Tommy sits down with Al to respond to questions and comments posted in his newly-launched message board and send out a big thank you to all his fans (and especially Chicago Ron for the cigars!). After being asked by a viewer, Al gives a "quick" biography of himself. He also fields a question from another viewer about a matchstick holder he made.

First off - let me apologize for not posting anything for a few weeks. I have been pretty busy in the shop - working on some very cool planes and some “other work”. I will be posting about it in the next few weeks.

I have recently completed a set of 4 rebate planes - 1/2", 3/4", 1" and 1-1/4" widths. The sides and sole are 01 tool steel and the infill is Brazilian Rosewood. It has been a while since I have made a set of these - and I have to say it was a lot of fun.




They are a matching set in that all the Brazilian Rosewood came from the same piece - but I tried to maximize some of the figure by using it where it will be most visible. The 1-1/4" rebate is a good example with that wonderful swirl at the front.







Most of the wedges have either some burl or curl in them.

I have two sons. The oldest is not quite 8. This year he joined the Cub Scouts. I’m no outdoorsman so the camping doesn’t do much for me. But there’s one annual scouting event that’s right up my alley. It combines my love of woodworking and my lifelong interest in cars. It’s the Pinewood Derby.

The Pinewood Derby is the original level playing field. Every kid gets a block of wood, a few nails and four plastic wheels. The rules are simple though typical of our times they run to about half a page. And while the heats are now computer-timed the basics of the race are straightforward. A sloped track and Sir Isaac Newton are as complicated as it gets (ok, throw in some graphite powder).

Making the cars is a father/son project but the bulk of the work is to be performed by the scout. Dylan designed his car. I cut the shape on the band saw and then Dylan sanded it. And sanded it. Painting was a team effort. Turns out that spray paint cans can be difficult for seven year-old fingers to work. But we managed two coats of primer and two of Ferrari red.

A friend mentioned that the secret to speed is to sand and polish the axels (the above-mentioned nails). So we did that too. And we made sure that the wheels didn’t have any rough spots from the manufacturing process. A few decals and it was ready to race.

In Dylan’s age group there were 13 entries. Each car raced 12 times -- four runs on each of the three lanes on the track. And that’s just for one of the five age groups. So it seemed like it would be a long haul. In reality it went quickly and was fun.

In Dylan’s first set of three runs his car won each time. The look on his face was worth a million bucks. In the end, he didn’t win his group. Cars against which he didn’t race were faster. He didn’t seem to mind. Within minutes he and his brother were playing with the car on the floor. Winning is fun but not as fun as playing. Or making a car with your son.

You can sharpen your woodworking skills with helpful tips and techniques from the editors of Woodsmith and ShopNotes magazines. Get a FREE tip sent to your email address each week! Go to WoodworkingTips.com and sign up today.

Here’s last week’s tip from ShopNotes online editor Phil Huber:

The router table in my shop gets lots of use. But it’s always difficut to make fine adjustments to the fence. So I built the micro-adjuster you see in the photo above using spare parts I had around the shop.

The adjuster is easy to build. Start by drilling and tapping a strip of ¼″ aluminum to accept a piece of threaded rod. And then bend the aluminum strip into an “L” shape.

Next, drill two holes in a hardwood adjusting block. One horizontal hole for the threaded rod and a vertical one for the hold-down. Then you can cut a dado at the bottom of the fence to hold the piece of L-shaped aluminum in place.

Assembly. Put the pieces together by slipping the threaded rod through the adjusting block and adding washers and locknuts, like you see in the drawing and detail below. This allows the aluminum strip attached to the fence to be moved forward and backward one thread at a time when you make fine fence adjustments.

Fence Adjustment. To use the micro-adjuster, you’ll first need to lock down the opposite end of the fence. Then lock down the micro-adjuster by tightening the knob on top of the adjusting block. Use the turning knob to adjust the fence to the desired position. Once the fence is located where you want it, lock down the other end of the fence. Then all that’s left is to turn on your router and you’re ready to go.

If you’d like even more great ideas for getting more from your router, go to: Router Tables at PlansNow.

Good Woodworking,

Phil Huber
Online Editor, ShopNotes

Send for a preview issue of ShopNotes magazine

HI Folks
Just finished a plane I haven't made for a while - a skew mouth miter plane.
This one is for a customer in the States and is made from Goncalo Alves. It features a 6mm thick iron, 50mm wide and has a 38 degree bed with a 20 degree skew.
The skewed bed is a lot of extra work (and the math a real brain-ache!) but the plane performs really well and the skew is a real feature on the shooting board.
Cheers
Philly

They really are that big!

These are the irons for a rather unique pair of planes I have been working on for the last 12 months. One iron is for the commissioned plane - the other for the spare “prototype”. The pair should be completed in the next few days - stay tuned...

July 18, 2008 Atlanta, GA. Highland Woodworking is pleased to announce the addition of The Fretboard Journal to their collection of woodworking books, magazines and DVDs. An important journal for luthiers and instrument enthusiasts, the quarterly publication is archival quality and chronicles the most innovative fretted instruments and instrument makers of the last 150 years. Fretboard's writers, historians and photographers from around the world provide well researched and insightful stories highlighting the best players and the most interesting tales in music.

The Summer 2008 Fretboard Journal features David Grisman's Chris Thile interview, details about veteran luthier Rick Turner's Compass Rose acoustic guitar and examines the tradition behind Kamaka ukuleles. The Fretboard Journal published by Jason Verlinde is a magazine for musical instrument makers, players, collectors.

Highland Woodworking, Atlanta, GA USA is a purveyor of fine woodworking tools and supplies with a 30 year reputation for quality tools and service. It is the exclusive source of the Wood Slicer Resawing Bandsaw blade, voted by Fine Woodworking Magazine as the best resaw blade available. Highland Woodworking is a trusted source of woodworking education and information. A schedule of woodworking classes and detailed product information is available at highlandwoodworking.com. Highland Woodworking 1045 N. Highland Ave., Atlanta, GA 800-241-6748.

June marks the 4th anniversary of the completion of my new workshop. Prior to that, I worked in a basement shop with concrete floors, 6 foot ceilings, exposed lightbulbs, and exposed knob & tube wiring. Dungeon-like.

Yet it was still my favorite place in the house.

I dreamed for 10 years of having an above-ground shop and when I finally decided to have one built, I spent a full year researching heating systems, insulation, material, lighting....everything.

I even built a to-scale model of the shop, complete with all my equipment, just to make sure that everything would fit and that I would be able to tell my builder where to put the outlets. I determined where to put the 18" bandsaw in relation to the back window, so that long boards could stick outside and rest on the sill while I ran them through the blade. The model also helped my builder work up pricing.

The first design had a second story and a finishing room closed off by a sliding door. After my builder told me how much it would cost, reality set in, and both those luxuries were crossed off the list.

The model itself was built hurriedly?just plywood tacked together with brads?but it helped immeasurably when I was able to tell my builder where to put my 300 pound band saw and 400 pound table saw, as he and his helper carried them out of my basement shop and into the new one. They were able to plop them down exactly where I wanted them. I doubt they would have appreciated some lady telling them to "Move the table saw to this wall. Nah, that's not right?move it to that wall instead. A little to the left, no right."

The next sound I would have heard would have been my contractor and his helper slamming the door shut behind them, leaving a trail of expletives in their wake.

Planning for and designing my shop was an exciting journey, and I ended up with a cute little woodworker's dollhouse in the process.

I’m still in a mode with very little time for woodworking. That’s not a complaint since the project keeping me out of the shop is a great opportunity and incredible fun. But there is some news from the shop.

About a year ago I made a new arts & crafts kitchen table with a tile inlay top. I wrote about the process for Woodwork magazine. The article is in the June issue, available now.

Soon I’ll be able to post about the current project. I hope you’ll agree that it’s worth the wait.

I got a treat on Sunday. The Heritage Carousel at Union Park in Des Moines, Iowa was celebrating its tenth anniversary.  As part of the celebration, they invited the original builders of the carousel, The Carousel Works, Inc., to attend and demonstrate their carving and painting skills.  I got to speak with the owner and his wife (Art and Marilyn Ritchie) about their craft.  It so happens that they’re from Mansfield, Ohio, close to where I grew up in Ohio.  He’s been carving for over thirty years.  His wife does some of the painting.

As we stood there chatting, he was using his Pfeil carving tools to smooth out the body shape of a horse figure.  You could tell his tools were very sharp.  He was effortlessly taking thin chips out of the basswood figure.  I asked him how he keeps his tools so sharp.  He uses a buffing wheel to hone the edge as needed.

One of my boys asked him how many times he’s cut himself.  He smiled and pointed to his tool roll you see here on the left.  He includes bandages as part of his tool kit.

As time went on, he commented to passers-by that they’ve got seven full-time carvers on staff at the shop.  He said that the figure he was carving on that day is going to be a training aid for his carvers.  As we were talking, he flipped the figure over to show how he had carved the musculature and rib cage of the horse on one side.  His point is that unless a carver knows the anatomy of a horse, he’s going to have a difficult time carving one.  The detail was fascinating and realistic.

The discussion turned to painting.  He says they use three coats of primer, sanding between coats.  Then the colors are brushed on.  Finally, five coats of clearcoat are applied for durability.

Besides building new carousels using wood figures, The Carousel Works also does restoration of old carousels.  To me, it was refreshing to see that there are still companies out there working hard to keep craftsmanship alive.

Tommy is building up steam on the Bombe Secretary now and the next step is to shape the dividers of the pigeonhole assembly. rounding over 3/16" stock isn't a job for a router so Tommy makes a scratch stock out of an old scrapper. With 3 different radiuses in the scrapper he starts with a larger opening and rounds over the edge and then works his way down to the final size needed.

Walnut symbolizes intellect while the base wood (dyed maple) symolizes independent mind.

http://www.simplywoodrings.com

I like to attend woodworking schools. From my very first hands-on classes at the Woodcraft store in Bloomington, Mn., I’ve been hooked on learning from the “masters.”

Paul Sellers is one of those masters. You might remember, he taught a hand tools foundational course that I took a few years ago. And so I was excited to hear that he has founded a new woodworking school in his native England. The New Legacy School of Woodworking is much like the school I attended near Waco, TX at the Homestead Heritage Craft Village. But with a twist. It’s housed in a castle — Penrhyn Castle in North Wales. Penrhyn is one of the many castles being preserved and maintained by the National Trust, with whom Paul has been working for the last year or so.

Paul says that the availability of some really good furniture from Asia has continued to make it difficult to earn a living as a woodworker. But he hopes that schools like his will fill the void left by the decline of apprenticeship programs like the one that helped start his career over 40 years ago in his native England. During his apprenticeship, Paul learned about the proper use of hand tools, still an important part of the trade in England even in the ’60s. That’s the focus of New Legacy and I wish him well.

Mahogany Wood Ring

See more here.

When the Dremel folks stopped by our office a couple of weeks ago, one of the products they were showing us is the new MultiVise. I’ll admit that my first thought was, “This can’t be a serious tool — it looks like it’s made out of plastic.” But I was soon to be impressed. The way this thing can twist and contort to clamp almost anything is amazing. 

It clamps to your workbench or table. A ball-and-socket joint can rotate the clamp 360° and tilt up to 50°. I was skeptical that this ball-and-socket couldn’t be locked too securely. But once you tighten the blue ring, it’s there to stay. The clamp itself as a 7½” capacity. And it has removable “soft jaws” for clamping delicate or irregularly-shaped objects. I was impressed.  Really.

Now, as a woodworker, the first question I had was if the clamp was available in longer lengths. The Dremel reps said that they honestly hadn’t considered it but really appreciated the comments. I suggested that they offer “accessory kits” with longer clamps for us woodworkers. The reason is that the clamps are great by themselves. They’ve got large “feet” that sit on your benchtop and won’t topple over as you clamp down. The only problem I had with the clamp was that the screw was rather stiff and took some effort to turn. But I suppose it would loosen up over time without compromising it’s clamping ability.

Oh…I almost forgot. It comes with an adapter and wrench so you can fasten your Dremel rotary tool to the vise. It’s great for grinding or sanding operations.

I’ve got to get one of these for my own shop.

I have been scratching my head for a while wondering where to start figuring out the various periods of furniture design. I just came across a chart that I want to share a link to.

While the timeline might not be terribly useful in and of itself, assuming it is reasonably accurate, it should provide a great jumping off place to do some further research on wikipedia, google, amazon.com or even at your local library or museum.

Go ahead over and check it out.

Once the mortises for the knife hinges are successfully created and care is taken to make certain the offsets are uniform and the depth of each knife leaf is consistent, the next step is to temporarily install the doors while fitting each door to the cabinet. The reveal around each door is important as well as any small differences in how the doors hang within the cabinet frame. In this photo the cabinet is reversed in orientation top to bottom for me to work on the fitting. The left door is in the photo. The knife hinges have a very small amount of leeway for me to adjust the doors so the reveal at both the top and bottom and the center part between doors is uniform.

I also need to be conscious of how the outside edges fit the cabinet , they need to be parallel and in the same plane as the cabinet sides. The fitting of the doors can be somewhat time consuming but in my opinion this needs to be done correctly at this stage or the visual impact of a non-uniform reveal will be very apparent later.

After completing this fitting and knife hinge adjustment I will be creating the lip at the juncture of the doors in the middle of the cabinet. The lip serves to hide any open space between the doors and also to create an interlocking, positive closure for the doors. The right hand door will have a rabbeted lip whereas the left hand door will have a additional piece of beech added to the rear of the center edge of the door to form a mating lip. To maintain grain matching I have pieces of beech left over from the same plank I used to resaw the veneers earlier.

We have plenty of snow up here at this time , more than the average winter, and my wife and I will be leaving for a skiing trip at a resort next week. We're both crazy about spring skiing and there is plenty of nice weather coming up.

The Teak is incorruptible. It hold its own against all that life throws at it.
See more here Teak Wood Ring

The outer wood (Oak) represents nobility of spirit and the inner base wood (Dyed Maple) represents imagination.

The dark wood is dyed to achieve the color much like dyed wool while the Oak is left natural.

I handcraft every ring to bring out the warmth and honesty of the wood. Each ring is hand formed from thin layers of wood chosen for its grain and durability.

See it here: http://www.simplywoodrings.com/ring_shop/

With the banding now cut, it's time to put on the cuff. Tommy outlines how to construct the table foot and cuff then reviews some user submissions.

You can now download an enhanced pdf of the March 2008 issue of Woodworking Magazine (Issue 9) for $6.

Our instant digital downloads are compatible with any computer running Adobe Reader 7.0, a free program available from Adobe that runs on Macintosh, PC and other systems. The downloads are delivered to you on a secure and fast server (a high-speed Internet connection is highly recommended). Plus, if for some technical reason your download is interrupted (power outage due to nefarious squirrel activity etc.), it’s quite simple to get back on and download the issue again.

Issue 9 focuses on the act of handsawing, and it explores the three backsaws you need for hand-cut joints – the dovetail saw, carcase saw and tenon saw. Plus we explain the nearly-lost English system of cutting joints by hand.

We also delve into cutting circles with a simple (and very cool) jig, plus how to properly use glaze when finishing. All these skills will help you build the Stickley Tabouret featured on the cover.

On an administrative note, we’re still working on how to deliver subscriptions digitally to subscribers and have narrowed it to a couple options. More news on that to come this summer. Until then, these enhanced pdfs will (we hope) keep you informed and inspired.

For more details on the digital downloading process and to place an order, click here. You can view all our digital downloadable products here.

— Christopher Schwarz

Al visits to check out Tommy's progress, admiring the valances and drawer fronts. Tommy shows him how he uses the shaper to add groves to the bottoms of the drawers. After running one through the cutter, he reflects that it was a little risky. With his second drawer front, he makes a little block of wood for the drawer front to sit it, which makes cutting safer and ensures against him accidentally destroying the grove.

Wood Ring Custom Order

You can order your custom wooden wedding ring set at simplywoodrings.com. If you have a special wood that you have a deep connection with or just the love of nature and a desire to live in harmony with the earth, in an eco-frendly way. I will be glad to put something to gather for you. Visitme at http://www.simplywoodrings.com

Tommy and Al use the whiteboard to review how the table drawer was constructed. The drawer looks as if it was built using three separate pieces of wood but it's one banding with three miters on it. They then move to the table saw to demonstrate.

This fall, our magazine is sponsoring the first-ever weekend conference devoted to hand tools and learning to use them.

We're calling it the Woodworking in America conference, and we'll be bringing together the country's best hand-tool woodworkers and manufacturers for a symposium in Berea, Ky., on Nov. 14-16.

There will be more than 40 short classes on tools and techniques during the long weekend, plus a marketplace where toolmakers can display (and sell) their wares, social events with the demonstrators and toolmakers and more.

So who is going to be there? Here's the list of people who have agreed to teach seminars during Woodworking in America as of this date (with more to come):

Roy Underhill: Known as "St. Roy" to the legion of fans who watch "The Woodwright's Shop" on PBS, Roy worked at Colonial Williamsburg and then launched his show about traditional hand tools.

Frank Klausz: One of the country's consummate craftsmen, Frank is a professional New Jersey cabinetmaker who trained in Hungary and has a lifetime of experience with the full range of handwork.

Michael Dunbar: Founder of The Windsor Institute, Michael has single handedly revived the craft of building Windsor chairs, has trained thousands of woodworkers and is a passionate student of the art and history of handcraft.

Adam Cherubini: The author of Popular Woodworking's popular "Arts & Mysteries" column, Adam is a devoted 18th-century woodworker who builds period pieces using period tools.

James Blauvelt: A Connecticut cabinetmaker, joiner and carpenter, James owns Bluefield Joiners and is a student and teacher of Japanese tools and traditions.

Robin Lee: The president of Lee Valley Tools in Ottawa, Ontario, Robin has been a driving force behind the expansion of the Veritas line of premium handplanes and a caretaker of the company's immense tool collection.

Thomas Lie-Nielsen: The founder of Lie-Nielsen Toolworks in Warren, Me., Thomas has been making and selling premium traditional hand tools for 27 years. Thomas's company was the trailblazer in reviving many traditional forms of tools that had been lost.

Larry Williams and Don McConnell: Two of the principals behind Clark & Williams in Eureka Springs, Ark., Larry and Don are bottomless wells of information about traditional tools and their workings. Both are accomplished woodworkers, planemakers and tool historians.

John Economaki: The founder of Bridge City Tool Works in Portland, Ore., John has long been a pioneer in developing new (and very beautiful) forms of hand tools for woodworkers.

Konrad Sauer: The owner of Sauer & Steiner Toolworks in Ontario, Konrad is one of the leading makers of custom infill handplanes.

Wayne Anderson:Wayne specializes in designing and building custom infill handplanes that are deeply rooted in the past but are each a completely original work of art.

Ron Hock: One of the earliest and most important players in the revival of handtools, Ron makes high-quality replacement plane irons, chipbreakers and marking knives in Ft. Bragg, Calif.

Mike Wenzloff: The founder of Wenzloff & Sons sawmakers in Forest Grove, Ore., Mike is a long-time woodworker and expert in saws and saw sharpening. His premium saw business has exploded in the last two years.

Joel Moskowitz: The founder of Tools for Working Wood and an expert on woodworking history, Joel has recently been making many traditional hand tools, as well as selling them through his catalog and web site.

Clarence Blanchard: The publisher of "The Fine Tool Journal" and the president of Brown Auction Services, Clarence sees more old tools in a week than most of us see in a lifetime.

Kevin Drake: After studying under James Krenov at the College of the Redwoods, Kevin founded Glen-Drake Toolworks, where he combines woodworking, toolmaking and education. His innovative tools have received numerous awards; we named his Tite-Mark one of the "Best 12 Tools Ever." 

If you are interested in attending, please visit the web site that is dedicated to this conference at WoodworkinginAmerica.com and sign up for the conference's newsletter (the sign-up box is on the top right of the page). You'll then be the first to be notified of when registration will open (it will be before July 1) and the pricing for this event.

Attendance will be limited to a few hundred people (we want to keep the event intimate and manageable), so be sure to register as soon as slots become available. We are expecting the conference to sell out.

There are more announcements and surprises ahead that I cannot share with you right now, so please stay tuned to the blog and the conference's newsletter.

— Christopher Schwarz