Mini Groove

Here's one way to make a 3/32" groove for a very tiny box lid and bottom.

I decided to build a box for the reference ruler, but working with 3/16" material can be a challenge, unless you're a miniaturist.

Since I learned to make scratch stock, it's become the solution on a number of occasions.

One benefit to using scratch stock is you can make profiles that do not exist in router bits. Or, if they do exist, they risk tearing out the wood on such a delicate project. With scratch stock, you can work in both directions, so you are always working with the grain; you can work slowly; you won't burn the wood, as is the case sometimes with router bits; and you can cut multiple profiles on the same blank by utilizing each corner.

For blanks, I use old band saw blades I picked up—for free—from a lumber yard that was throwing them out.

With a tiny profile like this, it was easier to use the edge of a file as a saw rather than a hacksaw to create the 3/32" wide tooth needed to rout the groove. You can use layout fluid to mark your shape, but a pen worked fine in this case.

Once the profile was filed, I honed the shape flat on all surfaces with waterstones. You need very sharp edges for scratch stock to work well.

It took about an hour to make the cutter, but routing a groove takes only minutes.

Reference Ruler

I've always liked Stephen Shepherd's wooden reference ruler he places in his photographs so that readers have a sense of scale. So I decided to make my own out of cherry and bloodwood.

You can cut the 1" pieces by hand, but I used a crosscut sled on my table saw* along with some scrap pieces—one used as a stop block and one to protect my fingers.

The jig I had built to make some picture frames worked well at keeping the pieces square during clamping. A sheet of wax paper between the jig and the workpieces kept the two from being glued together.

The ruler is thick enough to stand vertically without toppling over but thin enough to be positioned relatively close to the object I'm shooting.

After glue up, I handplaned the ruler smooth using my favorite jig.

Cherry and bloodwood when first planed are contrasting in color, but over time, if left in sunlight, will both turn a dark reddish brown. That diminishes the effectiveness of the ruler if you can't see the line of demarcation between each inch.

So, I plan to build a special little box for it.

I just hope my metal rulers don't get jealous.

*Be sure to use the blade guards and safety features that come with your power equipment.

Wish I Had A Plow Plane

The sawbuck table I'm reproducing has a drawer with runners that slide within dadoes that are cut into the sliding dovetailed stretchers.

I wasn't able to tell from the photo of the original sawbuck how the runners were applied to sides of the drawer and I wanted to try to be as true to the original as possible.

Roy Underhill brought his workbench to the WIA Conference and as luck would have it, a little drawer was to be found beneath the work surface like the one on the sawbuck table (Roy's bench, top photo). I figure that Roy's drawer runners are historically accurate, so I'll make mine the same.

I laid out the dadoes with a marking gauge and had planned to cut them with a router plane as I've done before, but as a seeker of variety, I wanted another option.

"Sure wish I had a plow plane."*

Then I remembered a tool I had bought at a farm auction for $25 about 15 years ago that I had never used. When I bought it I had no idea how to fix it up or sharpen the blades, but it was a cool-looking tool at a cheap price so it followed me home. And lucky for me the guys at the auction were more interested in plows than in plow planes.

I found out later that it's a Sargent Combination Plane—a cheaper version of the Stanley Combination Plane. There are 21 cutters with different profiles, including ones used to cut dadoes. For more information on combination planes, check out the Cornish Workshop, here and here.

The plane and cutters need to be cleaned of dirt and superficial rust, but I took it for a test run nonetheless and it worked very well. Some of the cutters look as though they've never been used.



*I wonder if I wish for a Lie-Nielsen jointer plane I'll suddenly remember that I have one!

Woodturning is Like Softball

I played third base in fastpitch softball for 26 years.

During that time, I snagged line drives that were travelling so fast, bystanders were looking in the outfield to see where the ball had landed, not realizing it had been caught.

I hit pitches that were screaming toward me at 85 mph from only 40 feet away. I dove for grounders, slid headfirst into bases, and was bloody most every game.

People thought I was fearless.

And then came the game when both of our catchers were sick. I was asked to fill in. No prob, right? Wrong. I gained new respect for catchers that day.

When a batter swings a lethal weapon in front of your face as a ball the size of a grapefruit is careening toward your head, you'd better have nerves of steel. Or be wearing adult diapers.

But because there were onlookers and because I would never let my team down, I hung in there and didn't embarrass myself, but I sure was glad when the game was over.

As a newbie turner with very few hours of lathework under my belt, I had never had a mishap.....until a few days ago. The gouge I was using snagged the wood and the workpiece snapped in two and came flying toward my face (I was wearing a mask). It missed, but my nerves were shot.

I'm back at the lathe today but pretty jumpy. What should take a half an hour to turn is taking hours.

The lathe has made a girl out of me.

Maybe if I had onlookers or better yet, catcher's equipment, I'd at least be able to fake fearlessness.

Or maybe I should just buy some Depends.

Friday Fun with Roy

Here are some photos of Roy Underhill (man of a thousand expressions) on set in the Woodwright's Shop and on a roadtrip to Berea, where he visited Don Weber and Warren May.

In the first few images, the men with Roy, Marcus Hansen and Ed Wright, both of whom are finish carpenters at Colonial Williamsburg, are using a fancy ellipse machine. To see one in use, check out Stephen Shepherds's video and read about it here.
















In mid-September, Roy visited Don Weber's shop where he got a first hand look at Don's reproduction 12th c. Viking chest (at left). You can read more about it on Mitch Roberson's blog.

Warren's May's shop is the last photo, where Roy is examining Warren's dulcimers.

Enjoy!













Photos are presented with kind permission from the Woodwright's Shop's cameraman & photographer, Mike Oniffrey.

Workshop Bling

We spend so much time in our shops....might as well make them pretty!

The wagon maker sign is from an antique store in Asheville, NC
and the newest shop accessory is from Highland Hardware.

Fort Hunter

In a nearly insurmountable effort to distance ourselves from the sugar-laden Thanksgiving day leftovers (namely apple and cherry pies), we decided to tour the grounds and mansion at Fort Hunter.

This fertile land nestled between Blue Mountain and the Susquehanna River was originally occupied by the Susquehannock and Lenape Indian tribes.

In the 18th c., British settlers built a chain of forts throughout Pennsylvania, among which Fort Hunter, built in 1755 to protect settlers from Indian attacks, was centrally located.

In 1787, the land was purchased by Captain Archibald McAllister, who served under General George Washington during the Revolutionary War and who built the Tavern House (photo 3), Stone Stables (photo 4), Mansion House (photo 5), and other outbuildings on the plantation.

From 1788 through 1807, Archibald distilled alcohol and ran the tavern at Fort Hunter (among other businesses, including a sawmill), where travelers could stay for a night or two. The stable was constructed in "an unusual English drive-through form."

His son, Captain John McAllister bought the estate in 1833 and sold it to Daniel Dick Boas in 1870, who owned a saw and planing mill, for use as a gentleman's farm and summer home.

Boas built a traditional Pennsylvania German bank barn (photos 1 & 2), but with elaborate Gothic Revival details, for use as a dairy barn.

The property passed to Boas' daughter Helen and her husband and later to Helen's niece, who helped turn the estate into a museum.







Most of the furniture in the mansion was Victorian era (which I find frightening*), but a few pieces were older.

A large secretary in the parlour that was built in 1790 with flame-figured walnut (I think), features fan designs in figured maple (I think).

A little box with very thin dovetails, measured about 10" tall and sat atop a dresser.

At the time the mansion became a museum, a medicine box was found to contain laudanum—an opium-based painkiller widely used in the Victorian period for many ailments in both children and adults. It was also used to quiet babies. And it was highly addictive.

In the spring kitchen, our tour guide displayed an ice saw, used to break up ice on the Susquehanna River.

There was also an enormous dollhouse in the mansion which totally creeped me out. And because creeped-outedness loves company, I'm sharing it with you.

After the tour, we returned home and I managed to stay away from the pies. But tomorrow's another day...which might mean another historic home tour.

























*My sincere apologies to those who love Victorian era furniture. But it reminds me of scary Vincent Price movies from my childhood.

Drawknives & Spokeshaves

Mike Dunbar's name is synonymous with Windsor chairmaking so it's no wonder that he taught the seminar at the WIA conference on Mastering the Drawknife & Spokeshave—two handtools that figure prominently in making Windsor chairs.

The drawknife is a workhorse meant to remove stock very quickly. Mike skewed the blade, starting at one end and sliced toward him to the other end of the blade, in quick action as he removed large pieces of wood from his workpiece. The drawknife is used flat-side-down and has handles that are slightly lower than the blade.

The bevel (or bezel), is curved, not flat, and definitely not concave (as in hollow grinding). Because of this, you sharpen the blade with a stone or with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a hardwood block (drawknives don't need to be as sharp as chisels and plane irons) and work along the entire surface of the bevel, not just the cutting edge, so you maintain the same angle. Mike didn't know the bevel angle (maybe 25º) but it is shown in the third photo.

Shaving horses are quaint, Mike said, but he prefers a bench vise. Vises allow you to work the entire way around a workpiece without removing and repositioning it and work with very long pieces.

Antique drawknives, according to Mike, are best prior to 1900, when manufacturers changed the shape of the bevel to either a flat or thumbnail shape. After 1900, he says, "Don't buy them." However, you can purchase new, correctly-shaped drawknives from Mike's website.

Conversely, spokeshaves are delicate creatures that are meant to be held lightly between your first two or three fingers and with thumbs directly behind the blade (on the push stroke). Mike uses spokeshaves from Dave's Shaves and Woodjoy, and suggests avoiding metal-bodied ones because they produce more chatter.

To sharpen, Mike laps the flat side first and then uses something like this , a rotating disc of tempered glass with adhesive 600 grit sandpaper applied to it, to sharpen the bevel.

Spokeshaves come in a variety of shapes—flat, curved, and small soles—and can be used on either the push or pull stroke. If you are experiencing a lot of chatter, check that your workpiece is secured tightly or check the wood structure. Wood with alternating tight and open grain can produce a washboard effect, so you need to skew the blade as you shave.

To work a concave shape, shave down into the valley from both sides and lift up as you reach the bottom of the cut.

Spokeshaves can be used to shape cabriole legs, or virtually any shape, and the facets can be removed with files or sandpaper.

Mike's advice is to "Play with the tools. Don't wait to get to know them while you're working on a project."

And my advice is "Any reason to play in your shop is a good one." So....thanks, Mike!

The information above is from notes I took at Mike Dunbar's seminar. I have never used drawknives. I do, however, use 3 metal-bodied spokeshaves (Lee Valley) that I like very well.