Woodworking 101--Tools and Tips

[jimreed2160]

That's a cool box, Bob. My guess is that you will appreciate having them all together when you work on your next project.

 

[PelicanPines]

Bob... you have just won the elusive, the rare, the prized... NIFTY award.

 

[Bob Heine]

That's a cool box, Bob. My guess is that you will appreciate having them all together when you work on your next project.

Thanks Jim, as you and others have pointed out, a lot of woodworking projects can be completed without a giant shop and a huge investment in equipment.

Bob... you have just won the elusive, the rare, the prized... NIFTY award.

Thank you PP, that is definitely my first NIFTY award.

Not sure why but I didn't throw out the other half of that 3/4" base for the box. The mailman delivered a neat gift from Stas26 yesterday and it occurred to me that scrap was perfect for a little shelf to display the Krasnoyarsk, Siberia Bear coaster. A 3-1/2" hole saw made the perfect cut.

 

[hunterguy86]

I made a book case for our living room. The face frame is made from 4/4 poplar that I painted. The top is 2x material from the big box store. I finished it with sanding sealer, early American stain and the a coat of poly. The drawers still need pulls put on them.






Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ez-duzit]

86--nice design.

 

[jimreed2160]

hunter--That project turned out GREAT! And I love the photobomb!!!

 

[Slednut]

Does anyone sell a 3 HP or better router with a plunge kit?

The highest HP I can find with the kit is 2 1/4.

Maybe all the manufactures think if you need a high horse power router you'll just buy a dedicated plunge router.

 

[rlitman]

Does anyone sell a 3 HP or better router with a plunge kit?



The highest HP I can find with the kit is 2 1/4.



Maybe all the manufactures think if you need a high horse power router you'll just buy a dedicated plunge router.

I’ve got an older Porter Cable that’s 3-1/4 HP IIRC. But the soft start control prevents it from being used with a speed controller. It’s really a rather useless tool.

 

[Slednut]

I currently own 5 routers and I never bought any of them based on their rated horsepower.

What are you going to use it for or why do you think for some reason you need a 3 hp router?

It's for my SIL he does a lot of slab table projects, he has a jig he sets his router on that runs over the slabs that smooth’s them out.

I'm thinking he could use a larger bit that would cover more area per pass if he had a more powerful router.

 

[jimreed2160]

Does he have a bit like this?
http://www.carbideprocessors.com/countertop-surface-planer-bit-2-dia-3-8-cut-length-1-2-shank-southeast-tool-se2990/?_vsrefdom=adwords&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI35qXmLv63gIVRlSGCh1AcgfVEAQYAyABEgJgffD_BwE

 

[Slednut]

OK

If you really feel you need a 3+ hp router - Triton makes a decent one

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00779ND0Q/?tag=atomicindus08-20

I texted him and explained that I'm looking for a new router and that's the one he said he'd buy.

This is for Christmas so I'll tell him about the bits once he gets the router.

Thanks guys

 

[turbowoodworker]

Does anyone sell a 3 HP or better router with a plunge kit?

The highest HP I can find with the kit is 2 1/4.

Maybe all the manufactures think if you need a high horse power router you'll just buy a dedicated plunge router.

I have 2 of the Hitachis rated at 3 HP. They are both plunge bases.

 

[TerryH]

So I splurged. Been wanting a big planer forever and finally did it.

 

[ScottsGT]

Now that’s nice!

 

[1/2 Cup]

Now that’s nice!

As above

 

[testwerke]

So I splurged. Been wanting a big planer forever and finally did it.

Can I bring by some walnut to plane out? I'm in S'dale

 

[TerryH]

Can I bring by some walnut to plane out? I'm in S'dale

Come on over.

 

[jimreed2160]

Nice iron. Maybe Santa will bring you some more Bessie clamps.

 

[beelsr]

nice planer. got one this spring. you'll like it. it needs the grizzly DIY QA check. Make sure the feed rollers are set correctly and they don't "bite" the board. Also, the motor belts.

wixey digital height gauge installs easily, too.

 

[TerryH]

Nice iron. Maybe Santa will bring you some more Bessie clamps.

Thanks! I'd love to have some more but I think Santa has totally blown his budget on the planer.

 

[TerryH]

nice planer. got one this spring. you'll like it. it needs the grizzly DIY QA check. Make sure the feed rollers are set correctly and they don't "bite" the board. Also, the motor belts.

wixey digital height gauge installs easily, too.

Belts good. Not 100% sure about the bed rollers though. They are barely above the bed but seems like they might be too high still. Haven't put the feeler gauges to them yet. Getting a tiny bit of snipe. Easily sanded out but would love to get rid of it completely.

I saw the Wixey height gauges. You get the 12" and cut it down?

 

[MrDeerHunter]

It's for my SIL he does a lot of slab table projects, he has a jig he sets his router on that runs over the slabs that smooth’s them out.

I'm thinking he could use a larger bit that would cover more area per pass if he had a more powerful router.

You are thinking right. The larger the bit, the slower the speed you should have and more horsepower available makes it easier for the motor to push through the knots.

Sent from my Moto Z (2) using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[beelsr]

Belts good. Not 100% sure about the bed rollers though. They are barely above the bed but seems like they might be too high still. Haven't put the feeler gauges to them yet. Getting a tiny bit of snipe. Easily sanded out but would love to get rid of it completely.

I saw the Wixey height gauges. You get the 12" and cut it down?

Yeah, my rollers were way off. they would grab the board, left and slam it back down. I had snipe at both ends and a gouge from where it would hit the edge of the infeed table.

wr550 for the planer, 700 for the saw. didn't cut them. sawdust under the display cover is my only complaint. my father-in-law mounted them on me when i was away for a week on a biz trip. research how other people did them and pick a way that works for you. pretty easy to fabricobble it up.

 

[TerryH]

Yeah, my rollers were way off. they would grab the board, left and slam it back down. I had snipe at both ends and a gouge from where it would hit the edge of the infeed table.

wr550 for the planer, 700 for the saw. didn't cut them. sawdust under the display cover is my only complaint. my father-in-law mounted them on me when i was away for a week on a biz trip. research how other people did them and pick a way that works for you. pretty easy to fabricobble it up.

WR550 is ordered. I'm going to mess with the rollers some more tomorrow. Thanks for the info.

 

[drivesitfar]

Terry: your shop is always so clean and nice to see you got a new Grizzly planer too.

ALL: so I didn't probably need another one, but having to lug my other Makita to my parent's woodshop and my kid's houses this is #3 that i own. I owned one for almost 30 years that did almost all the cutting of 2 by's and molding until i upgraded to a 12 inch Dewalt compound miter a few years ago. then a young friend needed a saw for his new home and i gave him mine. big mistake cause the Dewalt is really to heavy to lug around to use for smallish jobs so i picked up another Makita chop saw. these things were built like tanks in my opinion.

anyway i'm loving all the cabinet and table builds and if any of you want to give more details and post more pictures I for one appreciate it.

thanks

 

[jar944]

Working on a entry bench with some beaded inset cabinetry.

 

[jimreed2160]

Jar--Good start on the bench. Is that maple?

 

[jar944]

Jar--Good start on the bench. Is that maple?

Yes. It's all Paint grade.

 

[CRSINMICH]

HERITAGE BOX​

I built this box in honor of my woodworking ancestors. While researching family history I discovered that one of my ancestors built a Hadley Chest* in the late 1600's and that my great-grandfather's grandfather (a man named Gardner) built a box in the early 1800's. Both of those pieces still exist so I was able to incorporate construction techniques and design elements from each into my box. It was a fun build but, despite its simplicity, it took years to do. I decided to build it using only the type of hand tools that would have been available to those early woodworkers. First I had to acquire and rehab the tools and then learn how to use them. I even had to make a few tools myself. It was a fun process and I learned an immense amount about wood, tools, woodworking, and about myself

*Hadley Chests were the first American made furniture to be collected as antiques. Both of the Keno Brothers from Antiques Road Show own one. Edsel and Eleanor Ford donated one to the Detroit Institute of Arts. Hadley Chests were made frame and panel and were always highly carved so I carved the front of my box to look like frame and panel.

 

[jimreed2160]

CRS--Great project with an outstanding story. That took lots of patience and dedication.

 

[ez-duzit]

C--well done.

 

[turbowoodworker]

Beautiful box, CRS. What size is it and what goes in it? Is it for tools or jewelry, or? Can't get an idea of size from pictures.

 

[drivesitfar]

CRS: I and maybe WE would maybe want you to start a thread on that cool old looking box over in Vintage section showing how you made it and what tools you used and made.

VERY WELL DONE!!

also how big is it?

 

[CRSINMICH]

Thanks for the compliments. The box is 14" Width x 11.5" x Depth x 8" Height. The size was based on document boxes which are commonly called a Bible Boxes. The interior will hold full-sized documents laying flat. The tulip decorations in the front "panels" are based on a common, but old, motif called Tulip and Vine which is often found on Hadley Chests. I altered it a bit because I know that tulips don't grow on vines. The compass design on the sides came directly from Gardner's box. On my box they were scribed deeply into the wood and when finish was applied the scribe marks darkend to what you see. After I finished the box I found another picture of a Hadley Chest which had the same compass design.

Building the box was a lot of effort. I have most of it documented in photos. I plan to continue building with hand tools, but not thicknessing. That's just a lot of grunt work. Even Paul Sellers uses a band saw.

Does anyone have a guess as to what type of wood the box was made from? I don't know myself. I bought a bundle of boards at an estate sale which I thought was walnut but I'm not sure about that. The grain changed directions frequently. The wood itself was somewhat brittle but it worked well. The most curious part was everytime I worked with it, my hands looked like they were stained a very dark maroon or purple but it washed off easily. It was more like very, very fine dust than stain.

Woodworking Tip: If you build a family heirloom, DON'T show it to your sister just before her birthday. The second box is smaller and didn't take anywhere near as long as the first.

 

[turbowoodworker]

CRS, the grain and color does look like walnut from the pictures.
What joinery did you use?

 

[jimreed2160]

CRS--That pretty wood looks like an exotic hardwood to me. It is tropical looking. Maybe something from of rosewood family (dalbergia). Most of them are a little brittle and smell sweet.

The closest looking local wood is American walnut and it is kinda soft and not brittle. It also has a characteristic spicy smell.

Most of the African hardwoods I have are more brownish than red (except for padouk0 and have an earthy smell.

 

[CRSINMICH]

turbo: The joinery for the case is simple rabbet joints. The back and front boards have rabbets on each interior end into which the side boards are glued. They are period correct and, coincidentially, fit my skill level. In keeping with my original intent of only using types of tools that would have been available a long time ago, I cut the rabbets by hand using only a marking knife and a sharp (very sharp) chisel. It's no wonder someone eventually invented a rabbet plane and a router plane.

There is an area where I did not use period correct joinery. In looking over several document boxes (Bible boxes) I noticed that many of them were in very crappy shape. Maybe those types of boxes were done by apprentices, but the way they were joined to the base did not take seasonal movement into account. The grain on the sides of my box is 90 degrees to the grain on the base. I decided to join the case to the base so that the base could move freely without putting pressure on the case. The bottom of the case is glued to the top of the base in front. Only the front of the case is glued. The sides are joined to the base with screws from under the bottom of the base. The holes in the base are slotted to allow for back and forth movement. (The bottom of the picture is the front of the box. The yellow lines show approximately where the bottom of the case is.) The back of the case has no glue or screws. In theory, the base can move forward and backward and drag the case with it. I'll check it in a few decades to see how it held up.

jim: Photographs don't capture the color of this wood. In eyeball reality it is a dark chocolate brown with definite red undertones. If you remember the kerfing plane I posted some time back, it was made of the same wood. I didn't notice any particular odor when working with it. When I said it was brittle, I meant that it had a tendency to tear out unexpectedly and getting crisp corners took extra care - small chips would break off.

I learned a lot from looking at period pieces. Notice all the flaws in the wood on the underside of my box. The old timers didn't put a lot of effort into areas that wouldn't show. Some of the interiors of the old boxes still had axe marks and bits of bark.

 

[Shiftless]

Great work on that box CRS...
Practice makes perfect right?

.....................................................................................

Can anybody here give me some suggestions about how to make this brand new hammer handle look more appropriate and better match the head?

This hammer head came from the estate of my father’s father. Since I am 70 y.o., this is definitely an old hammer.

I’m thinking of passing it down to my grandson who is now only 4. (maybe not for a few more years though...)

The new handle was installed by a great guy, fellow GJ member d42jeep.

 

[drivesitfar]

Shift: a few coats of BLO might age it nicely.

 

[CRSINMICH]

Shift: I just realized that I didn't mention the finish I put on the boxes. It's called Varnish Oil from Tried and True. It's a blend of polymerized BLO and tree resin; an olde timey recipe. It might be just the thing for aging a handle.

p.s. Happy Birthday!