New Testingstan

So, I'm coating the trestle with polyurethane and realize that I have some shellac that I want to learn to use/test on some wood scraps, which I've started doing with some red oak, white pine and yellow pine.

Then I remember that I have a nice, wide piece of white oak that I bought for making some bookstands like that one I built out of pine a little while back that has a ragged edge on it. So I get it out and cut off a couple of pieces from the end with said edge using my hand saws.

I realized the following:
-Sawing by hand like that kicks my ass
-I really fucking need to sharpen my big saws
-I really need my back-ordered saw vise to get here so I can do the sharpening.

By the way, I'll post some pics of the shellac samples when I'm done, plus the trestle and bench when I'm done.

Shellac samples, as promised:

Red oak with amber shellac. The sample piece on top has black paste wax on it (and looks gorgeous, I think).


White pine on top and yellow pine on bottom. It's not a very good picture, but I think it looks pretty good. I'm planning on making a new Japanese style toolbox to give to my sister for Christmas as a sort of art chest and I may do it out of white pine with shellac finish now.


I don't think this is as nice looking as on the red oak. I think I may have to try a few different things to find something I like on white oak.

I'm planning on getting garnet shellac (which is darker) sometime later this month and I'll give that a try. I think the darker color will work better so, we'll see.

Table is done.





I suppose I should finish the benches that go with it, but I'm sick of painting right now, so I'm going to work on other things. Like my sister's Christmas present or some of those bookstands or practicing dovetails, sawing and hand planing.

Got tired of looking at the Japanese-style toolchest that I had made to put my woodworking books in. Not because I had anything against it, so much as I was just tired of looking at the bare wood.

So I shellacked it:










I bought a can of Bullseye Amber Shellac from Home Depot and thinned 1:1 with denatured alcohol, then just brushed it on; three coats. Then Howard's Citrus Shield paste wax over it.

Forgot to post these yesterday. My first attempts at houndstooth dovetails. They're terrible. Sloppy and poorly fit.





But I can't do a better job until I sharpen my dovetail saw.

Which I can't do until I get a saw vise.

Which I've purchased.

But is backordered.

Otherwise, I have the file and file guide to sharpen it back up. Even have a DVD from an expert on sharpening saws. But I still need that damn vise!

The Spartan wrote:But I still need that damn vise!

Not no more!

I'm working on mounting it to a plywood frame that I can clamp to my bench, then I just need my DVD on how to sharpen (which is still backordered! ) and I'm golden.

Mounted to a plywood frame and then clamped to my bench to illustrate the use:


Unfortunately, the DVD on how to actually do the sharpening is backordered as well.

I mean, I understand the idea, but inevitably there will be some little thing that I don't know that will just about ruin the whole thing if I'm not made aware of it.

Vanilla Ginger Perry is in the bottle:

Two weeks and I can test it to see if it turned out.

Also, the first batch of Holiday Cheer of 2013 turned out:

Winter got you down? Feeling bummed about the long nights and cold? Pour yourself a nice glass of Holiday Cheer!

It's darker than normal, but still delicious. I think I used the wrong kind of chocolate malt. Oh well!

Roubo bookstand Mk3:



You probably can't tell from the pictures, but I already managed to screw it up.

Negatives:
1) I cut the wrong side and now, if I finish it, it'll fall apart. Oops.
2) My sawing still needs work. Part of my difficulty came from the fact that the resawing tended to wander (sawing through the width).

Positives:
1) For the first two attempts I used a utility knife to cut the slots between the knuckles. This time around I used a piece of hack saw in a pad saw handle like Roy Underhill did in the video I saw. Much easier.
2) On those first two attempts, I also used a guide to keep my chisel at the right angle. It was a pain in the ass, and midway through this attempt, I stopped and started using just my Mk1 eyeball. Much easier. So I learned that, at least for 45-degree angles, that I don't really need to bother with a guide.

Vanilla Ginger Perry:


Except that I can taste neither the vanilla nor the ginger...

Still, it's tasty.

Roubo MkIV.

Having some problems with the poplar. I don't know if it's my technique or the saw I'm using or the wood or what, but my cuts across the width are ending up curved. So much that I had to plane the flat bit at the top in the picture.

Unfortunately it's happening again as I cut towards the joint and I won't be able to plane in there. Plus that will screw up the working of the joint.

Not sure what the solution is right now, but, then, that's why I'm practicing before I move on to the really nice pieces of wood.

Holiday Cheer 2013 MkII


It's still darker than it should be, but, because I used the correct grains, the flavor is right on.

Which is to say it's like a ginger cookie that's a beer.

And oh so delicious!

Making a cutting board for my Dad's Christmas present:

Some of the individual pieces.


Glue up of some of the other pieces.


A completed sub section.

In the end it'll be 18"x24" and about an inch and a half thick. Actually a little thinner than that once I get it sanded. (~45.7cm x 61cm x 3.8cm)

Glue up complete:
'

Next step is to trim the ends, sand it all flat and run the edges across the router table to round them off so they're not so sharp.

Then I'll drench it in mineral oil and rub it down with a mineral oil/beeswax blend

Cutting board sanded flat:



I sanded it flat with a belt sander and then smoothed it out with a random orbit. There's still some sanding marks to smooth out (which you can see in the pics) and I still need to trim the ends. Which I plan on doing tomorrow.

The sanding just wore my ass out.

And let me just add that I really need a lunchbox planer. Trying to flatten this shit with a sander is for the birds.

Japanese Tool Chest! (yes, another one)

This is a Christmas gift for my sister. She has a degree in art and my thinking with this is that it'll serves as a art chest for her. The difference between this and the others I've made is that this one has "features". I added an external drawer and an inner tray. There's also a piece that fits on top of the tray to serve as a lid that can also be used (optionally) as a sort of paint palette.

I do need to do some clean up, but it's basically done now.

The chest:


The drawer:


Lid removed:

(You can also see some of the clean up I need to do here. Glue residue left over from gluing up some of the pieces.)

Tray lid removed:


Tray removed:

This is a skill I'd love to have

So would I!

Joking aside, we all know the old carpenter's adage of "Measure twice, cut once" (Which used to be measure thrice). Well, with me it sometimes seems like it's more "Measure six times, cut once, throw piece out because you cut it too short, measure again, cut once, realize the piece is still too long and cut again. Then realize that it's exactly the right dimensions, EXCEPT, that it's not quite square so throw it out and start over. Finally get it right."

I'm exaggerating more than a bit, but there a few times when I was making cuts for that box I just posted where the piece was wrong even though I was really careful because I need to build a new, more sturdy cross cut sled or because I didn't account for the size of the kerf correctly or because a stop block slipped imperceptibly while I was clamping it down or because the gremlins were fucking with me, etc.

It's strange. Most of the time I find this to be very rewarding. But every now and then...

Though I should also hasten to add that it's not nearly as bad as when I was trying to do all this with a circular saw. Back then it seemed like every other cut made me want to throw the saw through the garage door when it was still shut.

I've not posted food in a while even though I've been making a bunch of stuff for gifts.


In that picture is a batch of strawberry jam, raspberry jam, blueberry jam and apple butter, all of which have been spiced and a batch of ginger cherry butter.

Cutting board soaking in mineral oil:


Once it's absorbed as much as it will take I'll wipe the excess off the exterior and make up a mix of mineral oil and beeswax to polish it with. Then I'll add small bumper feet to the underside.

Oooooooo

Gifts I gave for Christmas:
You've seen the "Art Chest" and the incomplete cutting board, so here's the finished product:

You obviously can't seen them but there's little rubber feet on the bottom so that it doesn't slide around or scratch anything.

Some raspberry jam that I gave my mom because she mentioned that she missed the raspberry jam she'd get as a kid, though, I added my own twist by putting in some fresh ground cinnamon.


And, because I felt like I was short changing her, here's a clipboard I made her:

It's made from cherry, walnut, maple and bloodwood (aka satine).

that is some sexy, sexy wood working

Thanks!

Just wait till I start doing geometric patterns with the cutting boards. Adding 3D-like effects is something I want to start practicing now that I have a small store of hardwood strips left over from making the cutting board and clipboard.