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With his new hi-def camera, Tommy reviews how he worked with the rake. He shows how the application of the molding makes the outside corner and the top of the rake more pronounced. Tommy then wonders how he will work with the compound angle at the top, which is going to be difficult.

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.

Gapura is a part of gebyok formed as entrance door. This part also has many demand and can be functioned as :

* Room decoration

* Door frame of the room door

Not so long ago my workbench's top was the perfect surface for almost all of my needs.  It's always been a little short, but the weight was perfect for handplaning.

When I discovered how unflat it's become in the last few weeks it was clear it needed to be replaced.  The question on my mind is what should the top be made from?

I need something flat, something reliable and more importantly something that could get me back in the shop in no time...

WIN AN iPOD TOUCH!!  If you have the time, please take the new listener survey, and when you do you'll be entered to win an iPod Touch.

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.

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On Monday I shared with you some great follow-up questions from some listeners of the show. 

Well there were a couple more that I thought were important to share with all of you and the best way to do these was to explain them in a video.

Thanks to Donna and Shawn for submitting them!!

WIN AN iPOD TOUCH!!  If you have the time, please take the new listener survey, and when you do you'll be entered to win an iPod Touch.

Hendrik is back in September so get your questions in as soon as possible.  This time around, it's an open question and answer session so send them in!!  And if you're visiting the IWF in Atlanta, Hendrik will be there too, so say HI if you see him.

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.

To download directly to your computer Right Click on direct download, choose "Save Target as"

The diamond was salvaged from a previous ring.
The ring shown is a Burley Maple wood ring with a real diamond set into it.

I have learned that the wood which is chosen carries more than just its physical traits but more than that the wood carries deeper spiritual meaning.

Your one of a kind wooden ring will give you the warmth of knowing that the true value of a fine piece of handcrafted jewelry is knowing how much meaning it has.

See more at : http://www.simplywoodrings.com

So, during one of my recent trips to Rockler, I picked up a blank labeled "acrylic acetate". The outside looked like white plastic with some black spray paint on it. Meh. I wasn't impressed, but I wanted to try turning this stuff.

It turned easily until the vibrations set in on my craptastic Harbor Freight lathe. I had a blowout. Hence the purpleheart patch. ;-)

I've got two pics trying to show the pearlescent effect. Neither does a great job. You have to see it in person to really appreciate the beauty.

After turning I sanded to 600 grit W/D paper (wet) and polished with Meguiar's PlastX plastic polish. No need for fancy polishing pads or any crap like that. 600 grit and the polish got it shiny and smooth.

I'm going to pick up some more of this stuff once my new mini lathe arrives. Hopefully it'll be more stable than the one I have now.

Photo taken at the Marc Adams School courtesy of Marc Adams.



I ...

Highland Woodworking is excited to announce the addition of John Jordan Turning tools! An internationally renowned Wood Turner and teacher, John Jordan's works have graced The Renwick Gallery of The Smithsonian, The White House, The Boston Museum of Fine Art and Atlanta's High Museum of Art.

John Jordan tools have been developed over time and are a result of his many years of creating pieces that are known for their creative detail and texturing. Mention the name John Jordan while around any group of wood turners and the reaction is one of amazing respect. The fine reputation that follows him is echoed in the tools he has created.

Visit the John Jordan Wood Turning Tool collection at Highland Woodworking!

Hi Folks
Finally got round to a job that has been outstanding for a long time - incorporating my router table into the side table of my table saw. Getting rid of the old router table has given me back a meter of floor space - well worth the effort. I have fitted my Incra Ultra lite fence using two inserts fixed into the underside of the table - I can remove the fence in a minute using an allen key if I need to make wide cuts on the table saw. Nice thing is this - If I don't need the router table I just wind the router down out of the way, remove the fence and its gone. Every square inch of floor space is precious!
Another exciting improvement - I have finally got hold of a Norton 3X grinding wheel for my bench grinder. Konrad Sauer was raving about this particular grinding wheel on his blog. It took me a while to track one down but wow, what a great wheel. Quick grinding without the fear of burning the steel. I put a little review on my website, here. Looks like my Tormek may be gathering a little dust from now on.......;)

And finally - Yandles Woodworking Show. It's only a few weeks away but I'm getting real excited about this one. I will be having a bench on the Classic Hand Tools stand demonstrating my planes - my first show! And, renowned author and teacher David Charlesworth will be spending some time on my bench! So please, make sure you stop by and say "Hi"!

Cheers
Philly

When we started Woodworking Magazine, one of the things we definitely wanted to include as part of the fabric of the publication were quotations about the craft that made us laugh or think.

And when we launched our first issue in March 2004, there was no doubt or discussion about what quote would be emblazoned at the top of the first page:

Brown, who died June 1, is in my estimation the most influential writer on handwork of this generation. His columns in Britain’s Good Woodworking magazine inspired thousands of woodworkers to attempt or even completely embrace handwork.

His columns were short epistles on topics philosophical, mundane or both. He might offer a recipe for bacon in one column, offer plans for a workbench in another and in a third comment on the sad state of woodworking where we have traded skill for speed.

Brown was at times crotchety in tone, other times apologetic (to turners in particular); but he was always the spokesman for anyone who wanted to take hammer in hand and try to build something – either fantastic or mundane – using hand tools.

Brown himself was a boatbuilder who was made obsolete by fiberglass watercraft. After spotting a primitive Welsh chair in a shop in Lampeter, as Brown put it: “It was like a vision. I had never seen anything that had made so instant an impression on me.�

And so he built a Welsh stick chair like the one from his vision. He began selling them. He began writing about them. “Welsh Stick Chairs� was published in 1990. It’s a short volume, but is one of my prize possessions. In it, Brown gives a concise history of the Celts and their furniture. Then a short history of his love for the craft. The remainder of the book is photos of Brown in action, building what he calls a “cardigan chair.�

I first encountered his column in Good Woodworking in the mid-1990s. Brown had begun writing for the magazine during issue 13, I believe, which was the November 1993 issue. It was called “The John Brown Column,� and discussed mostly chairmaking, but with all hand tools. His run of columns there ended 32 issues later with a condemnation of power machinery in June 1996.

After a year of respite, Brown returned to the pages of Good Woodworking in issue 58 and continued for a couple more years. The last column I have of his is from December 1998. He continued as a chairmaker for awhile but during the last decade, Brown turned his attention to studying art.

"The John Brown Column" – sometimes titled "The Anarchist Woodworker" – was so inspiring to me, it’s difficult to quantify. I think it’s best said that if I had to have only one hero in woodworking, it would be Chairman Brown.

Not only did his writing encourage my hand-work skills, he also inspired me as a chairmaker to the point where I even ventured into the Canadian wilderness to take a class in Welsh chairmaking from David Fleming, a Cobden, Ontario, chairmaker who is Welsh.

All this detail above might make me sounds a bit like a stalker, but I never met John Brown. It was one of my primary goals for the coming years, which I can now bitterly cross off my to-do list. My plan was to ask if we could reprint his columns in book form so they could receive the wide audience they deserve. That project might be in limbo now, but perhaps his heirs will be willing.

If you can get a copy of “Welsh Stick Chairs,� you certainly will get the flavor of his writing and wit. And if I have any luck, perhaps you’ll also get to read his columns and then understand the loss the world of handwork has suffered this week.

— Christopher Schwarz

When we were in Erie last weekend, someone commented on their recent visit to this site and wanted to confirm that I was in fact still making planes. I assured them I was, but the comment has been rolling around in my head ever since. When we got home, I checked the site and sure enough... there has not been a “planemaking� post for quite a long time. Here is what has been going on in the last two months.



Front to back; A Brazilian Rosewood filled A5, an English boxwood filled A5*, an Ebony filled A6, an Ebony filled A1 panel, a Brazilian Rosewood filled No.4, a Brazilian Rosewood filled A5, a Brazilian Rosewood filled A1 and a Brazilian Rosewood filled A2 jointer.

A shot from the other side.



And some detail shots.



This is a family of 4 planes infilled with Brazilian Rosewood from a single plank. The No.4 is bedded at 52.5 degrees and has a 2" wide blade. The A5 is a York pitch with a 2-1/4" wide blade and the 14-3/4" long A1 and 22-1/2" A2 are bedded at 47.5 degrees. This is going to be a fantastic set of planes to use.




* This is second boxwood filled plane I have made. The first was an XSNo.4 I made last years and I have been dying to make another ever since. Boxwood is a real treat to work with - it cuts like hard butter. I also want to thank Bill Carter for generously supplying the piece for the handle. Finding genuine boxwood is really tough, let alone something large enough to make a handle with.



This past Friday, I shaped this Brazilian Rosewood handle. Above is a shot I took when I started shaping, and the black streak came alive. To me - this is what dreams are made of! Below is a photo of the handle fully shaped, sanded and ready to have the adjuster fit.



The two Ebony filled planes are at the tail end of the french polishing process - they each have 9 coats at this point and are looking magnificent.

Next update - the kitchen doors!

Any one that has seen two lovebirds perched together understands that love is a natural animal instinct that you can also be seen when you look into someone's eyes, and see everything you need.

The Box is made of Maple wood and Purple heart wood.

Visit Me At http://www.simplywoodrings.com for you Wooden Wedding Band Set.

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.

Tommy needs to put stops in the back of the drawers, gluing one to each side of the drawer. The finishing touch is adding a screw to the back. Tommy is pleased with the drawer, particularly the grain texture that complements the entire piece. But when he looks back at this video, he probably won't stay so pleased. Check out his singing and, shall we say, disheveled attire.

Hi Folks
For a change I've been tinkering with my guitars. The Telecaster that I recently refinished is back together and a replacement scratchplate arrived today to add the icing on the cake. Sadly it doesn't fit quite right so you'll have to wait until tomorrow for a "post tweak" picture. She looks really pretty, though. Kinda Tele Keith Richard would be proud of.
Also did a little upgrade on my Strat (yes, there is a Fender theme here!) I fitted a set of "Texas Specials" single coils, the ones in the Stevie Ray Strat. And what a difference a set of pick-ups can make - transformed! If you ever wished your guitar was a little posher sounding don't buy a new one - upgrade!
Made another pair of "Black Beauties" and thought you might like a photo. A friend has recently discovered a treasure trove of Indonesian Rosewood" and I aim to ransack some of it so stay tuned for more rosewood tinted planes soon.
Cheers
Philly

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.

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

Here?s last week?s tip from Woodsmith online editor Ted Raife:

It always breaks my heart when a project gets its first scratch. But I know that even with the best of care, it?s bound to happen. So rather than stew over a minor blemish, I came up with an easy way to make it disappear.

My repair system started with an investment in an assortment of touch-up markers. You can get these from many woodworking and finishing supply companies. My set includes about a dozen different colors and this gives me a good shot at finding a close match to the project. But the trick is finding the best color match without relying on a lucky guess.

To help make a more informed choice, I created a sample sheet on a piece of clear acetate. The sheet contains a small, labeled swatch from each marker. As you see in the photo, I simply hold the sheet up to the project to find a good match. After choosing a marker and performing a quick touchup, the project looks as good as new and I feel a whole lot better.

For more helpful project tips, techniques, and plans, visit PlansNOW.

Good Woodworking,

Ted Raife
Online Editor, Woodsmith

Notice the chisel (my thinnest) and how it compares the the waste area next to it. If your thinnest chisel is a 1/4", you cannot cut pins that run to the width of the saw kerf: your chisel will be too wide to remove the waste.

For immediate release

LumberJocks.com has reached a new milestone with 5000 registered woodworkers.

LumberJocks.com, online woodworking community, launched in March 2006 and has made a name for itself in the woodworking world. LumberJocks.com is quickly becoming the #1 online social network for woodworkers. The site’s structure and growing features allow members to easily connect with other woodworkers, post projects and blogs and compete in friendly competitions for fantastic prizes.

Woodworkers, men and women of all ages and skill levels, have showcased over 8,693 projects, 5,196 blogs, 405 reviews and 3,981 forum topics thus far.

According to the members, LumberJocks.com is more than just a site where people share the same interest; it’s a place where people share the same passion. “It’s one thing to share knowledge but it’s another thing to share passion. And that’s the one thing that sets this place apart from the others, that’s the one thing that makes this place so addicting. People sharing the passion for this thing we call woodworking.� – Lip (LumberJocks’ member)

LumberJocks.com would like to thank all of its members for their great community spirit and willingness to share information, experiences and endless knowledge. It is because of this immense community spirit and the friendly nature of all our members that we have grown to be such a success. And special thank you to our voluntary welcoming committee for making new members feel at home in our growing community.

We cannot simply build a great community for our members; our members will build us a great community.

About LumberJocks.com

The rapidly growing community at LumberJocks.com is comprised of men, women, children, and youth all over the world, who are actively involved in woodworking. The members are a combination of professionals, skilled hobbyists, beginners and everything in between. They are furniture builders, artists, home renovators, and wood explorers.

LumberJocks.com offers free membership to woodworkers who share their experiences with wood, ask and answer questions, seek and post their personal tool reviews, find and share resource information, and blog their woodworking journeys.

Not only is the site visited regularly by its members but also regular and casual visits by non-members. This past February Lumberjocks.com surpassed 1 million page views per month.

Sister sites, GardenTenders and HomeRefurbers have just recently “broken ground�, with members beginning the journey of sharing their gardening and home repair experiences with each other in the same fashion as achieved with LumberJocks.com.

###

These are the Days of Our Bombe... Last time out, Tommy was heartbroken over the bombe secretary's mis-sized doubler. Just a hair off, but for Tommy that was a hair too much. With a tissue in one hand and a chisel in the other Tommy makes it right - chipping out the old doubler piece by piece and then starting from scratch to work the new.

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