welding

Here's another video from our trip to The Woodworking Show in Atlanta, GA. In this video we get a look at a very innovative tool to sharpen your your woodworking tools, the Jool Tool.

My good friend Rob interviews the CEO of Jool Tool, Anie Piliguian, about how this sharpening system works.

We were sure impressed with the speed and ease that the Jool Tool can put a razor sharp edge on cutting tools.

If you have any questions about the Jool Tool or anything related to woodworking, visit our site at:

www.WoodworkersResource.com

Craig Stevens

The next photos will be of the finished planes - I promise.

My wife and I subject each other to a lot of second hand noise.

As Gail sits in the living room knitting, she deals with the background noise drifting up from my basement woodshop. She also has to deal with my scream of testosterone-induced rage as I don one of my Old Man sweaters, stand at the front door shaking me fist, and yell at the neighborhood kids to “STAY OFF MY YARD!!!� Probably once or twice a year she has to tolerate the sickening sound of the bitchslaps I put on the migratory mime troupe that comes through on their way up to Mackinac Island. (I call this event Silent Scream.)

The second hand noise I tolerate isn’t quite as offensive. Let’s face it…Gail’s knitting isn’t very loud. However, each morning as I sit with my laptop in the dining room desperately trying to feed all of my Webkinz before I start my day, I am forced to listen to the cable news show Gail religiously watches. It’s not just the perky talking heads that I have to hear…it’s the commercials from hell, too.

I first heard this commercial yesterday, and my brain semi-consciously registered a What the $@#%????? However, this morning the replaying of this commercial solidly lodged in the conscious part of my brain and chiseled out a ledge where it has painted a sign that calls it out as one of the nuttiest things I have ever heard seriously marketed.

(Pleases note the “…� in the title below creates a pregnant pause of almost a second and a half from the voiceover actor as he narrates the television commercial).

The Most Relaxing Classical Album in the World...Ever!

Honestly, it’s a real title. You can get it here.

Wow, there are a lot of unsubstantiated statements in that title. Well, it’s my belief they are unsubstantiated. Perhaps there are competitions among albums to see which is most relaxing.

They get really bubbly waitress types, pump them full of ephedrine and caffeine, then strap them into La-Z-Boy’s and force them to listen to music through headphones. Whichever album creates the largest total reduction in heart rate, respiration, and certain non-essential brain waves is considered to be the Most Relaxing Album. Obviously, competition among Classical albums is more intense than in the EuroTechno or ThrashMetal categories. In fact, the Classical competition is the main event; those ringside seats command Super Bowl ticket prices from scalpers.

I still have questions. Does one competition really determine the winner for the ENTIRE world as indicated by this album’s title? What if there is an unheralded classical album making the rounds in a village outside New Delhi that is putting people to sleep left and right?

Finally, I am skeptical of the use of the word “Ever.� Does the word “ever� in this title mean “from the beginning of man up to this point in time� or does it imply all future time as well? Even if it is possible to gather all of the music that has come before and rank it for relaxation value, it is not possible to know something won’t come along next Thursday that will make narcoleptics of all of us.

You know what…I just realized I am probably not the right guy to be complaining about sweeping generalizations like ones used in the title of this album. After all, am I not the guy that Chris Schwarz links to with the subtitle, “Is Jeff Skiver the funniest woodworker ever? Yes. Yes, he is.�

I suppose I should just be happy Chris chose to accentuate my sense of humor as opposed to my ability to put the smack down on non-verbal artists.

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

People have written me asking for more information about the little osage orange plane in the side bar, so here are some images and measurements in case you would like to make one yourself.

Body: 4.5" long ? 2" high ? 1.125" wide
Opening: .84375" wide (13.5/15")
Wedge: 2.625" long ? .8125" (13/15") wide ? 12 degree bevel to fit
Blade: 3.625" long ? .8125" wide ? .125" thick

Bed Angles:
45 degree bed ? 57 degree shoulder (the portion of the sides that hold the wedge in place) ? 52 degree front bed

The plane is one piece of wood, so the most difficult part is chiseling out the wood inside the opening and being careful to ensure that the bed is perfectly flat. Layout your angles on the outside of your workpiece and transfer the angles across the top, down the other side, and on the plane's sole. Then, just keep an eye on your progress to make sure you maintain those angles as you chisel out the opening.

Other woods that make good planes are applewood, maple, bloodwood, cocobolo, and many other dense hardwoods.

Growth ring orientation, according to David Finck, author of Making & Mastering Wood Planes, is unimportant.

I turned a new bowl the other night. I'm looking to practice a little. I'd like to create a segmented bowl soon and thought it might be a good idea to practice on a solid piece first.


I used a piece of yellowheart (2"x6"x6") and sanded up to 600 grit sandpaper.

Part three of the Providence show finds Tommy and Al discovering more fine woodwork and craftsmanship. Al steps in front of the camera and talks with Kevin, a student at Tommy's alma mater, North Bennett Street School, who shows off the work of his fellow students. Gale Satterly demonstrates a gorgeous and comfortable handmade lounge chair. Daniel Read, a glassblower, displays his beautiful work. Tommy sits with Brian Boggs, multiple award winner at the show, in his handmade rocking chairs. Lastly, Tommy chats with Cara Romano of LaFollette Group, winner of Best in Show in Crafts, who makes jewelry and accent pieces, adding felted wool to metal. Back in Tommy's shop, he and Al talk about what a great show it was. Then they get a little goofy when Al starts rambling, fishing for free swag.

I'm sure most of you remember and miss Stephen Shephard's website Alburnum's Archive. I recently got an email from Stephen and he is preparing a new site which will be called fullchisel.com. Good news indeed!

I never cease to be amazed by the incidence of tools which don't work, and like to refer to them as Manufacturer's Perversions.

More ...

In Part Two of the federal table wrap-up, Tommy talks to Steve about cutting the banding with a table saw. Then, Tommy drops by the shop to see what Eli is working on. With the table finished, the next project is already underway.

Last week's episodes on the replacement of my workbench top have generated a few questions and some great feedback.  As always when these come in, I can't help but share them with everyone...because I'm willing to bet there's plenty of you thinking the same things.

 Hendrik is back in September so get your questions in for our open Q&A session and if you get a chance this weekend stop by and see him at the 5th Annual Welbeck Wood Expo.

If you'd like to enter for free schwag or just have a comment, question or suggestion drop me a line at mattsbasementworkshop@gmail.com or  head over to my website at www.mattsbasementworkshop.com or call our Skype Voicemail at 231 354-2338.

Listen to today's show by clicking on the player below

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Shop classes are fast becoming an endangered species in the United States. I suppose that the beginning of the end was when the name changed from ?shop class? to ?industrial arts.? When I was in 7th & 8th grades, all boys had to take wood shop, plastics shop and drafting class. All girls had to take home economics but the sexism inherent in our educational system is a different article.

In the 7th grade I didn?t care much about shop class. It just didn?t interest me. I did the work I had to do to make the little treasure chest project we were assigned but there was no joy in it for me. Surprising only because of my current love for working wood. More surprising however, is a dark secret I?ve hidden for nearly 35 years. My wife doesn?t know. I don?t think my parents know. In fact, I don?t think I?ve ever told anybody. You?re the first. Here it is: I was kicked out of wood shop.

Since most of you don?t know me very well that statement might not surprise you. So let me tell you, I wasn?t the kind of kid who got kicked out of classes. That was the one and only time in my scholastic career. I wouldn?t go so far as to say that I was scarred by the event but here I sit more than 30 years later writing about it. So what happened you may ask?

The shop teacher at our school was a man named Delbert Lumbert. I couldn?t make that up. No, really. Knock it off, I?m serious. OK. Mr. Lumbert seemed somewhat less interested in teaching the class than I was in taking it. I certainly don?t envy someone the task of shepherding 30 mostly uninterested kids through a minefield of sharp, spinning steel. All the same, he didn?t seem to be enjoying his chosen career. Maybe the years had gotten to him. Maybe he could see the coming extinction of his kind. Maybe he just needed a hug. But I don?t think I ever saw the man smile.

So one day I?m waiting to use the band saw. Another student is cutting something. When the offcut is free of his work piece, I reach over and remove it from the table for him. I wasn?t trying to challenge authority, I was just trying to be helpful. Of course, I recognize now that it was dangerous. Mr. Lumbert recognized it then and, as luck would have it, he saw me do it.

I can?t know the underlying cause of Mr. Lumbert?s reaction. We didn?t discuss his feelings. We didn?t discuss anything. He yelled. Loudly. I cowered. He told me to get out. I did. I don?t remember where I went but I?ll never forget walking out that door. I wish I could say that after he cooled off he reviewed shop safety with me (or the entire class). Or that he called my parents to make sure that they were aware and could remind me to be careful. But that didn?t happen. We never spoke of it again.

I have no idea what became of Mr. Lumbert. I?m sure he?s long since retired. Our brief, unhappy encounter caused no lasting damage. Who knows, maybe it was even positive. It?s not how I would want to handle such a situation but it?s hard to argue with results. After all, the lesson was well learned. Later (much later) I became an enthusiastic hobbyist woodworker. And so far, I can still count to ten without removing a shoe.

Black Desk, Part 1
Black Desk, Part 2

Now I get to start on the top of the desk. The original plan was to use the same plywood and maple as the bottom shelf, however plans change. Especially when I get my hands on a 7ft oak ply desktop!

The church I work at had torn down a desk made by the in-house cabinetmaker. The top was made from 3/4" oak ply with solid oak edging and birch ply reinforcement underneath. It's heavy, sturdy, and best of all: Pre made!

I trimmed it to the 74" length I needed for the desk with a circular saw. I then spread CitruStrip on to remove the varnish. Scraped with a plastic scraper an hour or so later, then wiped down with mineral spirits to remove any trace of the stripper.

I let it dry overnight then started applying the Minwax Water Based Wood Stain in Onyx. On the underside I only applied one coat. Just enough to darken the bright bare wood.

One note about this stain. It dries FAST! In 3 minutes or less here in Colorado. I was unable to stain the entire top in one pass because the stuff would dry before I could wipe it off. I had to do it in sections. I found stripes the length of the top to be most effective in masking the overlapping sections.

I applied the stain in 6 coats over the course of several days, as time permitted. Because the oak ply had been stained and varnished before, the stain didn't penetrate the same as fresh wood would have. It took 6 coats to get the ebonized look I was shooting for. There is some small amount of the original color showing through under just the right light, which adds to the look.

After the stain fully dried (read: when I finally got some more time to work on this), I began applying the varnish. I chose Deft Semi-Gloss Brushing Lacquer because I'm addicted to the smell of lacquer. NOT! The stuff is brutal! I had to open the garage door all the way and use a respirator to put the stuff on. And the smell still permeated the house.

But it gave me the finish I wanted. Because I was going for a satin look over a solid black desk I wanted the look a solid semi-gloss finish would give. It was the closest to the dresser I had already purchased for him that I could get. Normally I would use a gloss finish for all coats except the final one, only then applying a semi-gloss. That does the best job of preserving the color and beauty of wood. But this wood is black. There is no color.

I've gotta say that I really like the way this stuff flows out when it's brushed on. Hardly a trace of brush marks throughout the desk. And with 6 coats (yep, six!), I expected to need to sand it down pretty heavily. But it was unnecessary since there were no brush marks to have to sand down!

My box fan with a furnace filter did a terrific job keeping the dust from landing on the wet finish. No bits or bumps to deal with.

The finish also flowed nicely into the oak's grain, allowing the texture of the wood to show.

I'm happy with the results. I just wish I could keep the odor from getting into my house. I think I'm going to have to stick with the less nasty finishes like shellac and poly in the future.

After the 6 coats were applied over a full Saturday, I let it cure overnight in case there were any thick areas that needed extra time to harden. I doubt it, but better safe than sorry.

So this morning I got my son to help me carry it into his bedroom and install it under his bunk bed. The layout of his room precluded a full shot of the bed with the desk underneath. And, honestly, it's a teenager's room. You really don't want to see any more than I'm showing!!

I had drilled pocket holes in the leg frames with a Kreg drill bit, and these were used with Kreg 1" Fine pocket hole screws to fasten the top to the legs. I also put some felt pads at the top of the legs to keep the top from loosening and rattling on the legs over time.

Once everything was installed and tested by my son and I laying on it (I'm not skinny either), I put his lamp on the end and took some final pics.
My son is really happy with the results, as am I. I love how everything turned out and suspect he'll be using this desk for a long time.

Soon he'll have his computer, some shelves, and piles of crap all over the thing.

He is a teenager, after all.

I have begun work on the front doors in the past day or so. I'm not sure if you recall, but in an earlier post I decided to create the doors of the cabinet as veneered panels rather than solid wood. The primary reason for this is the width of each of the doors and the large expansion and contraction coefficient of the solid wood, along with the exceptional stability of veneered panels. Although I had originally intended to use quarter-sawn wood, the expansion rate is still uncomfortably large with the approximate 13 inches of width for each door. The first part of creating the individual doors is to have a straight, flat and solid substrate. I have selected multi-ply baltic birch for the substrate, the virtues of this wood are dimensional stability and strength. It is very well suited for use as a substrate for veneering.

After cutting the pieces for each door to approximate size, I added some solid beech edging to all four sides of each panel. This allows me to overlap the veneer the full expanse of each panel and in turn I gain solid wood at each of the ends and sides. As part of the design I need to have solid wood at the junction of the doors to be able to create a rabbeted lip. The strips of beech I use along with the substrate together provide me with two oversized door panels which I will trim after veneering.

While the glue is setting on the substrate door panels, I take the opportunity to lay out some veneer pieces from solid European Beech stock I have. Once the stock is marked I begin to resaw the veneers. This operation is fairly slow as each piece of veneer needs to be sawn fairly uniform in thickness and with minimal saw marks and due to the depth or width of the veneers, the stock can only be passed through the bandsaw at a low feed speed. While laying out the veneers I stumbled across some nicely figured stock which I will use to create the veneers for the front of the doors. This was not anticipated and a welcome surprise, the inherent beauty of wood and the surprises it holds. I now need to spend a little more time bookmatching the figured veneer for each door panel. Hopefully this will work out and the veneered sheets come out fine.

Next I will continue to work on the veneers and use the individual veneer slices to create sheets large enough to cover each side of the door panels. Working with thin sheets of veneer like this involves careful attention to their fragile nature. Although the resawn veneers I am creating are an order of magnitude thicker than commercial veneers, they can still be fragile.

Tommy demonstrates how the prospect door will fit into the piece. He then shows how he copied the design from a photo to paper and then to the wood block. He makes multiple attempts at cutting the block and laughs about how many mistakes he's made so far. It's going to be a long road.

Here are pics of the completed Plane cabinet.  I haven?t forgot the issue that was raised in the comments section related to ?ramping? the mortis  I will get back to that when I have something intelligent to say.  Here are some ?learning points? I got from finishing this project. 

I had a problem installing the molding around the lid.  The problem started when I discovered that the lid was a hair too narrow in width, meaning the molding would not go over the box.   As with most of my mistakes I have no idea how this happened.   No problem, I figured I would plane a shallow rabbet into the area of the molding  that went over the box.  This worked.  Great , on my way to my next mistake.

When making the molding for the lid of the plane cabinet, I thought it would look cool to angle the outside edge of the molding. Not a big deal, just run a plane on half of the molding along it's length. The result, the molding is thick where it is nailed to the lid and tapered where it covers the box.  Being very proud of my use of my planes I cut the mitres for the corners and put my new shooting board to work.

That's when my next mistake appeared.  When trying to plane the mitre I could not get a perfect 45 degree joint.  I would run the plane on the mitre and it made a nice cut.  I put the two pieces together which did not result in a tight joint.  I continued to repeat this process getting the same result.  As much as I tried to get a straight mitre, and as much as I checked and rechecked the trueness of the shooting board I could not get the damn thing right!  Then I realized that I had created a compound mitre by tapering the molding before making the mitres.   The molding sat on the shooting board at a non 45 degree angle causing the problem.  I am sure there are a number of  people saying ?no kidding? or some variation?  I should have waited until the molding was attached to the box then used the plane to taper. Once again a time consuming mistake but lesson learned.  And once again, it wasn't the tools.

I got cast iron handles from Lee Valley that came with wood screws. I was concerned that the weight of the cabinet full of planes could be too much for the screws.  I consulted Chris who said "since they are not my planes...Go for it!" I chose instead to use brass machine bolts with nuts and washers.

Oh, one last thing. The raised panel moved inside the lid frame. To solve this issue, I shot a brad into the center bottom area of the inside side of the lid, stopping this movement. I put a coat of oil onto the walnut then took 600 grit sandpaper and sanded a second coat of oil into the walnut. This leaves a touch-ably smooth surface.  When the oil is completely dry I will add two coats of varnish.

-John

Tommy discusses his work ethic and concern for his own workmanship after his big mistake on the pigeonhole assembly in which he had to trash three of them to ensure that they lined up on the plane correctly. He'd "rather have it right than not right." Now that they're nearly finished again, "it's like it never happened."

When I was a kid, all of my bedroom decorating ideas, and my bedroom decoration itself, came from my parents. It was really easy. All I really needed was my tonka toys and a comfortable bed, and I would be happy. My parents came up with all kinds of great bedroom decor ideas on their own. They put up a picture of the solar system on my wall and even got me a bed that looked like a spaceship when I became interested in astronomy. Another time, they decorated my bedroom to look like one of my favorite cartoons.

All in all, they had fantastic bedroom decor ideas for me, but as I began to enter adolescence, I knew that I needed to take over and make my room my own. After all, aside from the clothes you wear, there is nothing that you can use to express yourself better than the way your rooms are decorated. I became interested in wood carving years ago as a way to add personality to my surroundings. Ask me for some ideas - I have tons of them :)

In some parts of the world winter time has finished, while in other parts, autumn is starting… Wherever you live, is a good moment to show you this lovely puppet that is wearing cozy and warm clothes.

I improvised the pattern, so I´ll try to remember it for you.

1 - Cast on 14 loops. Make 7 rows of elastic stitch.

2 - Row 8: Knit 2, separate 4 loops in an extra needle, Knit 3, separate 4 loops in an extra needle, Knit 2. Increase 6 stitches (4 next to the loops you separate, 1 at the beggining, 1 at the end).
3 - Row 9: Purl (leaving the 8 loops you separate without purl, in their extra needles).

4 - Row 10: Knit

5 - Row 11: Purl

6 - Row 12: Knit

7 - Row 13: Purl

8 - Separated loops: they are going to be the arms. Make a knot with the yarn in the first loop of one arm (4 loops). Knit the row increasing 2 stitches (you get 6 stitches). Alternate Purl and Knit each row. I made 5 rows. Do the same with the other arm. After that sew the back part of the body and the arms.

9 - Head: Cust on 8 loops and alternate knit and purl along 9 rows. Increase until the 5th row until you have 18 loops, then decrease until you have 6 or 8. You´ll get a rounded shape. After finishing the head, sew it and fullfil it with cotton or a similar material. Then sew the head to the body.

10 - I Knitted the scarf, custing on just 3 loops and making Jersey. (Knit one row, Purl one row). I made the hat with sc (single crochet), crochetting circular. You can variate and put hair made of yarn).

11 - Make the hands: use crochet to make the little balls, there isn´t a technique, I made sc until I had a round little hand.

12 - I made tho little eyes with the sewing needle: look at those beautiful green eyes! But he is mouthless…

I think he is lovely! It was a moment of inspiration, I hope to have those moments more often!

FrAn

The Yandles Woodworking show has come and gone - and it was a good one!
As my first time on "the other side of the bench" it was quite an eye opener. Hopefully I didn't embarrass myself too much but I am looking forward to my next show (West Dean College at the end of May) when hopefully I shall present a more "knowing" display :)

I was very fortunate to share my bench with Woodworking Guru David Charlesworth - he was a true gent and he helped me get through the weekend a little easier - thanks David! Also, I was ably assisted on the Saturday by Mike Riley and Tony Sutton (of Good Woodworking and UK Workshop fame) The guys were good enough to make piles of shavings, answer questions and do the occasional iron sharpening marathon - many thanks Gents!

So with a few days under my belt to reflect I'm back in the workshop making more planes - I have a few new models in the works that should be ready to show soon. And hopefully I'll get some more guitar progress this weekend.

Cheers
Philly