a horse of a different colour

I've been able to enjoy another great day of woodworking with Steven Der Garabedian (Black Walnut Studio) as he lead a class at the Lee Valley Tools Toronto west location.

The subject was a James Krenov style saw horse, similar to this one (from the Lumberjocks forum):

The material we used was straight-grained ash that Steve had picked up at A&M Wood in Cambridge. Steve pre-milled the rough stock to size to allow us to concentrate on the joinery.

My goal in taking these courses is to learn better techniques while getting feedback during the process from someone who actually makes a living with this knowledge.

This project exposes the novice to a drawbored blind mortise-and-tenon at the leg-to-foot joint, a wedged through mortise-and-tenon at the lower stretcher-to-leg joint, and a simple lap at the top rail-to-leg joint. The top rail itself is retained with two screws, as this piece may eventually have to be replaced due to wear or damage over time.

I used a striking knife instead of a pencil for marking-out the tenon shoulders to ensure crisp edges. Nicely sharpened chisels were available in class to deal with the lap joint notches in the hard ash. Shoulder planes were used to clean up the tenons for a light press fit in the mortises.

I did make one mistake during my layout of the top rail's lap joint (D'oh!), but it won't prevent me from finishing the project to my satisfaction. I can turn the error into a visual feature with little effort.

Of course, I need a second sawhorse to make a pair -

or I could just apply a light finish and use it as a quilt rack...

woody wins

Thanks to my penchant for digging through piles of mouldering, tool-shaped objects, I've recently met up with a fantastically talented artisan names Nigel who restores and makes his own wooden hand planes of all varieties. I was able to visit his shop and learn a pile of cool info that would have been hard-won through mere reading. Together, we attended an antique tool show in Pickering (the next one is in November) where I was coached in obtaining a number of hollow & round planes for making a range of mouldings. I also scored some necessary bits and pieces to repair tools that I've already collected. We are going to stay in touch as I move along in this fascinating hobby.

With respect to the digging itself, I found some treats.

(clockwise from lower left) A 1/8" side-bead moulding plane, a Stanley #4 with a very heavy bed casting, a 30 degree ovolo moulding plane, a Stanley #78 duplex rabbet plane, and a mill file clamp used when sharpening hand saws. A fence and rod for the 78 were located at the vintage tool show mentioned above.

Recently, Lee Valley Tools held a series of day-long demos on joinery. I was able to make it to their Toronto West location and speak at length with woodworker John Giancola about how he approaches various tasks. During our lengthy discussion, he recommended two books - one on dovetails by Ian Kirby, and the other on a complete course of hand tool instruction by Paul Sellers. I was lucky to obtain both, although the latter of the two was the last copy (the heavily guarded display copy) in the store. Amongst many other tidbits, John stressed:

• cut the mortises first; it's easier to fit the tenon to the existing mortise
• aim for a tenon between 30-40% of the thickness of a typical joint
• divide tenons larger than ~4" into two, but retain the haunch

John also offered advice on how to adjust my rigid-frame coping saw to increase blade tension, and on upgrading some of the irons in my older, metal-bodied planes. It's great that Lee Valley offers this sort of unstructured event for Q&A.

a measure of treasure

About a month ago I found a (fairly) local tool dealer known as Grandpa's Treasure Chest. Owner Larry Darbyson has been keeping his eyes open for a full set of Irwin auger bits for me.

Earlier this week Larry dropped me a note saying he'd found a likely candidate. I made the time to take a trip out to meet him in person and it was one of the most pleasant visits I've had in quite a while.

Larry received me in his cozy workshop. For nearly two and a half hours we poked and prodded through stacks of vintage saws, bits, planes, chisels and other necessities of life. Too many choices, too much to consider! But, in the end, I found myself in possession of a solid Stanley #7 jointer plane, a 24"x4" steel backed Disston mitre saw, and 12/13ths of a set of Irwin bits in a neat wooden case (sans the 15/16ths size). Additionally, Larry was able to provide a fluted countersink for my brace, plus both 1-1/8" and 1-1/4" augers and a Miller's Falls #47 expansion bit.

Frankly, it was a real treat and a morning I won't soon forget. Larry is doing a stellar job of keeping these valuable devices of the past out of the scrap heap and in the hands of woodworking enthusiasts. I'm already looking forward to future opportunities to interact and converse with Larry.

boxed in

I was able to kill two birds with one stone recently by combining wood working with model railroading; but not building a piece of rolling stock or a structure, or even the benchwork supporting the track.

Just knocking together a couple of boxes...

My friend Trevor Marshall wanted to add the use of waybills to the operating sessions on his S scale "Port Rowan" layout. Many operations-oriented modellers use cut-down representations of prototypical railroad forms - often stuck in little Masonite pockets on the front of their layout fascia. Trevor, however, didn't want to adopt this methodology. He was after something more realistic in appearance to hold his paperwork.

After evaluating several pictures of real waybill boxes, he eventually stated a preference for the Southern Pacific style. Based on the visual aesthetic, I had to agree.

 one basic shell and the start of the second

The real boxes are made of plywood and are quite tall, but the Port Rowan layout fascia would not allow a full sized box to be attached without intruding into the scene. I scaled down the box while trying to retain the functionality.

I needed to reduce the size of the materials to effectively reduce the size of box, but they still had to be robust. Sections of 1/2" and 1/4" poplar were used to create the box, with cast brass hinges & hasps from Lee Valley Tools replacing the (likely) zinc-plated steel hardware of the original.

heavy duty hardware

Brass #8 and #4 fasteners were obtained to attach the hardware; they really should all be slot-head to match the era. The hasp screws may yet get replaced if I can locate a handy source.

Overall dimensions are 2"d x 5-3/4"w x 8"h. A forward-tilting lid (not shown here) is 7"w x 3"d and 1/2" thick. The 1/4" thick front flap is taking on a bit of a bow in an obvious effort to "weather itself".

You can see the prototype inspiration at Tony Thompson's SP blog entry about their own waybill boxes. Trevor has already created a blog post about the installation of these two items on his layout, with links to (much better) pictures of the finished product.

gathering up

I've located and/or obtained a few more items in my quest to fill out a primarily hand-tool workshop.

Last week's trip to a flea market yielded a motley collection of spiral auger bits (from various manufacturers) for my braces. I had to paw through the dimly lit and rusty piles of tool-shaped objects to locate the most promising ones. My plan so far is to try to de-rust them using electrolysis, then sharpen and polish as required. I doubt the full range of diameters is represented, but I still have an iron in the fire for a complete set of Irwin or Jennings bits.

Today's antique market visit yielded a #4 Stanley "Handyman" H1204 plane - but not for me this time. With a little rehab work it should meet the needs of my brother-in-law for his recent woodworking interests. The Handyman line was a little on the light side in terms of construction, but can still be made functional. Should he reject it, I can easily turn it into a scrub plane for my own meager efforts.

While perusing a garage sale last month, a friend of mine grabbed three drawknives he thought I might be interested in (yes, I have great friends). Two of them are in excellent condition, merely requiring sharpening. The third is a little wonky in its handle-to-handle alignment, leading me to believe it was run over at some point - it may yet be made useable, though.

I'll be very interested to try the Lee Valley froe that I picked up last week. An old maple tree on our property had to be cut down before it fell down of its own accord. I've kept the majority of the wood from the trunk; the sections may or may not prove workable at this point. A couple of old wooden baseball bats will stand in as mallets until I can fabricate a proper whacking stick for the job.

Between the drawknifes, the froe and the various bench planes I already have, I anticipate being able to extract some usable lumber from short sections of tree trunks. This could turn out to be well beyond my capabilities, but I am sufficiently interested to give it a try. I can't see simply burning the entire maple that grew for 50+ years on our property without trying to capture something permanent from it's carcass. There are a number of other possible sources of stock in my area that could yield enough material for boxes, small cabinets, and basic furniture components. Given the price of good wood at the retail level, I think it deserves an attempt on my part.

Still outstanding on the list of desired items are a shoulder plane for cleaning up dadoes & tenons, and a #7 or #8 jointer/try plane for dealing with the long edges of boards for glue-ups; there's not much else I can think of that can't be made in-house. Sure I'd love a full set of chisels, some sash & panel-raising planes, and an infill smoother but these are all going to have to wait.

There is still a good deal of work ahead of me in cleaning up and tuning the vintage items I have already gathered. In an oddly comforting way, I'm really looking forward to the process. I'd better start thinking about a proper tool chest to put them all in!

to buy or not to buy

Yesterday I visited A&M Wood Specialty (again). They were celebrating their 40th anniversary with an open house event. Lie-Nielsen Tools were there, as well as a luthier, Sauer & Steiner Toolworks, and Steve Der-Garabedian, the instructor who has taught me a lot about working with wood recently.

Sauer & Steiner make some of the most beautiful infill planes I have ever seen, but their cost is well outside my range. I didn't think anything but a scraper could take shavings as fine as I was able to make with their planes.

Had a good chat with Steve about the processes and equipment necessary for veneering using a vacuum system. He pointed me to Joe Woodworker's site for the relevant info on making your own vacuum rig. Lots of other great info there as well.

Despite the generous offers on shipping & brokerage, I did not make any purchases from Lie-Nielsen. Their staff gave great demos of many plane types and various techniques. They also took the time to describe why you would use certain blades and differing frog angles to work different woods.

Oddly enough, I have (almost) enough tools for what I want to do. I know, it sounds very unlikely but it is true. Trying to work primarily with hand tools does impose some limits on what you will buy. You can go wild accessorising a table saw, but there's just not much to add to a 7 tpi panel saw filed for ripping.

I am, of course, still looking for a few items - such as a #7 jointer plane, 3/4" shoulder plane, crosscut carcass saw and a full set of auger bits. The only critical one is the carcass saw at the moment. I will try to resurrect a small, fine pitch "toolbox" saw and give it a shot, but I fear that the lack of an integral spine will create some problems achieving the accuracy I am after.

I ended up purchasing nothing at all; not even more wood for projects. This time it was the knowledge that was of the most value.

wooden it be nice

Made a trip to A&M Wood Specialty last week. Wow.

I had gone there looking for white oak to replace the seat slats of a park bench left behind by the previous home owners. The bench is mostly heavy metal castings (iron?) but the seats themselves are still wood. It deserves to be saved; maybe next year I'll have it media-blasted and properly painted.

When he was free (it's a busy place), I spoke to Jerry - who talked me into a couple of slabs of Iroko instead. The wood came out of their thickness planer looking very nice indeed; almost too nice to sit on. According to what I've read, it won't require a protective finish when used outdoors. In addition, apparently, Iroko trees are inhabited by malevolent spirits who can drive people mad and cause them to die suddenly. Not the sort of thing that comes up in a typical "suitable applications for wood" conversation, though.

These will have to be ripped to width, cut to finished length and have the edges eased all 'round. I found a 10" Freud ripping blade on sale for $36 to replace the abused finishing blade that came with my used DeWALT contractor's saw. Come to think of it, the saw itself has been slightly abused; nothing irreparable however.

I'll pick up some stainless fasteners for the job. Yeah, they are a bit more expensive, but this stuff will be sitting outside for the rest of its life.

just plane tired

It has been a long time between posts (again), I'm afraid. Not that things haven't been happening; simply too much going on to allow a decent pause for reflection. However, I just took a bit of a break. So why am I tired?

Learning stuff.

Cramming more info into my brain can quickly wear me out, but I still find it enjoyable. This weekend I was fortunate to be able to attend a seminar at Lee Valley Tools (King St. location) with instructor Steve Der-Garabedian from Black Walnut Studio and fellow student Trevor Marshall. We were building wooden-bodied hand planes in the James Krenov style.

Trevor took a quick pic of me during the class (pic at right). I'm noting the manufacturer of an adjusting hammer that Steve had on display. It's from Glen-Drake Toolworks. Steve is in the background at the right.

Steve was the instructor who taught Trevor and me how to make a traditional 12" bow saw earlier this year; another positive experience. Steve is a personable and patient teacher with a great attitude towards working with wood. I'm already looking forward to the next chance to learn from him.

This style of plane is constructed of two sides, a rear block, a front block, a cross-pin and a wedge all made from the same chunk of wood. The blank is sawn, jointed, thicknessed and re-assembled in its original orientation to preserve the contiguous look of the material's grain after being carefully glued up. There are other plane-making methods that involve keeping the solid shape intact throughout the work but I believe they are less forgiving of the newcomer.

The entire project was fairly operations intensive. We ended up using the table saw, jointer, thickness planer, and bandsaw to form the block of dense Jatoba wood into the necessary shapes to create the final assembly. Yes, all of these dimensioning steps could be done using only hand tools (but certainly not in the time available) however at our current skill level we probably would have generated much more waste and delays due to inevitable errors. Tweaking the machine-made cuts was done with block planes, chisels and cabinet scrapers. While the slope where the blade would bed against could probably range anywhere from 41 to 49°, it was critical to get the relationship between the side of the plane and this bedding face as close to 90° as possible, otherwise the blade would be skewed in the mouth opening.

Ensuring all of the shaping tasks were done accurately and getting all the bits back together in the correct alignment was a bit nerve wracking. Once it's glued up, any gross errors will likely mean having to start over from the beginning - while small mistakes could be recovered from with copious assistance from our instructor.

A thick, heavy blade and cap iron made by Ron Hock was set in place to permit final treatment (under working stresses) of the sole on fine sandpaper & a very very (very) flat surface (granite plate, float glass, or cast-iron jointer bed). BTW, Ron also sells plans for various Krenov planes at his website.

The most fiddly step was properly setting the mouth opening where the blade would eventually pass through. You have to plan for at least one pass over the jointer and a few passes over the fine sandpaper once the gluing is done and the clamps are released. If you under (or over) estimate the finished size of this opening, you can shorten the working life of the plane or leave yourself a lot of extra work to make it operational. In the end, some careful work with a safe-edged file, a precision square, and a lot of squinting produced the properly proportioned mouth for the blade.

Steve always emphasises that we should proceed slowly & carefully and ask questions at any time we were uncertain how to move ahead. This measured pace of progress is a refreshing change for me. This pastime definitely has a lot to teach people about patience and perseverance.

This course was intended to make a 'smoothing' plane, which takes the last fine shavings off of a workpiece to bring it to a final, almost polished finish. This level of workmanship is a lot to ask of newcomers, but I think we actually succeeded. I was able to take fine passes over a block of maple and remove just the thinnest wisps of material. Very gratifying!

I still have more work to do to refine the shape of the plane body. Steve recommends working with it for a while to see how it feels in use; i.e. which corners dig into your palm or finger, etc. Saws, rasps, spokeshaves, and sandpaper will no doubt be applied to the body to render it a more pleasing form. I couldn't resist bandsawing off the alignment pins at the extreme ends of the glued-up block and performing a bit of preliminary rounding on the stationary sander before I left the class, though...

Alas, I took no pics of the actual event - I was too busy being absorbed by the work :-) but I did take a couple of pics a few minutes ago. Here is what the plane looks like today....

Note the fine, lacy shavings taken from the maple block.

Wooden bodied planes are adjusted by hitting the body of the plane with a hammer. Hard in the centre of the back face to draw the blade upwards (reduce depth of cut) and gently at the top edge of the blade itself to push it down (increase depth of cut). To adjust the blade left and right, an even more gentle tap with the hammer on the respective side of the blade. After each adjustment, the wedge is tapped down to ensure the blade doesn't get pushed back up into the body during a cut. A bit of paraffin wax can be lightly rubbed on the sole to smooth the action.

I'll have to get used to the idea that this plane will alter with time, temperature, and humidity. It may work fine today but not next week as it 'moves' due to changes in the environment and its own wear pattern. Lots to learn, lots to remember, and lots to practise.

stories & treasures

Tools are funny things; especially old tools. Looking at, and handling, an old tool tells you a story. Every mark on each tool is part of the (mis)adventure of the tool's - and its owner's - life. Last year I came into possession of some tools from a deceased relative. At the time, they were appreciated as being kept in the family and carefully set aside as 'maybe I can use these one day' items. This year, the wood bug bit hard and I went digging into my past; I am now very glad that I did.

First out of the box was my grandfather's Bailey #4 (casting date 1910). The tote needs to be fixed, but it is otherwise in good condition. I remember him using it to plane down the edge of a sticking door. I can also recall his oilstone with a gouge down the centre that he could never quite get rid of; but he managed to sharpen tools with it anyway. This should make a nice scrub plane, and I can be reminded of him every time I use it.

Next up was a #5 Bailey in great condition. Now I have a pair! These will each get differently ground irons for different jobs. The #5 is long enough to true up the edge of a fairly long board, but it also serves admirably in flattening boards across their width.

Another great find was a Stanley 9-1/2 block plane with adjustable mouth. It needs a little squaring up of the moving part but is otherwise serviceable. I should be able to correct this once I get the machine tools going in the shop.

Six medium sized turning tools; skew, v, parting, and gouges. I don't (yet) own a wood lathe, but I suppose a treadle or spring-pole lathe project would be a fun undertaking :-) .

A large Yankee screwdriver. The twist-lock for the extensible shaft needs to be repaired but otherwise it seems to work just fine. The most common bit (back in the day) was for slot head screws and I simply dislike using this type for all but decorative applications. But, thanks to some retro-futurist, hex-bit adapters are now available to allow the use of any modern, 1/4" shank bit. Hurrah!

A Stanley #151 adjustable spokeshave. I've already cleaned up the sole on this and had a go at one of the many pine scraps. The iron is still sharp and takes a nice, controllable cut thanks to the thoughtfully shaped handle castings.

A Stanley #80 scraper with the 'sweetheart' logo. This has a crusty, rusty sole but is otherwise solid. And I couldn't help but notice that the edge of the blade is still very, very sharp. Very.

** Lee Valley sells replacement blades and irons for many vintage cutting tools **

An 8" throw, Stanley "Victor" #965 drill brace with the 'sweetheart' logo. A little oiling of the moving parts and it now turns just as well as the day it came from the factory.

7 auger bits in a terrible state. It's doubtful that I can save more than 2 of them. Sad, really.

A pair of 10", German made tin snips. I haven't tried cutting anything with these yet, but the 'ess' curves of the forged handles are visually appealing in a way that modern stuff mostly isn't.

A brass-and-wood sliding T-bevel. This needs a good clean-up and testing for straightness of the stock and blade. Nicely made and has a smaller form-factor than my own T-bevel.

All of the tools are nicked, scratched, scuffed, and otherwise show signs of use, wear, and care. Some of them have been around for 100 years, now. Still useful, still appreciated, still capable of doing good work. I'm going to clean them up, resharpen the cutting edges, and replace any broken or damaged components as best I can. Then they will be employed in my own projects and on various tasks for my friends, writing yet more chapters in their long stories. Maybe they'll be around for another 100 years...

slowly I turned...

step by step, inch by inch...

Nope. neither the Stooges nor Abbott & Costello are doing their respective Niagara Falls bit within my blog. However, Millers Falls once again appears in the story. I picked up one of their fine router planes at that same antique market, along with a mint condition Eclipse saw set. On the way back I noted a 60's vintage Rockwell-Beaver 4" jointer sitting roadside with appropriate signage and, after a short chat with the seller, loaded this find into the back of the vehicle to also take up residence in the (already) crowded house. Solid castings, sharp blades, and a small footprint. What am I thinking of using it for? Making wooden planes, of course...

Missing from the 'ideal equipment' list is a vertical bandsaw, a set of auger bits for the brace, various types of chisels (mortise & paring, at least), plus a solid workbench to undertake the projects upon. Otherwise I believe I am well & truly outfitted with tools, if not quite the energy or time to use them.

Making space for all this is key. Progress on that front has been made, and continues to grind slowly onward to the goal of empty cubic feet. Look for 'For Sale' notices covering a variety of tools, books, models. and so forth in the near future.

salvage central

After work yesterday I was wandering a local hamlet's antique market after sampling the wares at their quaint little bakery (excellent date squares, if you must know). Lo and behold a there was a Stanley/Bailey #5 fore plane with "Made in Canada" in the top of the casting. In another overflowing room, a pristine Millers Falls ratcheting brace was revealed in a pile of lesser quality fare. Everything was 20% off the marked price, so I grabbed these two items forthwith.

The base of the plane has been slightly (and foolishly) abused, but should be easily repaired with a little careful work. It's equipped with a square-ground iron which I will regrind and sharpen to an 8" radius. The brace only needed some small streaks of ancient, pale green paint cleaned off the handle; both chuck and ratchet teeth are in really fantastic condition.

beady little I

An attempt at a length of moulded edge using the Stanley 55. A short, warped piece of pine proved to be the first victim. 1/4" bead along the bottom edge and 3/8" bead along the top edge (to different depths) leaving a shadowy step in the middle.

Immediately, I can see the need for a proper length & height planing bench with better stops & clamps (sorry, trusty old Workmate). However - since I have still not sharpened or cleaned anything, nor deployed the slitting cutters ahead of the irons, I am mightily pleased. A tiny bit of tearout was quickly dealt with using the impressive Lee Valley spokeshave.

I can easily imagine a bedside table with a similar edge on its top...

ploughing ahead

I now have (most of) a Stanley #55 universal plane. Thanks to favourable planetary alignments I was able to obtain this plane for my own use and am looking forward to tackling various projects.

I said "most of" as the plane is not quite complete. There are more than enough components to perform various rabbet, dado, and beading functions - which should see me well along the learning curve. Careful browsing of eBay and various antique tool vendors should eventually garner the rest of the parts, opening up even more capabilities. It did come complete with 17 brand new cutters from Record Tools in England, so I won't be scrabbling around looking for irons just to get started.

This particular tool is, by many accounts, a notoriously difficult piece of equipment to coax into its best behaviour. However, within 1/2 hour of receipt and only cursory inspection of the instructions, I was ploughing a precise 1/4" groove along the edge of pine board to a fixed depth. I won't say it was effortless, but it certainly wasn't the torturous journey some people would have you believe. That said, I can already see that setting up multiple cutters in succession to create a complicated bit of casing or crown will be a matter of patience & perseverance.

I am not surprised that a tool in excess of 100 years old (if I read the markings on this example correctly) remains able to continue its work in the manner it began. Not much can be expected in the way of longevity for most offerings in the trade today. I am extremely pleased to be able to accompany this tool into its second century of useful output (and it will likely outlast me). A little cleaning and sharpening is all that is required to allow me to undertake some further experiments. My expectations are high.