A while back a listener wrote asking about the difference between a left-tilt vs right-tilt tablesaw.  This is a common question that beginning woodworkers have, and with good reason. 

Usually these days the right-tilt saws are much more inexpensive, but even with the lower price most woodworkers prefer the left-tilts.  Why you ask?  I'll give you my opinion in the show.

You may have noticed I'm trying something new today.  I've decided to start recording video of myself recording the show.  This way I can add a little extra here and there, and who doesn't want to look at this mug??

Let me know what you think about this little experiment and of course drop me a line with your questions, comments and suggestions.  And don't forget that Hendrik is back in May and we're talking about starting a small woodworking business, so get your questions in for Hendrik too.  Just drop us a line at mattsbasementworkshop@gmail.com.

 

Also, Hendrik is starting his annual three part finishing seminars: 
Part 1 "Preparing the Surface and Staining" - May 3rd. 
Part 2 "Hand Finishing and Rubbing Out"    - May 10th or 24th.
Part 3"Antique Restoration Techniques"      - May 31st or June 7th.
So if you live in the Toronto area or feel like visiting it, and you want more information about Hendrik's finishing seminars, send an email to info@passionforwood.com

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

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To download this show directly to your computer just Right Click and "Save Target as".

 

A European company called Miniot
is selling a nice wooden case for iPhones.
They offer a little bit of protection for your
phone and it looks cool. It’s carved from a
single piece of wood and available in oak,
paduak, cherry, mahogany, or walnut. The
price is around $80. If your cell phone is
dinged up half as much as mine is, this
might be a good investment!

Oh by the way, if you don’t have an
iPhone yet, they also make a case for iPods!

Often our conversations with people start months before the work actually begins and so it's always gratifying to hear back from folks after our work is done. I get pretty attached to folks while chatting with them over a period of months and David develops a special relationship with people through making their rings. Dani and Schmick have been in our lives for awhile ~ another couple of wonderful people whose kindness humbles us and whose friendship we value.

As many of probably already know, there is an incredible conference taking place in Berea, KY called Woodworking in America. The conference is the brainchild of the folks over at Popular Woodworking and simply put, its a galoots dream! From vendors to seminars to hands on classes, its all about hand tools! Many of my blogging associates will be in attendance, and you can follow their experiences on their own blogs. One person in particular who will be blogging on a daily basis is Mitch from the Furnitude Blog. You can follow his adventures right on his blog.

Now most of the other folks who might be blogging about the event are in The Wood Whisperer Network, and you can see all the latest posts in real-time right on TheWoodWhispererNetwork.com.

I also wanted to bring your attention to my homie Shannon Rogers’ site, The Renaissance Woodworker. He is having a giveaway sponsored by the folks at Penn State Industries, and its a good chance to get some great pen turning supplies.

So I hope everyone has a great time at the conference. Wish I could be there myself but I will have to settle for reading about your personal experiences.

Related Posts

• July 14, 2008 — Wood Talk Online - #39
• July 1, 2008 — Woodworking in America Registration Open
• May 15, 2008 — Wood Talk Online- Episode 36

After some deliberation, I decided that I really like the drawer case layout and went ahead and permanently installed them in the cabinet. The mounting method I arrived at is actually quite straightforward. The right hand drawer case is pegged to the bottom of the cabinet with four short dowel pieces. It is not directly attached to either the back or right side of the cabinet with this method, eliminating any wood movement issues however small they might be. The left hand single drawer case is also not directly attached to the cabinet side or back for the same reason. Instead I created a small platform for the left drawer case using two pieces of beech with grain in the same direction as the rest of the cabinet.

It seems like part of being a woodworker is repairing old furniture, whether it’s your own or someone else’s. You’re probably already aware that working on old pieces like that can present some health concerns (lead paint exposure, for example).  As it turns out, there are some other things you should be concerned about when repairing or even moving some antiques.

Discovery News is citing some info from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) about the hazards of heavy metals in antiques.  Old mirrors may have been backed with mercury and tin. And clock pendulums or lamp bases may contain mercury. You know…it’s the stuff you used to play with when you were a kid. It’s since been found to be a health hazard.

I remember a few years ago, my wife and I found an old bottle of mercury that had belonged to my mother-in-law, a nurse.  Being the responsible citizen, I took it to our local township volunteer fire department/police station.  I was essentially told to “get it out of here…we’re not responsible if something happens…you’re on your own.”  Wow!  I explained that I had several children in the home and I didn’t want it in my house.  It didn’t matter.  They insisted I remove it from their premises immediately.  So, I took it home.  I ended up having to call the county hazardous materials department.  They sent a guy out.  Turns out he was an old classmate of mine in high school.  He laughed when I told him what my local fire department told me, but he donned heavy rubber gloves, removed the bottle from the house, wrapped it very carefully, and stored it in a well-insulated, shock-protected styrofoam cooler.

Then there was the local elementary school that had to shut down for a day when a child dropped a mercury thermometer on the front steps while returning from an outdoor science class.  You would have thought there had been a bomb blast with all the emergency vehicles and personnel.

So, the next time you need to move Aunt Sue’s antique clock, exercise caution.

I'll try not to get into techno-garble but obviously we are all internet users here. I've started using an online app called Google Notebooks and it is a great tool for researching and sharing ideas and discoveries. I've been using it to organize notes and online info about tools and woodworking. You can publish your notebooks as webpages for others to use and also set it up to have multiple users add to the notebooks. The best thing is that it is easy to use and edit. Here are some notebooks I've made public Layout tools Workbenches Saws If anyone would like to join me in building these notebooks, just email me and I will add you to the list of editors. As these are filled in, it will create a great resource that is fully searchable.

The practice knot I carved when I started this project has a rounded look, like rope, but I tried something different with the final cross. Instead of creating rounded edges, they're chamfered, and I think it looks a lot nicer. (It's also a faster and easier technique.)

I used a gouge to chamfer the inside curves and cleaned them up with a small round file. All straight edges and outside curves were chamfered with a straight chisel.

Just another option if you plan to try this type of carving.

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:

Measuring the width for a drawer bottom can be a challenge. I usually measure several times just to make sure I get it right.Then I made the simple drawer gauge shown in the photo below. Now, I don’t have to worry about the “numbers.� The gauge always shows me the exact distance.

It’s made from two pieces of aluminum angle joined together by a small wood block (see end view below right). The telescoping arms are two pieces of flat aluminum bar stock set side by side. A knurled knob, pressed-in threaded insert, and a penny sets and adjusts the arms.

It’s easy to use the gauge to set up your table saw for the cut. Just slide the arms until each one touches the bottom of the groove in the drawer sides. Then tighten the knob to secure the arms.

Next place the end of one arm against the blade and the other arm against your rip fence. Lock the fence in position and make the cut.
Good Woodworking,

Phil Huber
Online Editor, ShopNotes

Send for a preview issue of ShopNotes magazine

‘Twas only a kit of carpenter’s tools
We were chancing off that night.

The man who owned the tools was there
A carpenter whose hair was white.
To draw the stubs until the winning share
Would place the tools within another’s care.

Aye! Only a kit of tools you say
Objects of metal hard and bright.
No! We chanced off something else that day
Something that didn’t seem just right.

All the labor of yesteryear.
Homes that they built for those in the past
Of service come to an end at last.
Leaving his heart, his head, his hand

In a chest of tools, this white-haired man.
To end his days in a home for them
Whose years of service were at an end.
The sad look on that aged face

As each number shortened the space.
Of time when he must bid farewell for good
To old friends of his, of metal and wood.
He had used them for years, they were always there.

‘Twas awfully sad, the whole affair.
Like playing pitch with an old man’s soul.
Pushing him on to the final goal.

Into the sidelines and out of the race
While a younger man takes up his place.

The tools of his trade, the hammer and saw
It struck me with wonder and something of awe.
As we laughingly shout and loudly cry
To see who the winning share did buy.

How stupid of us, we were such fools
To think we were chancing off
Only CARPENTER’S TOOLS

      —Julius Frerich

_________________________________
Originally appeared in Carpenter Magazine many years ago. It’s a monthly publication published by the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America. It contains articles on labor issues, lessons on how to build things, and “human interest itemsâ€� submitted by the local union secretaries.

Bob Smalser kindly posted this over on WoodNet and I thought it was good enough to share.

This week, Dennis Perkins, assistant editor for Woodsmith and ShopNotes, is going to give us some pointers on using hand planes and scrapers for a smooth finish. He’ll also spend some time showing us how he likes to sharpen his scrapers during this week’s Woodsmith Woodworking Seminar Podcast.

As usual, all of the links to articles, seminar guides, and products that you’ll see being used during the seminar podcast can be found at the Woodsmith Podcast Store.

I am really happy with how they came out. I've discovered a couple of ways to make cleaner and more repeatable cuts on a couple of the angled pieces. Time to get back to work...

Hi Folks
Well - that's that. I've finished in the workshop and put the bench in the back of the van ready for the journey to Westonbirt tomorrow. I've just about finished all the planes I was hoping to make and I'm sat at the computer now printing out signs and labels. The rain is falling outside (obviously having a last go before the coming heatwave...........) but I'm not worried. I know its going to be a great weekend :)
I've made a couple of planes from some Indonesian Rosewood I've been hoarding. One is the pretty little smoother I showed off yesterday - the other is a monster Miter plane. She looks just awesome! If anyone is interested they'll be on my bench this coming weekend :)

Shock of the day was the Wife coming out to the workshop with the phone. "It's Konrad", she says. My jaw drops - not Konrad Sauer??
Oh, yes - a quick call before he heads to the airport to make his way over. It was great to have a quick chat (and also to find I'm not the only one feverishly packing bags!) and I'm really looking forward to spending a few days in his company. Did I mention Konrad and I will have our benches set up next to each other (along with Infill maker Bill Carter!) in the Classic Hand Tools marquee?
So make sure you head over to Westonbirt this weekend for the "Festival of the Tree" - you won't be disappointed!
Cheers
Philly

I was home sick yesterday, but it was nothing to prevent me from working in the garage. So off I went!

I did 4 things for the first time here.

1. My first time working with Lyptus-
   I've never tried this wood before. Woodcraft had a bowl full of figured lyptus blanks for $2 so i bought one. Here's a good article about lyptus: Woodweb. For me, it worked much like maple. Small chipouts in the figure, nice and hard, looks great. The pen above was finished with BLO and several coats of a three pound cut of shellac.
2. My first time making a "euro" pen-
   I've only been working with the slimline kits. I thought I'd give the euro kit a shot. This was a Woodcraft $4.99 kit in 24k gold and a black cap. I've never seen the black cap before. Kinda cool.
   
   Turning this is a bit different because of the diameter changes required. The middle of the pen is a bit thicker than the ends. Most folks turn these with a gentle curve between the ends. I went for a bit straighter blank to avoid the "chunky" look. I need to turn a few more and decide what I like better.
3. My first time successfully making a band in the blank-
   The band is cocobolo. In the lyptus blank I used my table saw to cut a kerf, not quite cutting all the way through. I cut a slice of cocobolo just a bit smaller and glued aluminum foil (Reynold's if you care) to both sides with CA glue. I then set the whole sandwich into the lyptus blank with more CA glue. I let it cure for a couple hours to prevent separation later.
   
   The foil adds a very thin border between the lyptus and the coco. I couldn't go much thicker because of the gold hardware, but it serves its purpose nicely. Wood to wood doesn't look quite right in all the pens I've attempted it with. Using the foil to separate them did the trick.
4. My first time trying to make a satin finish on a pen-
   Because this was intended to be a "user" pen, I didn't want a glossy finish. I wanted a smooth, but satin finish to make it more comfortable in my hand.
   
   I achieved this by applying several coats of 3# cut blonde shellac. Before the last coat fully dried, I applied some Butcher's Wax with a 0000 steel wool. This gives the pen a durable finish that isn't too glossy or slick.

Overall I'd call this a success!

グリーンウッドワーク�会����秋�アメリカ�グリーンウッドワーク�第一人者�ドリュー・ランズナー�を講師�招��椅���り講座を実施���。

�阜県��れ�生�木を使��人力��具を用��美��椅��仕上���。
制作�る��ラダー�ック・�ェア�呼�れる欧米��統的�椅���。
Green wood chair making class by American master craftsman Drew Langsner takes place this autumn at Gifu Academy.
We make a traditional ladderback chair out of local green wood, using only hand tools.


ランズナー���３�年以上グリーンウッドワーク��り組ん����世界的�有��木工家��。アメリカ�Country Workshops���工房を主宰��多数�講座を実施�����。�統的�椅���り����詳述��「The Chairmaker's Workshop����本�著者�も�り��。
Mr. Langsner is a world's famous woodworker who has been pursueing his career for more than thirty years. He runs various craft courses at his Country Workshops. He is the author of 'The Chairmaker's Workshop'.

講座��期�後期�分�れ����。生木�ら��る部�を���ら�乾燥��る����。
�期�３日間��丸太�ら�部�を木�り�一部を蒸��曲��形��る��。
後期�３日間�組�立�る部分�ホゾ加工�ら�組�立��座�編��仕上���。
��ら�一方��加も�能��。

�加料��期�後期�も２４���円を予定�����。
宿泊費�食費�別途必���り��。
�講者数�８��定��残り�����。
�希望�方��早���グリーンウッドワーク�会���申�込�����。

The chair making class consists of part A and B.
On part A we cleave logs to get chair parts, steambend and shape them.
On part B we drill mortises and cut tenons, assemble and weave the seat.
You can book either part A or B, or both.
The tuition is 24,000 yen for each part. Room and board is not included.
We accept eight bookings for each part. Contact Japan Green Woodwork Association.

アメリカ�第一人者�学�〜グリーンウッドワーク�椅���り
講師　ドリュー・ランズナー
会場　�阜県立森林文化アカデミー　森�工房


�期　９月２７（土）〜２９（月）
後期　１�月１８（土）〜２�（月）
��れも９：��〜１８：��

Green wood chair making class by American master craftsman
Instructor: Drew Langsner
Venue: Forest Workshop, Gifu Academy of Forest Science and Culture

Part A 27-29th September 2008
Part B 18-20th October 2008
9:00-18:00

I have two pretty and small bags I made last week to show you. I used “unuseful” pieces of felt (that were useful in this case). Using my sewing machine I made, in no more than ten minutes, two little bags.

The handles are made, as you can see, of crochet (just a simple chain with a combining color).

The eyelets are made of crochet too… I made both of them and sewed them with my needles and thread, that´s all!

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

Our big new Fall 2008 woodworking tool catalog is at the printer and will be mailing out in just a few days. It's loaded with a huge selection of woodworking tools and supplies, and also contains a listing of the dozens of upcoming woodworking classes and workshops held at our retail store in Atlanta, Georgia. We invite you take an online look at our woodworking class schedule.

We are having a one week half term so that the students may have time with their families, and in Yonatan's case go walking and ...

Last Saturday, during a trip to Downes & Reader in Stoughton, MA, I picked up some Freijo at $3/board foot. I selected 5 pieces of 4/4 stock that were roughly quarter sawn. They are 5" wide and about 3 feet long. I know nothing of the wood, but it is beautiful to look at. Wikipedia says it is also called Spannish Elm, Ecuador Laurel, or Salmwood, and as they say: it looks very much like teak. I'm looking forward to working this wood.

In about a week, I'm off to western Massachusetts to retreive some rough sawn oak and planksawn pine. I'm told there is about 150 or 200 board feet, and I'll need a place to put it. I should build a lumber rack soon. Fortunately, my brother-in-law was throwing out some perfectly good 2x6 lumber that he didn't mind me bringing home; so I have the supplies. I just need to build the rack.

Here are the two girls together.

Back in March, the folks from ProTool (the folks that make the Drill Doctor) came into our offices to show us their new Work Sharp system for sharpening woodworking tools. You’ll be hearing it advertised on the Paul Harvey show.  They left their WS3000 for us to play with in our shop.

One day not too long ago, I went to use the Work Sharp to hone some chisels for our new public television show, The Woodsmith Shop (more on that later).  Well, I couldn’t find all the parts to the Work Sharp, so I resorted to honing the chisels by hand using wet/dry sandpaper.  A few weeks later, I asked Steve Johnson, our shop craftsman, about the Work Sharp’s missing parts. He said that they weren’t missing and walked me around the corner of his work area and showed me the box that contained the “missing” parts. Turns out he had the Work Sharp squirreled away to keep it from disappearing.  He says he uses it all the time for touching up his chisels. For example, when he’s chopping mortises or cleaning up mortises, all he needs to do is walk over to the Work Sharp, and in just a few seconds he’s got a sharp edge.  He thinks it’s a great addition to his shop for keeping an edge on his tools.

Work Sharp has come out with a homeowner/DIY version of their system called the WS2000.  It uses the same motor as the WS3000 but doesn’t have the built-in speed reduction and doesn’t come with the finer grits of abrasive that you’d use for honing.  It’s meant for grinding a quick edge or, as one homeowner did, ground a sharp edge on his garden shovel.

You can read more about the Work Sharp systems here.

Mark from Woodfired introduced me to the inspiring work of his friend, Matthew Harding, a highly regarded woodworker, sculptor, and carver from Australia.








While there are many talented individuals in the visual arts, Matthew is extraordinarily gifted in diversity, as expressed in his broad range of style.










He has command of various materials, including wood, bronze & steel, and stone; and a firm grasp on balance, composition, design, and originality.

Check out his website to see more of his artwork....and enjoy!

Jig plans for cutting circles, adjustable dadoes, and a flush trim jig are included in this week’s Woodsmith Woodworking Seminar Podcast. Bryan Nelson will also give the low down on how to build a hinge mortising jig and a unique router table sled that holds narrow workpieces firmly while routing across end grain.

Check out the Woodsmith Podcast Store for more deals on router bits and the seminar guide.