Woodworking 101--Tools and Tips

[drivesitfar]

Jim: i really think you are finding this thread is maybe educating you as much as you are educating us. isn't it nice to find an old tool you actually own and figuring out what it's highest and best use is?

ALL: I'm pretty much the GOFOR or HANDYMAN for my daughter's wedding and i need a little help with a design. i need to make something to hang some frilly stuff from that will be behind the wedding ceremony.

all Management (my wife and daughter) showed me was 2 8 foot tall posts with a 12 foot cross bar. the one i was shown had a steel base with a square tube for the 4x4's or 2x4's posts to set in, but i'm not a welder. i do have the steel so i could probably get it welded if that's the best option.

any ideas on how to make this? i was thinking bolting the crossbar on top, but saw this design that might not need any bolts.

 

[Rickss96]

A Coachmakers Shave
It is too bad that he did not consult any Japanese planemakers ...

jimreed - your knowledge of hand planes is impressive. I really liked your recall of techniques used by Japanese planemakers to fix problems here, and your idea to try different types of woods to see how that Coachmakers Shave could work.
I’m learning a lot, please keep up this education.

Beaders and quirk routers were important to the carriage makers because water flow was a big issue for them to solve. Look closely at carriages,...

I will do that the next time I see one. There is a stagecoach on display at the Wells Fargo building in downtown LA, might be the same one you see in the Rose Parade. Its time for a field trip to check out the details.

Another skill carriage makers needed was making wooden wagon wheels. Bet there's only a handful of people left that know how to do that. And they had to have help from the local blacksmith to make and install the iron tires onto the rim.

 

[jimreed2160]

Drives--The first joint pictured is a variation on the tongue and fork, which was used by timber framers to join rafters. It is simple and strong. My only advice is to make the entire structure strong because some guest might lean on it. Also kudos to the entire Mgmt team for keeping you busy. This is not a good time for you to sit and think.

Rick--Thanks for your kind words. Let us know if you get to see the coach up close. Most of them are much more complicated than they look at first glance.

 

[ez-duzit]

...make the entire structure strong...

Actually I would suggest making it as lightweight as possible, if it is simply to support lightweight decorations.

 

[mefast]

Welcome and post up pics of your shop and projects when you get time.

Bret

I didn't do very well at getting to my shelf this weekend, but I did get the furnace oil primed and heat in the garage. Here's where the furnace is and my current plan is to remove the clutter and build my wood working area here:

View media item 67554
Even with the furnace and oil tank, I should have a 9'x14' room to work in.

Also, to follow Jim's class photos, here's the main tools I'll be using:

View media item 67553
Maybe this week I'll find some time to do actual woodworking...

 

[Blue Frog]

A couple of pages back, I posted a picture of a baby crib that my grandson and his wife asked me to build. Here's the picture:





The wood selected was white oak, of which I have an ample supply, though most of it was 1 1/8" thick, so it took some time to plane down to 3/4". If I did all handtool work such as Jim Reed, I would need to be like Popeye and probably need several cases of spinach - but I'm not. This was a task for my DW 735 planed with a Byrd head, and a super cyclone dust collector to catch the shavings. After about an hour, I had 35 gl of shavings.





and two stacks of planed wood like this one.





First came the construction of the posts - 3 1/2" square - NOT SOLTD! So this meant ripping the sides of the posts at a 45 degree angle, then gluing the sides together. Can we be sure that the rip saw can be set to 45 degrees? I think so.





Then comes the ripping - leaves a lot of scraps for my neighbors wood-burning fireplace.





Next, we do a dry-fit and have the sides taped together with masking tape.





That can be unrolled to permit glue to be applied. Since the application of glue will take a period of time longer than 5 minutes, I selected Liquid Hide glue which will give me up to 30 minutes before needing to be clamped. Getting ready to apply glue. Notice the mitered edges on each board - the tape holding the individual boards together.





Roll the boards making up each post, apply more tape and let them set overnight. Here's a cutoff of one of the legs - I love it when joints are this tight. The seam is on the corner and will not be noticed after the blue-gray stain is applied.





I didn't take pictures of the layout for the stiles but here's one of the front section. My grand DIL was very excited to be able to use the RadiPlane to produce a 1/16" roundover on the four edges of each stile.





More to come by the weekend.


BLue Frog

 

[ez-duzit]

BF--Nice bench! And I like that Dust Gorilla.

 

[Blue Frog]

BF--Nice bench! And I like that Dust Gorilla.

Bench is an Ulmia - picked it up in Cincy several years ago for $500.00. I've never regretted that purchase.

Blue Frog

 

[turbowoodworker]

Blue Frog,
Nice job on the legs.
Tell us about your experience with the Titebond hide glue. I have never used it. Is this your first experience or do you use it commonly? Pluses/minuses?

 

[cheechi]

apologies ahead of time blue for the million questions.

what stand is that and how stable is it for planing?

looks like you have a 3 drawer lateral file cabinet. What's in it? I'd like to see a drawer tour of it and the card file back there too.

I have a 2 drawer that fits really well under my wood rack, but finding a way to put everything big in it and fit it, or putting smaller things in and making them accessible has been a fun challenge recently.

why the clamps (to me) stored upside down?

Also really like that dust gorilla

 

[jimreed2160]

Mefast--Nice class photo. I think you will have a nice shop. Good luck.

Blue--Impressive work. Glad to see you resorted to a little power to plane your boards. The kid does need to use it before college. Thanks for the shop shots. We like shop shots.

 

[ztorres]

Another cutting board I made. A friend of the wife came over and said she wanted one. So I took some scrap end pieces and made this. It's maple, oak, hickory, pine, and alder. Turned out really well with just butcher block oil.



Zach

 

[Blue Frog]

Blue Frog,
Nice job on the legs.
Tell us about your experience with the Titebond hide glue. I have never used it. Is this your first experience or do you use it commonly? Pluses/minuses?

My first time to use it and I'm glad that I did. It's a little messy - best applied with a brush. I ran a string of glue along one of the mitered edges of one of the boards and found that it was difficult to smooth out. From that time on , I applied it with a brush. It's also a little messy, but it will clean up with water which is a plus. I'll definitely not be afraid to use it for future applications.

Blue Frog

 

[Blue Frog]

apologies ahead of time blue for the million questions.

What stand is that and how stable is it for planing?

This bench is made by Ulmia in Germany. It's much like the one Jim Reed has, but mine has an tail vise whereas Jim's has an end vise that runs across the total width of the end of the bench. It's an excellent heavy-duty bench for use in any type of woodworking.

Looks like you have a 3 drawer lateral file cabinet. What's in it? I'd like to see a drawer tour of it and the card file back there too.

That file cabinet that looks like a lateral file is similar to those in medical office facilities used to store medical records standing on end. Mine is different though. The door lifts up and slide-out trays are used to hold "stuff." The two upper doors conceal two shallow slide-out trays each and the lower door conceals a full-height pull-out tray.

The card file is one that was used for computer cards back in the 60's and 70's, at least where I attended graduate engineering school. Each drawer has two lift out trays, and each tray is capable of holding a Stanley #8 plane on its side - yes, they're 24" deep - front to back.

I have a 2 drawer that fits really well under my wood rack, but finding a way to put everything big in it and fit it, or putting smaller things in and making them accessible has been a fun challenge recently.

Why the clamps (to me) stored upside down?

I assume that you mean the hand clamps beside the band saw. That style clamp has a small cross pin in the end. The rack in which they are placed has a slot for each clamp, then I run a 1/4" wide groove, 1/8" deep, all the way across the entire rack. Each clamp slides into their respective slot, the the cross pin drops down into the groove , firmly holding the clamp in place. All my hand clamps are stored that way, the shorter ones suspended from the floor joists.

Also really like that dust gorilla

If you want to see pictures, I'll take some tomorrow and post them.

Blue Frog

 

[superautobacs]

Some amateur WW that I've done to help organize my tools:

I had to do something to my file cabinet drawer that contained my small assortment of clamps, so I came up with this solution.

All of the Baltic birch plywood is reclaimed and the 2x4 materials were off-cuts.

All the racks were made with hand tools only.

The tray was cut with a circular saw (don't have a table saw). The handle is also recycled.

This tray was cut with a circular saw (don't have a table saw). The handle is also recycled.

Here's the drawer all organized:

The tray sits on top of the longer clamps.

Lift the tray with the handle, set it aside, and that gives access to the rest.

The vertical clamp rack is held against the side of the metal drawer by those two neodymium magnets.

Something more recently that I made, also with free, high quality plywood material. I hand cut two squares, glued, filed the edges, and drilled the holes using a drill press. This was a fun little project.

 

[jimreed2160]

Super--Clamps do seem to create problems. Not enough clamps and the ww is held back and inconvenienced--too many clamps and the ww is inundated with clutter. It is good to see your clever storage solution.

 

[schor]

I store my clamps in the ceiling joists.

 

[drivesitfar]

Schor & Super: love the organizing pictures and good for you for thinking a little outside the box so to speak.

Blue: amazing looking shop. just curious with 4 pieces to glue together that are 45'd did you just use the blue tape to hold them in place until you were finished gluing all four sides and then put on clamps? also how long do you leave the clamps on? for cutting the ends straight do you just use a chop saw?

sorry about all the questions and just wondering how you make a cap for the posts.

looks like your Grand DIL is one happy gal getting to work with you making this!!

ALL: so i got a few images from MANAGEMENT on what the final product of my frame might look like. any ideas on how to make a sturdy frame out of wood that just needs to hold a lot of lightweight fabric? i've been told that the frame i'm building is 8 foot tall and 12 feet across.

 

[Blue Frog]

Schor & Super: love the organizing pictures and good for you for thinking a little outside the box so to speak.

Blue: amazing looking shop. just curious with 4 pieces to glue together that are 45'd did you just use the blue tape to hold them in place until you were finished gluing all four sides and then put on clamps? also how long do you leave the clamps on? for cutting the ends straight do you just use a chop saw?

Drives, I rolled the sections back together and added additional packing tape stretched tight. That's adequate for this type of clamping action. I left it overnight then cut the ends off on my table saw.

sorry about all the questions and just wondering how you make a cap for the posts.

The cap for the posts will be part of a continuous cap on the sides and front, then a continuous long cap across the entire back. These cap will be 3 1/2" wide.

looks like your Grand DIL is one happy gal getting to work with you making this!!

Blue Frog

 

[ez-duzit]

While some of my clamps are stored close by particular areas where they are often needed (drill press, etc) most are stored between the wall studs where they are easy to access.

 

[jimreed2160]

Schor--I love your idea of reclaiming space. My clamps are pretty heavy--do you wear a helmet in your shop? Or maybe your ceiling is one of those low basement things.

 

[schor]

Schor--I love your idea of reclaiming space. My clamps are pretty heavy--do you wear a helmet in your shop? Or maybe your ceiling is one of those low basement things.

My shop is 18x28 with 10' stud walls, I put a loft in the back of it and it's about 7' off the floor, so enough head room but also easily reachable. No helmet required.

 

[jimreed2160]

Two Preston Spokeshaves

Our Tool-a-rama continues as my face rehab continues to interfere with normal shop time. I need to avoid sweating and airborne sawdust while my face is smeared with vaseline.

During that idyllic time that preceded the horrors of WW I, the Preston company introduced their unique skewed spokeshave. It was based on their conventional 1391 shave. Here is a picture of them together. The skew shave is on top.

Here is a picture of the bottom.

Now, ww in the know understand the benefits of skewing their planes and spokeshaves. A slight skewing action helps the blade slice wood fibers easier. It also reduces the width of the cut. But skewing in practice is handy. Only a slight skew is needed--10-15 degrees makes a big difference. I like to think of it as the tomato cut of woodworking. We all know that thrusting a knife at 90 degrees into a tomato is much harder than slicing at about 60 degrees.

So the clever engineers at Preston decided to help out ww everywhere by eliminating the need for that bothersome manual skew. When the Preston skew shave addresses the project, it has a nice factory skew.

And we all know that shavings produced by skew planes are spirals.

The normal shave is not too shabby. It produces some nice wispy shavings.

Skewed or not, these old Preston shaves are some of the best around. The blade adjuster mechanism holds the blade tight and makes adjustment a snap. In addition, the wings at the top adjust the blade sideways so you can square it up with the base.

Using this shave takes a little adjusting on the user's part. I tend to unconsciously skew spokeshaves in use. When I try that with the Preston, my skew contradicts the shave and removes ALL skew. But after a few licks, everything evens out. It pulls nice long shavings with no chatter. I think I need to add this shave to my user tool box.

 

[padroo]

My grandfather was a blacksmith for over 60 years and When I was young I remember him working on wagon wheels using a spoke shaver. I also watched him take a piece of flat stock make it into a circle and weld it together, heat it up red hot then drop it over a wooden wheel then cool it with water. I wish I would have paid attention more. Steel shrink fit over wood held the wheel together.

His shop was across the street from the original 84 Lumber company in the small town of 84 pa.in Washington County Pennsylvania.

 

[jimreed2160]

Padroo--Interesting story about your grandfather. Wooden wheels for wagons and early cars were made using an amazing amount of technology. The spokes were hickory as were the felloes (outer pieces). Most were dished so they would not collapse when cornering. And the iron tire had to be just the right size. I expect your grandfather the blacksmith knew that sizing by heart. Wheelwrights probably assembled wheels from factory made parts. But the blacksmith who repaired them probably had to make hubs, spokes, felloes and tires by hand. In my mind, he was the true wheel craftsman.

 

[cheechi]

Blue, while the workbench is very nice I saw you mentioned it prior so I didn't want to ask the same thing again. It looks like in the same photo you have a planer sitting atop a miter saw stand. that's what I was asking about as my primary needs for adding any power tools are portability and quality. That's the planer I want, the 735x but haven't got anything to put it on and I know it's HEAVY and dropping it makes it a very expensive doorstop.

 

[Blue Frog]

Blue, while the workbench is very nice I saw you mentioned it prior so I didn't want to ask the same thing again. It looks like in the same photo you have a planer sitting atop a miter saw stand. that's what I was asking about as my primary needs for adding any power tools are portability and quality. That's the planer I want, the 735x but haven't got anything to put it on and I know it's HEAVY and dropping it makes it a very expensive doorstop.

I apologize for reading your question too quickly and assuming that you meant the wooden bench. The stand came with the planer from a C/L ad several years ago. The PO had used both for a period of time - long enough to dull the cutters in the planer and didn't change them. Anyway, I don't know if the stand is available now or not, but it's a very stable stand, and like you, I wanted one that was both stable and portable - this stands satisfies that requirement very well. It's standing on end wheneer it's not in use. Here's a few pictures.
















Also, you asked earlier about the lateral file - here's a few pictures of that also.











Lots of storage in that file cabinet.

Blue Frog

 

[jimreed2160]

Blue--That is a great stand. Seems like a nice solution for those of us with space issues.

 

[cheechi]

Ah ok. The MS-UV is basically built around the stand they used on the first version of the R4510 table saw. While it's not as good for a table as the current, it is a good stand I've seen a few of those with miters on them (the Ridgid miter has a HUGE base), anyways great to hear that it's stable in the same way a planer needs, in case I need to pick up something folding that's more or less on the top of my list now.

The newer version of the miter saw stand is similar to the newer table saw stand in the same ways that is similar to the older version. However I think the newer one wouldn't be as good for other tools as it is for the miter.

This is mostly speculative I know it's hard to quantify and I don't have both to compare side by side but I hope it is helpful.

I REALLY like that cabinet blue. I have some 5 drawer lateral file cabs where the top 'drawer' is like those, but it's not doubled up like yours. I would maybe do one of mine like yours with a simple drop in frame but they're each 6ft tall easily and I'm not so it would be cool but not as useful as yours.

 

[Camping57]

I just scored a 1977 Unisaw over the weekend off of C'list for $200! Missing the miter gage and 460 volt 3 phase, but I can rewire the motor to 240 and runit off a VFD using my regular 220V .
I have it all torn down right now and I can now see why these are quest machines; the quality and complexity of the machining is nuts. The trunnions are a pair of semicircular mating cast iron pieces that are machined so well that I was able to rock the bevel adjust with one finger once I got the motor out.
I can't wait to get this baby fired up and making chips!

 

[ez-duzit]

57--that's the lowest price I've heard on a Unisaw. You'll love it.

 

[Corndoggeh]

Blue, where did you get that double drawer lateral cabinet? I have one but only has one big shelf, would be awesome to have that one for paint and bulky supplies!

 

[jimreed2160]

Camping--Nice score on the saw. If you are able, please post some pictures so we can enjoy your rehab along with you.

 

[jimreed2160]

So Nana is down with the aftermath of a tooth extraction. That procedure consumed all of my shop time yesterday. I had to take care of my Baby. Today she is rocking out in the recliner on pain meds and is pretty low maintenance.

I did get a chance to pull a tote out of storage in the cold bedroom. Any time you cannot safely lift the tote, it just HAS to have some neat stuff in it. And this one was no exception. I found the Stanley #45 parts I was looking for and also found a whole gob of Preston stuff. Check this one out.

This is a Preston #1396 Stringing Router, aka the Pistol Grip router. It was made in the early 20th century and was originally supplied with six blades--from 1/16 to 3/8, graduated in 1/16ths. It is used to make a groove for stringing or banding and is used today by guitar makers.

There is a fence that is straight on one side and rounded on the other so it can either go straight or follow curves. Here is the blade adjuster.

That little tab on the sole is the blade projecting out. It is held in place with a plate and turnscrew. The depth of cut is adjusted using the common Preston screw adjuster at the top.

Here is a close up of the blade.

The adjuster opening in Preston cutters is not really a rectangle. If you look closely, you will see that it is really a bow tie shape. The wide ends allow the cutter to move without binding on the screw and the pointed middle takes up slack to reduce backlash. Pretty nifty on their part. Anyway, this cutter looks like a factory bow tie top with a user filed cutting tip. That is my guess because the cutter is not 1/16 but 5/64.

By the way, if you do not have one of these woodworker's calipers, get one now. It is graduated in 1/64 tics and marked in 8ths, 16ths, and 4ths. It is one of the most used tools in my shop. The summer I worked at Rockler's I demonstrated this caliper to anyone who would listen to me. We sold out of it every week while I was there. I am sure that corporate wondered what was going on in Sandy Springs, GA.

Anyway, let's get back to our project. I have a test board and just adjusted the fence.

Here is the cherry board after a few passes.

The blade is bedded at 90 degrees so you can use this router in both directions. Here is my finished groove.

I cut a strip of maple with the bandsaw.

And then applied glue and clamps.

That was just too easy. I need to add some accent stringing to my next project. It will really pimp it up.

The glue needs time to dry. Stay tuned to see how this turns out.

 

[jimreed2160]

Preston Stringing Router Blades

The problem with my stringing routers is that they lack cutters. I need to make a few so I can use one for stringing. Here is one that came with the previous router.

It measures 1/2" wide by 1/32" thick. By chance, I have some flat stock that will work. Mine is 1/2" wide by 3/64" thick. Just a tad thicker but that will make it stronger.

It needs to be cut to length, so I made a precision mark with my sharpie.

Why do one when I can do two? I cut them to length with a cut off wheel in my angle grinder. Here they are after cutting. I need to square up the ends on the grinder.

Now for the hard part--I need to make that bow tie hole.

First, I blued the area using a Sharpie.

And then scribe the edges.

Now we go over to the drill press and drill three or four careless holes in the waste.

I cleaned it up a bit with the milling machine.

Now for the file work. It is nice to have a Parker vise mounted on my fixit tool bench.

More file work.

Time for a test fitting. I also need to grind the top and round it over.

Here is the final fitting. There is very little backlash in this one.

And here it is in the plane. Fits like a glove.

I normally stamp by blades and cutters with their size. This one is a blank, however, and does not have its finished sizing.

Well, don't they look like brothers! I like mine better because it is a tighter fit.

I guess now I need to order some steel stock and make up a complete set of six.

 

[jimreed2160]

Stringing Router test, continued

We left this project after the glue up. Five hours is enough for our test. Let's see what we have. I will go after the waste with handplanes because I think the bandsaw will put too much stress on the thin wood. And this looks like a job for the Bedrock #603 and the LN low angle block plane.

It only takes the Bedrock a minute or two to turn most of the waste into little curlies.

And the block plane needed even less time to take it down to the cherry.

Here is the big reveal.

There are quite a few takeaways here. One is that maple and cherry are really good friends. Two is that stringing is just too easy!!!

I like 19th century American furniture, especially Sheraton. Stringing and banding were very popular decorations that were used in Sheraton furniture. It really dresses up the project. Now I just need something that needs a little stringing inlay...

 

[paulm12]

some real interesting old time tools Jim. Thanks for all of the pictures and tutorials on how to use.

 

[jimreed2160]

some real interesting old time tools Jim. Thanks for all of the pictures and tutorials on how to use.

Thanks for your kind words. And just think, I have focused on the metallic planes so far. BUT there are many boxes of woodies we can explore. Add in the other ww tools and I think we can keep this this thread going for a long time. Woodworking lore is a rich topic.

 

[4Kings]

Got an email from Rockler the other day about a new fold dado blade. Very cool. Check out the videos.

http://www.rockler.com/rockler-miter-fold-dado-set

 

[Craptain]

Got an email from Rockler the other day about a new fold dado blade. Very cool. Check out the videos.

http://www.rockler.com/rockler-miter-fold-dado-set

I remember the inventor's first video and it was interesting then. It's a little bit pricey for me and my needs but for a business I can see it selling.

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