Woodworking 101--Tools and Tips

[jimreed2160]

Yeah, what they said. It was 4430 from 16 Jan.

 

[rrich1]

Last year I purchased the hand tool cabinet plans from fine wood working. It was the only one i saw that hit all of the things I wanted in a cabinet. So last November I purchased some mahagony for a hand tool cabinet and it has been in my garage ever since.

I don't have a lot of band saw experience and attempted to resaw the top and bottom last month that went terribly. The blade went off track in the wood and I had to cut the blade. It was a 1/2" blade I believe. I purchased a 3/4" Laguna blade (non resaw king) a while ago and just had no time to start it. I planned to get it started and use a friend's large dovetail jig. He has no time for us to get together so I decided to start and hand cut the dovetails. This will only be my second time doing dovetails.

Today I spent about 30 minutes before shift to get the band saw tuned and aligned to the 3/4" blade. I had time to cut one piece so I went for it. I resawed the shorter piece which will be the top and bottom. Amazingly it turned out perfect. I won't have time until Sunday to do the last two pieces (two sides and doors).

For the door panels and drawer fronts I will be resawing tiger wood. Should look really good with the mahagony. The curl in the tiger wood should really set the door and drawer front off

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

 

[ez-duzit]

1--what bandsaw do you have?

 

[rrich1]

1--what bandsaw do you have?

Rikon 10-324.

I had used it on smaller things like the bridle joints on the gaming table and other smaller things. Nothing like resawing 11" wide boards before though. It handled it really well with no lack of power.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

 

[jimreed2160]

rrich--Glad you got the resawing worked out. That's some nice wood you have.

I have done quite a bit of resawing and have made (and corrected) almost every error there is. Here are a few tips for the future:

1. Use a fresh and sharp blade. Wandering cuts are almost always due to a dull blade.
2. Adjust top and bottom guides. They are important for resawing.
3. The best blades are low TPI. Just look at the cut--there is lots of sawdust to drag out and too many cutting teeth make too much dust too quickly to be removed.
4. Go slow and let the saw do its thing.
5. Use good dust collection or a good breather. Resawing creats LOTS of dust.
6. Square up the bottom edge so your stock stands true on the table.

Good luck.

 

[jimreed2160]

Tomato supports

So ww projects are not all fine furniture. Sometimes you just need practical things around the homestead. Such is today's project. I just planted tomatoes in a growbox and needed to provide support for the plants. The tripod sticks are 8 ft PT 2x2s from HD. I used lag bolts and fender washers to attach the outer legs to the center. The center piece sits in the yard and is zip tied to a bird feeder rod for support. The two legs sit on the inside of the patio and are supported together by a PT fence picket that I found in the garage. It is attached with SS deck screws.

I may have to sandbag the bottom picket during hurricane season, which is only 40 some days away. But so far my redneck contraption seems like it will work.

 

[hunterguy86]

Here’s the book case I made that I asked about a while back in the thread. It’s made from syp from the big box store. I ended up using plywood for the back. The pine was treated as 6/4 stock and planed to 1” thick.

The drawer has hand cut through dovetails. These are the first dovetails I’ve made in an actual project.

There are things I would do differently next time but I think it turned out ok. I learned a ton, had fun and the wife is happy so that’s all that matters I guess.








Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jimreed2160]

hunter--Good job on the bookcase. Your dovetails look well done. Be careful though as DTs can be addictive. You might find yourself adding them to every project. Since your wife was pleased with the project, you have the green light to acquire more tools. Don't miss this opportunity.

 

[jimreed2160]

Shelf hanging

The poly smell is almost gone so today is a great time to hang the pantry shelf. I used my stud finder and marked the studs. I looked at shelves in the kitchen and decided that 6 ft is high enough to be out of the way but low enough to reach comfortably. The 2" lip means that the "noggin bump zone" begins at 5'10". That works for me, even with shoes on, but Shorty may have issues with it.

Then I attached the side piece and leveled the back piece to it. Of course, now is the time to discover that the square corner is not really square.

 

[jimreed2160]

Shelf continued

I marked the side and cut a wedge off using the bandsaw. Then the hanging went great. By the way, I used some nice SS screws I found to hang the cleats to the wall. The shelf is attached to the cleats with drywall screws.

Amazing how many tools it takes to do a small project like this. And don't forget the vacuum for cleanup. I like the portable because it shares batteries with my other tools and is quick and easy to use. Kinda like a cordless Dustbuster that actually works.

Shelf is already in use and is just the first part of the project. There is an outlet that is covered up by the rolling shelves. I want to run an extension to it, mount it to the wall, and use the top of the toolbox as a charging station. Maybe I will also hang a light on the underside of the shelf. Stay tuned.

 

[jimreed2160]

Stanley Universal Hand Beader #66

I like to use a scratch beader whenever I can because they are so easy. Today I made a blade blank for one. It is a snap to file in a profile and scratch away. The original Stanley blades were 1/32" thick. Those are a little thin for me, I like 3/64" better. And it is easy to do. Just purchase some O-1 flat stock that is 5/8" wide and 3/64" thick or even 1/16" if you are feeling your oats. Cut it to length with a Dremel or angle grinder or cutoff wheel, grind the end flat, and start filing your profile.

So get yourself a scratch beader and start scratching.

 

[hunterguy86]

hunter--Good job on the bookcase. Your dovetails look well done. Be careful though as DTs can be addictive. You might find yourself adding them to every project. Since your wife was pleased with the project, you have the green light to acquire more tools. Don't miss this opportunity.

Thanks for the compliment.

The tool hunt never stops. I’d like to replace my chisels with ones that have a narrower side profile. Mine can be hard to get into the corner of dovetails.

Dovetails are addicting! I’m actually making a dovetailed box for my sharpening gear haha.

Your shelf looks great btw.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Blue Frog]

Raw Material

Since moving to Florida, I've been disappointed at the lack of hardwood available for purchase. About the only place where it was available was the local Lowe's and it was expensive and the variety was poor to say the least.

Then I went to a church dinner just before Easter, met a couple of new-found woodworking friends, and asked if there was a local supplier that they used. They gave me a lead on a millwork dealer about 25 minutes from my house. I went there, to find out that they only accept special orders. I explained my dilemma to the salesperson and she asked if I could use some shorts, explaining that they accumulated cutoffs of various hardwoods in their cabinet production shop and stacked the cutoffs onto a pallet until it was about 4' high, then they sold the entire pallet for $50.00 plus tax. I said YES!

I got a call yesterday morning that a pallet was available, so I quickly travelled there to get my stash, bought it sight unseen, then went to the staging area to load it into the rear of my Audi Q5 SUV. Wow, was I ever surprised - quality pieces of mahogany, QSWO, maple, poplar, and a few pieces of exotic - possibly bucote. I was only able to get about 2/3 of the pile into my car.

I tried to upload pictures but got this message - "Your submission could not be processed because a security token was missing.

If this occurred unexpectedly, please inform the administrator and describe the action you performed before you received this error."

 

[jimreed2160]

Blue--Great story and score! Reminds me of when I was young, penniless, and just out of college. I went dumpster diving at a local cabinet shop and found a couple dozen 8/4 mahogany cutoffs from a cabriole leg run. I had thick mahogany for years and even carved a chess set from some of it. The news here is that local cabinet shops can be a good source of small project wood--even in Florida.

 

[jimreed2160]

Hunter--I hear ya on the dovetail chisels. I suggest you make your own. When I had a DT project come up some 20 years ago, I went to Big Lots and bought two nice 1/4" chisels. I ground the tips flat at 45 degrees to the edge. Then I replaced the 30 degree bevel on a skew. One of them is right handed and the other is a lefty. They really get into DT corners for cleanout.

My buddies did 30 degrees but I found the 45 more to my liking. I even found an inexpensive lot of chisels and doubled my money by selling pairs.

Find chisels with nice handles and grind away. All it takes is time and lots of water for frequent quenching.

 

[jimreed2160]

Bedrock cleanup

So I dragged this Bedrock #608C into daylight this morning. At 24", it is the aircraft carrier Yorktown of bench planes. The special part of this one is that it has one of those famous ReedMaster (tm) blades. After a few hours of Simple Green and Scotchbrite pads, it began to look a little better.

The last picture is a mock up. After lunch I shot the tote with poly. Once it dries I will be able to put everything back together and take it out on a shake down cruise.

 

[drivesitfar]

Blue: while GJ is making changes in their server or site the pictures we try to post might be too big to download more than one at a time. to fix this problem i've been able to download one or two or three pictures and still get up to 7 pictures per post on my post. i've yet to have one picture download come up with that message, but i've had it come up a few times with 2 pictures so maybe try again downloading one or two at a time until you get up to 7 pictures per post and maybe this will work for you too.

good luck

Jim: is that shelf that you mounted in the corner above your toolbox able to hold quite a bit of weight or more for light duty?

ALL: I did some googling on cedar picnic tables and I have 2 and 3 inch cedar boards and like the 3 inch looks better. anybody built one like that or seen any to post a few pictures of?

here's a few of my favorites so far

 

[Blue Frog]

Second attempt at posting pictures. Thanks for the tip DRIVES.

 

[chrislehr]

I finished building and filling my wifes raised beds.

Im still marveling at my engineering

 

[jimreed2160]

Blue--What a freekin haul! That is the small project stash of a lifetime!

Drives--That shelf would probably break in several places if I were to sit on it. But it might hold big me if I ease in. I expect the safety load to be about 150 if equally distributed. So it is not really for storing vises or tooboxes full of socket sets. Ortho docs say save yer rotator cuffs and lift only light loads over yer head. At six feet in the air, this special pantry shelf is for those bulky packs of stuff from Costco. Currently it is loaded with Kleenix and nitrile gloves with napkins to follow.

 

[hunterguy86]

Hunter--I hear ya on the dovetail chisels. I suggest you make your own. When I had a DT project come up some 20 years ago, I went to Big Lots and bought two nice 1/4" chisels. I ground the tips flat at 45 degrees to the edge. Then I replaced the 30 degree bevel on a skew. One of them is right handed and the other is a lefty. They really get into DT corners for cleanout.



My buddies did 30 degrees but I found the 45 more to my liking. I even found an inexpensive lot of chisels and doubled my money by selling pairs.



Find chisels with nice handles and grind away. All it takes is time and lots of water for frequent quenching.

Excellent idea! Thanks!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jimreed2160]

Chris--Great job on the raised beds. Now you can just sit back and wait for the tomato feast.

I had a little more shop time this evening and finished up the #608C. It just glides down the wood and wispy shavings jump out of the mouth.

 

[jimreed2160]

Another Battleship

I just dragged out another battleship from mothball row. This one is a prelateral type 4 Stanley Bailey #8 bench plane. These bad boys were made from 1874-1884. The familiar lateral lever for blade adjustment did not appear until type 5 in 1885, hence the name "pre-lateral". Stanley was messing around with the frog seat design and type 4 was when they finally had a design they could build upon. Apparently the engineers continued the debate and the company released the Bedrock line in 1898. Its main feature was an improved frog base.

I guess patent disputes abounded in the 19th century because this thing has a bunch of patent marks. There is no maker's name or even a size cast into the sole, but the dang chipbreaker has a patent date! These early planes are often mistaken for non Stanley planes because the name is not cast. Most of my pre laterals were not identified and sold as Stanley planes.

My extra large dunk tank was called into service for this job. Plane body and frog are soaking in Evaporust right now.

 

[jimreed2160]

aka--At first glance it looks like a novelty item. But could be very handy in a small studio apartment. If you take it on, we need the pictures.

 

[jimreed2160]

Prelateral #8

So I finally finished the prelateral #8 rehab. It sure looks nicer without all that rust. Most of the parts got a spa day at the Evaporust Emporium. Parts seem to do better if they go in clean, so I brush them to remove loose rust and dirt. Greasy tools get a washing in Dawn. And then it is into the soaker. After a 24 hour soak, I wash them with warm water and Dawn. Dry with paper towels and put into a warm oven for a few minutes to heat up. It dries out the water in nooks and crannies. I pull them out when they are warm to the touch and slather with 3 in 1 oil to stop the flash rusting.

Lots of newspaper--remember those newspapers? I subscribe to the local daily and the Wall St Journal so there is always newspaper around. I use it for domestic harmony because it keeps the kitchen counters clean.

Next step depends on time. They can sit with a heavy oil coat for a long time. But sooner or later I wipe then oil off with paper towels and cotton rags. An old red Scotchbrite pad is good for removing the gray residue from the EV treatment. Next step is to wax with Johnsons paste wax and reassemble. Now is the time to sharpen blades and oil screw threads.

This one turned out well, so the stains on my hands are worth it. Here are the money shots.

 

[jimreed2160]

Pictures?

For some reason, the server ate my pictures. Here they are again.

 

[rrich1]

Made some progress this week and also hit a huge snag on the hand tool cabinet

First I ripped all the 8/4 mahogany down which went very smoothly. The boards did have some tension and cupped on me. I let them sit a few days and went to my wood store and had them joint the boards again. I planed them today. I jointed the edges and then started to rip some of the pieces down to find all dimension. The case will get hand cut dovetails. I got the case sides cut and as I moved my fence for the last adjustment for the sides, the hand snapped off. I contacted delta for a warranty replacement part. They approved it and will hopefully be here next week. Until then I can cut the sides to length and start those dovetails. Probably will take me all week anyways. Lol

So right now I have a whole lot of beautiful mahagony just sitting there.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

 

[rlitman]

...and as I moved my fence for the last adjustment for the sides, the hand snapped off. I contacted delta for a warranty replacement part. They approved it and will hopefully be here next week. Until then...

Oof. But that's just a handle. In the meantime, you could get a bolt at the hardware store in the same threading, and get back to work.

FWIW, I modified my fence handle years ago. My saw is in a tighter spot than I'd like, and I'd get hit in the nuts by that damned handle every time I walked past the freezer. Now, my handle is removable. But that mod required some welding.

 

[rrich1]

Oof. But that's just a handle. In the meantime, you could get a bolt at the hardware store in the same threading, and get back to work.

FWIW, I modified my fence handle years ago. My saw is in a tighter spot than I'd like, and I'd get hit in the nuts by that damned handle every time I walked past the freezer. Now, my handle is removable. But that mod required some welding.

It's what I planned on doing. Luckily I have just enough of the snapped off part to take to the hardware store to get a bolt. Not sure when I can get to the store though.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

 

[jimreed2160]

rrich--Those things do seem to happen at inopportune times.

I like the bolt idea myself. The replacement part will probably come from the same batch.

 

[rrich1]

Ran by ace and picked up a few different length of bolts. Tried them when I went home for lunch and it'll work until the replacement alrt arrives. Will get to more cutting tomorrow.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

 

[jimreed2160]

Stanley #7 greaseball

All these long planes are getting in my way so I need to clean them up and rehome them. Just as it is hard to love a puppy covered in mud, it is hard to find homes for nasty planes. And this #7 is no exception. It looks like it was stored in the back of a machine shop because there is a thick coat of grease all over the top side.

The good news is that grease and oil protect the finish and keep rust at bay. The bad news, of course, is that cleaning up a greaseball can be a chore. So I turned on the shop tunes, got out a big piece of cardboard to protect my workbench, and went to town with Simple Green. I blew through paper towels like a sick cow with a cold, but I finally got down to the japan finish. Then I took the Scotchbrite pad to the bottom of the sole. It came out nice without looking stripped. Bonus was patent dates under the gunk. Looks like this is a type 9 made from 1902-1907.

After degreasing, the frog and all of the other steel parts headed over to the Evaporust spa for a 24 hour rest.

 

[jimreed2160]

#7 sole

It is amazing what a few hours of scrubbing will do to a greaseball. The sole came out looking good enough to escape the EV dip tank. I like the natural look better anyway.

The next task is to clean up the spa crew and then tackle the wood. Both knob and tote are in good shape but need a little cleanup. The brass is in great shape but needs a little Scotchbrite polishing.

 

[hunterguy86]

So I struggle with gluing up panels. It seems that I have a hard time getting the joint to line up flat.

I was thinking that next time I may do tongue and grove with my Stanley 45.

This would be a solid wood side for another book case. Any reason why I should not do it this way?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[rrich1]

So I struggle with gluing up panels. It seems that I have a hard time getting the joint to line up flat.

I was thinking that next time I may do tongue and grove with my Stanley 45.

This would be a solid wood side for another book case. Any reason why I should not do it this way?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Are you sure your edges are square? And do you use any cauls during glue up to keep the boards flat?

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

 

[rrich1]

Got a bolt in the fence handle today and started to cut the pieces for the cabinet. I must have miscalculated at some point and don't have enough wood. I have to go into town tomorrow anyways and will pick up another board. This cabinet is getting expensive. On a side note I'm loving how the mahagony is looking.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

 

[jimreed2160]

hunter--There are a few schools of thought on glue ups. Some like to mash and clamp and caul the wood into submission. I like to give it my best shot and then plane it flat. But I also leave at least 1/2 to a full inch all around so I can also square it up after making the panel. Wood moves.

rrich--Yes, projects do take lots of stock. My wife bought me a figured board from Woodcraft one time for a gift. She wanted to know what I was going to make out of it. Well, it was 4/4 and about 5 inches wide by six feet. She was surprised when I answered, "pens". We ww are known to take large stacks of wood and reduce them to small projects and large piles of sawdust and shavings.

 

[jonshonda]

I'm excited to start acquiring more and more tools for wood working. Both my Grandfathers were good with their hands and enjoyed wood working, and I feel like I owe it to them to advance my skills in the wood working area. I was a union framing carpenter for a few years after high school up until 9/11, and enjoyed everything but working outside in the cold all day.

Now we have a house big enough to accommodate more projects, and I have been lucky finding great tool deals on CL and FB. It if fun so see what people can make out of wood, and realize there is a real talent along with patience that I more then likely don't possess.

I have been looking for a decent CM 113.xxxx or similar table saw for a little bit, but the last two I found guys wanted $400 for. NOT! I feel like after I get a table saw I can start to expand my capabilities.

 

[jimreed2160]

jons--Welcome to the ww thread. Good to note that your grandfathers were also ww and you followed in their footsteps. It does get into your blood. Good luck acquiring your tools and don't forget to add a few handplanes.

 

[hunterguy86]

Are you sure your edges are square? And do you use any cauls during glue up to keep the boards flat?

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

Everything seemed to be square the last time I did it. The wood just seemed to shift a bit in the clamps even with cauls.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk