Finally, More Tool Storage

Well it was an absolutely beautiful weekend here in Anchorage.  Hot and sunny.  Eight PM and it’s still 80 degrees out.  Its shaping up to be one of the nicest summers in years, after the winter that wouldn’t end.  Sure was warm working in the shop though, and the mosquitos  are so bad, I had to keep the door closed!  Had a productive weekend anyway.

I finally finished  the auxiliary tool storage project I started about a year and a half ago.  Hey, I may be slow, but I do mediocre work!!  This little chest of drawers was designed to fit a spot under the end of the bench, and meant to be a skill building exercise for me.  It is my second dovetailed carcass and my first time making bracket feet.  All in all I learned a lot, especially in the area of flattening panels and thicknessing by hand.  I must say I’m glad its done though, and I really needed the extra tool storage.  The tools have been piling up everywhere.

It’s a simple clean design out of soft maple, probably big leaf, as I was told the lumber came from Oregon.  A couple of coats of dark garnet shellac and she is holding tools.

Thanks for looking.  Hope the weather was nice in your neck of the woods this weekend.

Removing a Spinning Saw Nut

Ever run across a stubborn saw nut that wont come off, because the whole thing spins?  Here is an almost surefire tip for removing it.  Drill a hole of a diameter larger than the nut in one jaw of a handscrew.  Clamp the handscrew on the offending nut, and the pressure will keep the bolt from turning, so you can remove the nut.  I wish I could take credit for this, but I picked this tip up some time ago from one the guys on Woodnet Forums.  It might have been Timberwolf, but I can’t remember.

The offender on my new to me Richardson Bros #7.

My specially modified Jorgy.

All you need is the proper sized screwdriver.

Speaking of properly sized screwdrivers, the saw nut driver made by Grace and sold by the The Best Things is really a fantastic tool.  It fits those old saw nut slots perfectly.

Grace saw nut driver from The Best Things

Thanks for looking, no go rehab that old handsaw you have been putting off!

Sometimes it Really is all About the Shavings

I work wood as a hobby and I work in ways that are enjoyable to me.  One thing that I really enjoy is planning end grain!  Your probably thinking I’m crazy, but I just love those thin end grain shavings you get from a sharp low angle block plane.  Never mind the nice smooth square end, I just like the shavings!

Soft maple

Thanks for looking, now go plane some end grain.  It can be quite therapeutic, unless your plane iron is dull!

Squaring up Drawers During Glueup

Like most folks, I measure diagonals to check square when gluing up a drawer or carcass.  I use a pinch rod made with the Lee Valley Veritas® Bar Gauge Heads.  Of   course you can make your own, but these work so well.  It always take me a bit of fiddling to get the drawer box square.  Rather than doing this while the glue is setting, I like to square up the box when I dry fit and set the pinch rod.  Then when I do the glue up, I just need to adjust opposite corners until the pinch rod fits nicely.

This one needed a clamp to keep the rear upper corner tight.

Thanks for looking!

Seven Drawer Bottoms

Seven 1/2″ drawer bottoms by hand.  Took me a while, but I learned a lot, and definitely improved my skills in flattening and thicknessing panels.  Got to play with my Roubo frame saw too.  More on that in a future post.

Drawers ready for glue up.

A-bit of re-sawing in 5/4 popular.

One of my better efforts!

I opted for a rabbet to get the 1/4″ tongues as it was much faster than a wide chamfer.

The waste from my labors!

Thanks for looking, now get out to the shop and do something that you enjoy!

I Gained Some Shop Space!

I work in a small shop so every square foot of floor space is valuable, and I just gained a couple more square feet.  I gave my table saw the boot!  Yup, I evicted it, banished it to the shed.  It’s just a small Bosch contractors saw on a folding stand so it never really took up much space, but I’m happy to have the extra room.

Not sure how I will utilize this small space yet.

I have been contemplating this move for some time now since I really don’t enjoy using it.  Back in January, I started keeping a log of how often I used it and for what.  Three times in 5 months on small pieces of plywood and MDF.  Well I can always pull it out of the shed if I really need it.

In the meantime, I’ll continue to work on my handsawing skills which is something I enjoy!!  As you know, its all about what you enjoy!

This is how I enjoy working.  This will be a drawer bottom.  Mark it, cut it, and plane to the line.

Thanks for looking.

WHY!!!

Why are flat head slotted wood screws are darn hard to find???  Home depot used to carry a half way decent selection, but not anymore.  Of course they were the crappy zinc plates ones, but a little toilet bowl cleaner will take care of the zinc.

Part of my stash of NOS slotted screws from the local Habitat for Humanity ReStore

Okay I’m done ranting.  Carry on!

Time to Turn the Heat on in the Shop Again

I was enjoying the cool spring weather and waiting on summer.  Did I fall asleep and miss it??  The grass isn’t green and the leaves aren’t out yet, heck there is still ice on some of the lakes!

Winter Weather Advisory

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ANCHORAGE AK
410 PM AKDT THU MAY 16 2013

...LATE WINTER STORM TO AFFECT AREAS SOUTHEAST OF THE ALASKA RANGE
FRIDAY EVENING THROUGH EARLY SATURDAY AFTERNOON...

COLD AIR FROM THE NORTH AND PLENTY OF MOISTURE FROM THE GULF OF
ALASKA WILL COMBINE OVER SOUTH CENTRAL ALASKA ON FRIDAY. THE
RESULT WILL BE WEATHER MORE TYPICAL OF WINTER...WITH SIGNIFICANT
SNOWFALL NEVER BEFORE SEEN THIS LATE IN THE SEASON.

ANCHORAGE-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...ANCHORAGE...EAGLE RIVER...INDIAN...
EKLUTNA 410 PM AKDT THU MAY 16 2013

...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW IN EFFECT FROM 7 PM FRIDAY TO
1 PM AKDT SATURDAY...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ANCHORAGE HAS ISSUED A WINTER
WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 7 PM FRIDAY TO 1
PM AKDT SATURDAY.

* SNOW...3 TO 6 INCHES WITH GREATEST AMOUNTS AT HIGHER ELEVATIONS

* TIMING...SNOW WILL BEGIN TO ACCUMULATE AFTER 7 PM FRIDAY AND
  TAPER OFF TO RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS EARLY SATURDAY AFTERNOON.

* IMPACTS...TRAVEL WILL BE DIFFICULT. VISIBILITIES MAY BE LIMITED
  IN HEAVY SNOWFALL.

Okay, I’m done whining now! Thanks for looking.

Old Tools are Where You Find Them – Part 2

If you have been reading my blog for a while you might recall my post about the old saw vise I found in Savoonga last winter.  Well I was back in Savoonga last week, and while waiting on a very slow FAX connection at the Savoonga Native Store, I wandered down the hardware isle and found this!

Not particularly old, but I sure didn’t expect to find NOS Yankee driver bits in Savoonga!  At $2.50 they came home with me.  Apparently Stanley still sells them in  a plastic pouch for $5.30.

Thanks for looking.

Wanna See My Drawers??????

Soft Maple and Popular.  These are for a small chest of drawers for tool storage.   I plan to use full extension drawer slides, hence the sides are dovetailed into a rabbet cut into the fronts.  Why dovetail the drawers if I’m using metal drawer slides you ask, because I need the practice!!   Still need to make bottoms and glue em up.

Thanks for looking!