Tommy cuts the wood for the drawers and finds some "sweet" colors and swooping patterns. After putting the pieces in place, he says they look too "blasé" and "lame" compared to the beautiful wood of the writing surface and opts for a do-over. Stay tuned to see if the new wood meets Tommy's expectations.

Tommy is "pumped" to be starting the upper case. In this episode, he gives a quick demonstration on how to cut the "stop dados," stressing that setting the blade on the saw at the right height is critical. Once he's done with the saw, Tommy shows how he uses hand tools, such as the router plane, to clean up the dados.

In this entry I talked about the Craftsman 8" Drill Press model 315.11970 that I had purchased off eBay.

Since I've been doing some turnings, I've needed to use a drill press to make accurate holes in the workpieces.

Too bad I don't have a press capable of drilling accurate holes!

I mentioned that it was "unstable as hell". I recently took it apart to determine why it was so unstable. After all, who would sell a drill press that's unstable when new?

Craftsman would. That's who.

I found that the red plastic housing is the entire framework. There is no metal to metal connection between the drill motor and the post.

Note to engineers: Cheap plastic does NOT provide rigid connectivity in a power tool!

I made a slight improvement by wedging a piece of wood scrap into the tool between the post bearings and the plastic housing. It helped, but not much.

As far as I'm concerned, this thing is completely useless. I get more accurate holes using a hand drill.

If anybody wants to donate something that ISN'T a complete piece of crap, I'd be more than happy to accept!

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

Tommy and Al dedicate this podcast to answering the question of the week: What is the best way to attach legs to a column? With explicit instructions, they demonstrate how to use dovetails to get the legs and columns to fit together "nice and tight."

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

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...

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If you?ve checked out a copy of Woodsmith or ShopNotes in the last couple of years, you may have noticed that articles about hand planes and their use have been showing up a little more often. That?s mostly because we have an editor who takes an active interest in promoting their usage ? Randy Maxey.

Randy will spend an hour during this Woodsmith Woodworking Seminar Podcast to give us his tips for tuning up a hand plane, a very important procedure if you?ve ever tried to use one. As you may know, an out-of-tune plane, with a dull or nicked iron, can be a real pain to use. This seminar is for “users,” not “collectors.”

Be sure to check out the Woodsmith Podcast Store for links to a few products that Randy used during this seminar. There are also links to Seminar Guide at PlansNow.com

The back frame and panel is assembled with panels in place and installed at the back of the cabinet. The cabinet is slowly evolving into a piece of furniture. The frame and panel back fit very snugly after some light, judicious planing of the outside rails and stiles. I have not yet finalized the layout of the interior of the cabinet, but I expect to create an assembly with two or three drawers in the lower right section of the cabinet. In the photo, you can see the overhang at the front top and bottom of the cabinet to allow for the front doors. The amount of overhang or space I allowed for is the thickness of the individual veneered door panels along with a very small extra gap both behind and ahead of the door.There is also the small chamfered edge of the top and bottom surrounding the cabinet front, sides and back.

Creating the door panels is my next task in this cabinet build and I will be working on this over the next days. I'm also working on the stand design which has not yet been finalized. I have a feeling I will be modifying the original drawings and doing something a little different here. I'm just waiting to determine how the enclosed cabinet looks to me and what stand design provides the best complement for the cabinet. This goes back to a term I coined a few months ago on an earlier project.

The term I coined is "dynamic design" and allows the maker to dynamically modify a design as the build progresses. The modifications in design are directly attributable to how the project is taking shape, as opposed to moving forward with an existing design which might or might not make sense any longer. The concept of dynamic design and artistic freedom go hand in hand. I mention to my clients that the design will most likely evolve as the project continues and to expect some changes, most likely small ones. There needs to be a certain trust between the maker and client to be able to accomplish this, something I strive to provide the client.

I should have the beginnings of the door panels done in the next day or so along with resawing of the veneers I will be using.

Here's the latest pen. This is a Sapele Cigar pen with a segmented celtic double knot made of Maple and Cherry.
There are 32 pieces in the segmented knot - 16 Maple and 16 Cherry. The picture below shows better detail of the knot, but the picture above best shows the true colors of the pen.

No matter how much (or little) money you have, if you are clever enough you can score an exquisite chisel for about $1.

I was reminded this week when I picked up some items on eBay and had to take a few extra unwanted items in the lot, including three plastic-handled chisels. Two of them were Craftsman chisels that were dead ringers for my grandfather?s 1970s-era tools.

The third was a Stanley 1-1/4?-wide 720 chisel with a translucent yellow handle and steel striking button on its end. Normally chisels like this wouldn?t warrant a second look in a flea market box. But if you take a close look at these 720s, you could end up with an excellent worker.

The trick is to know what?s important and what?s not. Here?s my short list of the key features:

1. The handle has to be comfortable for paring or chopping. The 720 passes this test with flying colors. Its vague Coke-bottle-shaped grip falls right into your fingers in both positions. In fact, when gripping it for chopping, the chisel is comfortable only when your index finger is out of the way of the striking button. The only disadvantage of the 720's handle is that it gets a little slippery when your hands get sweaty.

2. The chisel has to be balanced when you grip the tip of the blade like a pencil (this is the grip for holding the tool for positioning it for light chopping). The 720 is a tad top-heavy for this operation. It?s not unusable, but it's not perfect.

3. The steel should be easy to sharpen and keep a decent edge. Chisels that are too hard take too long to hone. The 720s are good steel. I bought a couple of these early on in the craft and have also sharpened those belonging to students. They?re good steel.

4. The long edges should be narrow. Very narrow. This is where most mid-priced chisels fail. The narrow side-bevels allow you to sneak into the acute corners of the tail portion of dovetail joints. The 720s are generally very good about this. The one I just bough has side bevels smaller than 1/16?. Nice.

Oh, and there?s one more important characteristic: The chisel has to be fairly rust-free (especially on the unbeveled face side). This particular example is a miserable failure as it probably spent a few years in the bottom of a chum bucket. I cleaned the scaling off with a Klingspor Sandflex block and took a look. Craters everywhere.

Oh well, what do you want for $1?

? Christopher Schwarz

Warning!!  The video was all shot with the old camera!!

The new workbench top is in place and it not only looks great but it works great too.

A nice flat surface, easy to attach accessories and jigs and of course when it gets to messed up...off with the old and on with the new.

Thanks for all the feedback so far, keep it a coming!

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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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 ...

Saturday Mornings at Highland complement our woodworking class & seminar offerings. Join us at our store in Virginia-Highlands on Saturday mornings at 10am EST for FREE, live demonstrations featuring a wide variety of woodworking skills, tools & techniques. These 1 to 1-1/2 hour-long demonstrations feature our knowledgeable staff and instructors, local clubs & guilds, guest authors, and others. Upcoming events include woodturning, woodcarving, care & use of hand tools, joinery, book signings, an introduction to woodworking design software, and much, much more.

Saturday, May 31, at 10:00am we are pleased to have Hal Simmons in the house teaching the Natural Edged Bowl. When he's not busy at the American Red Cross, he's teaching wood turning. He has studied with Nick Cook, Willard Baxter, David Ellsworth, Johannes Rieber, Chris Scott, Soren Berger and Ray Key. He enjoys traditional spindle, bowl, and hollow form turning using both exotic and domestic woods. Hal is President of the Chattahoochee Woodturners and member of the Georgia Association of Woodturners.

Hal will demonstrate how to turn a natural edge bowl. He will talk about consistency in wall thickness, chucking and mounting the piece on the lathe.

All demonstrations take place in Highland Woodworking's retail store in Atlanta, Georgia and begin at 10:00am EST.

HI Folks
I've been beavering away in the workshop trying to get myself together for the upcoming Yandles show. Planes left, right and centre! But I'm trying to steal a few minutes a day to work on a side project (or two!)
A guitar. Now, a lot of you may know I play guitar. I've made a solid body electric (a PRS style) but never tried an acoustic. So I finally ordered a set of plans from Stewart-Macdonald for a Weissenborn style lap steel guitar. An interesting acoustic guitar - it is played sitting down with the guitar flat on its back on your lap.
I've used timbers that I have in stock - sycamore for the top and paduak for the back and sides. All quartersawn and dried in my workshop for about four years. I cut 3.5mm slices on the bandsaw - fun cutting five foot long by 10 inch tall slices! Glad I fitted that new blade.......
I've jointed and bookmatched the top pieces and have glued them up. Just need to get them to final thickness (2.5mm) and then I can start "building"!
Cheers
Philly

The club, which was started a year and a half ago, has grown to over 20 members. 8 to 10 usually show up for our monthly meetings, where we do as many hands-on projects as possible.

Most of these women are brand new to woodworking?some are retired, with grown children?and all are enthusiastic to learn. The enthusiasm can be gauged in the sheer volume of exhuberant chatter that goes on during our meetings.

Regarding woodworking (and probably most things), all that women seem to need is a little encouragement & patience, and they will dive right in. Tonight, we worked on part 2 of our current project?cutting boards?in the Woodcraft Store shop where we meet. During the course of the 3-part project, they are learning how to use the jointer, planer, and miter saw. Next time, we'll have a router workshop, when we'll round over all the cutting boards and test drive different types of routers and bits.

We decide at each meeting, as a group, what the next topic will be. There are no dues, no officers, no business to attend to. We sit at a table, facing one another. All of the women have ownership. It's very different from what I call the "boys' club"?the other woodworking club to which I belong. Up until last year, I was the only female member.

In the boys' club, the guys seem to prefer hierarchy and structured meetings. We have officers, dues, and an annual business meeting. There are too many guys in that club (and too small a space) to do much hands-on stuff, so we mainly have a demo or lecture. Members sit in rows of chairs and face the presenter. The volume of these meetings is also different. Pretty quiet, except for the speaker, and the occasional wisecrack. The guys chat with one another prior to and after the meeting, but not so much during.

The other very important difference in the two clubs: the women's club usually has snacks. This past year in the boys' club, when the Christmas party was discussed, the guys opted to not have one. Conversely, the women all but leapt out of their seats with a resounding "YES!" when I asked if we wanted to have a club Christmas dinner.

And you wouldn't believe what they brought. Crab cakes, homemade lasagna, homemade meatballs (made by one woman's husband, which cracked us up), salads, and desserts like you'd find at Wegman's.

It's great fun to be an observer in both clubs. Despite their differences, there is one common thread between the two clubs: they both consist of people who want to create something?something useful, something artistic, something challenging. Something that will leave a lasting mark.

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Japan Green Woodwork Association has been registered as a charity organization today. I hope it will become a base for lots of interesting activities by the fans of green woodwork.

Everybody does it at some time or another….the eternal voicemail.

You know the ones I mean. The attaboy from the Vice President, Your mom telling you that your dad’s surgery went ok, the one where your wife’s excited giddiness comes through the phone like she's screaming in a bullhorn as she tells you that she successfully negotiated Indianapolis traffic to arrive at the Mass Avenue Knit shop. (It was a solo field trip for her while I was in Joinery 2 at Marc Adams School of Woodworking back in 2007). FYI…I don’t think Gail even knew that I have kept that one.

My oldest saved voicemail is actually woodworking related. It’s from Bill W. at Penn State Industries, and it is from December of 2006. Now I would have to believe that Bill would never in his wildest dreams believe that some guy in Michigan still has his voicemail from Tuesday, December 19^th 2006 saved on his cell phone, but I do. I probably haven’t listened to the whole message more than once or twice. However, every three weeks I get queried to erase it, and I spend about 2 seconds listening to Bill tell me that “they are upgrading me to a better dust can� before I hit the 9 button that saves that message for another 3 weeks.

I was redoing the dust collection in my shop over the Christmas holiday in 2006, and the fine folks at Penn State scrambled to get my cyclone system out to me in time for me to install it during my time away from the office.

It was nice that they upgraded me to a “better can� in order to keep my plan on schedule, but the reason I save that message is because installing that new cyclone was the last thing I worked on with my dog, Simon. Somewhere in the confused, cobweb filled part of the brain there is this belief that as long as that message stays on my phone, Simon and I are still together working on that cyclone.

I never would have imagined while stepping over Simon that day as I ran 6 inch pipe along the basement ceiling that his healthy 6 years of life were near an end. I suppose I was naïve. Simon died 4 weeks after Bill W. left that message.

I’m not quite as naïve as I was back then. That message is my ongoing reminder that life happens.

How you dress your windows is an important piece of your overall design and a lot of thought should go into the style and fabric used for your bedroom window treatments.

How do you know which window treatment is right in your bedroom?

There are 3 basic types of window treatments that can be used alone or in combinations. Here?s some tips on these basic types and what style of room you might choose them for.

Curtains and Drapes

Curtains and drapes are a style of window treatment that most of us can recognize but there?s many variations on this old standby. If your bedroom design is simple, you might choose just plain sheers as these will go well with many themes including a romantic theme, a modern theme and anything in between.

Valances can be used to soften the top of the window. They are great if you don?t want to cover up a great view but also don?t want the window to look too bare. Typically valances are made from fabric but you can build them form wood and decorate them with an aged or stencilled paint to go with your Tuscan or French country design. Fabric valances can go with almost any bedroom decorating theme depending on the fabric you choose and can be used in conjunction with sheers to give you a bit of privacy.

Drapes are an elegant bedroom window treatment. If you have a romantic, French or Victorian theme some heavy drapes in rich fabrics can transform your bedroom into one fit for a queen. Heavy drapes look best on tall windows, but if you short squatty windows like most homes built in the 60's - 80's don?t let that deter you from using great drapes. You can always just keep them closed to hide the window behind and no one will ever know the difference!

Wooden Shutters and Blinds

Indoor wooden window blinds are a great way to add privacy to your bedroom and can be used alone or with curtains, drapes or valances.

There are 2 styles of shutters - plantation shutters and café shutters.

Plantation shutters cover the whole window and have louvers which can be opened and closed to let light in or provide privacy. These shutters go great with a plantation style look, a country look or a coastal cottage look.

The café shutters are the kind that cover only the bottom half of the window and swing open to let light in. These also look nice in a country or beach style bedroom and are perfect for a Paris apartment style as well.

Fabric Blinds

Fabric blinds add a nice touch to any bedroom and can be decorated and embellished with whatever you want. Fringe, pom-poms and ribbon are just a few of the great ways to make these bedroom window treatments stand out.

Roman blinds work well for childrens rooms and informal styles such as cottage or beach style decor. These shades fold up to expose the window during the day and roll down at night.

Festoon blinds are puffy with lots of fabric. They are quite ornate and work best in a romantic style bedroom such as a Victorian, French or Italian motif. Festoon blinds look best on wide windows and might not be good for small rooms as they can tend to be a bit overwhelming.

Lee Dobbins writes for http://www.bedroom-designs-and-decorations.com where you can learn more about popular bedroom decorating styles.

WOW… this is going to be tough. We have 58 entries in One Man's Junk and 26 entries in Serve It Up With Class category. And now it’s time to pick your top 5 list in both categories and cast your votes (and don’t forget that three lucky random voters will win our stylish LumberJocks Shirt).

Voting deadline is on August 7th at 3 PM CDT.

Note that only LumberJocks who have posted at least one project in the past are allowed to vote and, for those of you who have submitted an Awards entry, you will notice that your project is not listed when you make your selections. (You are not allowed to vote for yourself.) So don’t panic when you do not see your entry in the voting list – others can pick your entry without any problems.

The results will be announced on August 8th.

Click on the big VOTE AND WIN button on the Awards pages to cast your votes now.

GOOD LUCK!

Mahogany Wood Ring

See more here.

Hi! I found this pattern on the web, on sandyfroglegs blog. They are really cute to make as a gift on this holidays. I´ve made only one, but I´ll share it with you now so you can make them for Eastern holiday.

The pattern is really clear: just follow the step by step (or row by row) instructions.

My egg seems Einstein, so I named it Einstegg. I made the eyes and mouth with yarns, but you can try other materials, like beads, for example.

Tommy takes some de-natured alcohol and wipes it on the completed carving to demonstrate how the grain texture will look. On close inspection, viewers can see that each of the sweep carvings is a little different. Tommy then shows how to remove the material along the perimeter of the shell. After the door is completed, he discusses the work he needs to do on the drawers.

Tommy reviews the completed dentil molding and scrapes out the excess glue. He then puts the first section of the pediment on top and reviews his work. Just as he's wrapping up, Al arrives with two cigars to celebrate the achievement.

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.

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'The Woodworkers' Week 2008' takes place in Nagoya from 3rd to 11th June.
It consists of three exhibitions and a forum.

The three exhibitions are:
Chairs -designer/makers' work 2008-
Works of Shin-ichiro Tani, Santaro Takahashi and Tomio Murakami
5-11 June 2008
9:50-20:00
Maruzen Book Store Sakae 4F
3-2-7 Sakae, Naka-ku, Nagoya

30 Woodworkers '08
3-8 June 2008
11:00-18:00
Denki Bunka Kaikan 5F
2-2-5 Sakae, Naka-ku, Nagoya

Wooden Spoons
3-8 June 2008
11:00-21:00
Lachic 5F
3-6-1 Sakae, Naka-ku, Nagoya

The Forum:
The works of furniture workshops
Mr.Daisaku Choh and Mr.Masanori Moroyama
8 June 2008
14:00-16:00
Denki Bunka Kaikan 5F
2-2-5 Sakae, Naka-ku, Nagoya

This is probably the first attempt in recent years for the Japanese woodworkers to make a network and launch events. It is going to be a rare opportunity to see many designer/makers' work in one place.

I will be exhibiting my works at 30 Woodworkers '08.
Shinsuke Kato, the director of Japan Green Woodwork Association, and Kaya Nagoaka, a graduate of Forest Academy, will show their spoons at the Wooden Spoons.
Come and see our latest works.