is just right. You can see how the bottom matches the profile template.

I took a few swipes and was rewarded with nice long strings.

So the moulding is coming along. Tomorrow is full of medical appointments for the queen and shop time will be at a premium.

Thanks for sticking with me so far. This work is not easy and I have been sweating. It sure makes nap time more interesting. As I said before, taking time really adds quality to the finished product. This is not something that likes to be rushed.

Once this project is finished, I will try to gin up a shavings tutorial. The handplane process is complicated because it is indirect. The finished product reveals itself over time. But the question of the craftsman is "How am I doing?" To me, the best indicator of quality and progress is shavings. When a plane pulls long wispy shavings things are usually going pretty well. Wide shavings are also a good indicator. Anomalies in the wood can sometimes prevent long and wide. But when they are present, they are good indicators.

A long shaving from a H&R plane is an exceptionally good indicator of blade condition. These blades must have proper geometry and must be sharp to produce a long shaving. When you see long strings from your H&R, you know your plane is dialed in.

 

[jimreed2160]

Moulding with H&R planes continued

So we left the moulding just as I started on the bullnose with the #6 hollow. Here is what it looked like this morning.

I started working the plane at the sharp corners. After a few swipes, I managed to pull some long shavings.

This shaving is still in the plane mouth and extends the length of the board.

I worked the corners and alternated sides, taking long steady strokes. When everything is right, the H&R plane pulls a long shaving. When I am working rounds, I start in the middle and then rotate the plane to each side so I can enlarge the cove. When I am working hollows, I start at the corners and work to the sides. When that is rounded over, I finish with the top. If I am lucky, both sides meet at the apex and form a perfect arc.

The H&R planes cut until they have achieved their profile. Then they just stop cutting. As I got near to the end, the shavings got really thin.

Here are some of the earlier shavings. As you can see, they look tortured. It is the result of the high blade cutting angle, which works more like a scraper than a plane sometimes. It is good for hardwoods because there is very little tearout.

Here is the board after the bullnose profile was cut. Notice all the stringy shavings from the #6 hollow plane.

And here is the profile. Looking pretty good.

So the next task is to cut out the area between the two grooves. Keep watching. We are close to the finish line.

 

[jimreed2160]

Time for the Blue Box.

I think every craftsman has a favorite tool or two. This is the go-to tool. The big gun. The one that makes you smile. Well, for me that tool is in the Blue Box. I have always been a woodworker but put it on hold while my children were young. There was just not much leisure time and I wanted to spend the little I had with them. But they grew up and mother in law moved out in the late 1990s. Suddenly I had time AND a place to set up shop. Somehow I got interested in on line auctions and found myself acquiring vintage handplanes. One of my favorites was the Stanley #46 skew dado plane. It had a high gizmosity factor and was very different from other planes. I acquired some but could never get more than a few raggedy cutters. Somehow that grew into an obsessive quest to make my own blades. I succeeded in making the blades and also succeeded in conquering the #46. Now it is one of my favorites.

Here is the plane.

And here is the blade set I made for myself. Trust me, those things are not easy to make.

But a good #46 with sharp blades is really fun to use. I plan to put this one to work carving out the rabbet on the underside of my moulding. All I have to do is remove the waste between two 1/8" grooves. The first order of business is to pick a blade. The area is a little over 5/8" so I will use a 1/2" cutter. That one needs the skate. On the #46, like the #45, the skate is not used for small blades. The runner under the blade along with the skate form a sole for the plane so that the cutter stays level. Here is the bottom of the plane with the blade installed and the skate in place.

And here is the plane set up to go. I will make a few passes with the guide fence in place. Then it can be removed and the plane will track between the two grooves.

One of the fun things about the #46 is its shavings. Normally it is used for dados. Those shavings are like chips. But when the plane is used for rabbeting, the shavings are long tight curls.

This plane is fun to use and gnawing out this waste will be shop fun at its best.