Lathe Storage

Martha was at it again this past week and turned her attention to the mess beneath my lathe.

I'm fascinated with old tool chests that have sliding trays so I decided to build a simple plywood and pine version of one.

The two trays are sized so that they completely bypass one another which allows me to reach for a tool in either one at the same time. They are also removable and can sit on top of the box while the lathe is in use. Beneath these trays are three open bins.

I used spacer blocks in positioning the runners that support the trays to ensure that they ran parallel to one another.

Two handles were added to the top so the lid would slide without racking.

The handles themselves are a simple design made with a moulding plane and block plane. I first plowed a groove to create a track in which the moulding plane could more easily be navigated.

A rat tail file was used to produce the concave recess on the ends of the handles and a sandpaper-wrapped dowel was used to clean up the profile.

It's a super simple storage box, or if you think like my partner, a 19th c. coffin. That's what she says it looks like. meh.












On another note: sorry to have to use word verification with the comment application for a while. I've been getting a plethora of comments from an asian spammer that links back to asian porn sites. And that doesn't make the cut for my PG rating.

StickFast

In routing the grooves for some shallow tool trays, I ran into a problem with the edge of the board tipping off the workbench due to the downward pressure of the plane. Because I was working with wood that was thinner than the depth of the plane's fence, the edge of the board had to extend beyond the edge of the workbench.

Using a holdfast was not an option (without some finagling) because it would get in the way of the fence rods, and my dog holes are not lined up in such a way that I could use the end vise.

Geez, if only there were a way to secure the board from underneath.

Aha! Carpet tape (which has adhesive on both sides) to the rescue. It worked great. The only potential problem is leaving the workpiece stuck for too long. That would give the tape more time to latch onto the fibers which might tear when you remove the board. So don't leave for vacation mid-routing.

It worked so well, in fact, that I intend to try this trick when planing really thin boards.

In short: carpet tape now has a permanent place in my shop.

Making Martha Proud

Let's face it: the more storage units you build, the more surface areas you have on which to work.

At least that's the way it is in my shop, where any flat surface becomes cluttered with tools and other items which have no designated cubby or drawer to call home. This can make woodworking frustrating when you're constantly shifting piles from one surface to another.

Not only that, but if you're wasting time searching for a tool because it's buried under a stack of sandpaper, you're not doing what you want to be doing—building stuff.

This spring marks the 5th anniversary of having my shop built and I've decided to release my inner-Martha Stewart and get more organized.

So I opened a can of Martha on an eyesore masquerading as a light duty sharpening bench. Without shelves, the area was cluttered, inefficient, potentially hazardous, and downright unsightly.

I used some of the pile of pine to create a small cabinet, with one shelf, and four bins that effectively hold everything from the jumbled mess that had previously inhabited the space.

Storage units don't have to award-winning and can be made relatively quickly using simple joinery. But the time you invest in constructing them will make building your show-and-tell projects more enjoyable.

Now if only I could develop the same desire to tidy up my house.

Track II Spokeshave

A brand new tool company mailed one of their products to me to try out. It's not on the market yet; they are just testing it with focus groups.

It's called a Track II Spokeshave and it operates the same as a regular spokeshave, but with the twin blades, it works even better.

The front blade is designed to lift the fibers from the beard, I mean board, while the second blade trims them clean for a baby smooth finish.

Not only that, but it comes with a spray can of foaming wood conditioner that you first apply to the surface. This helps lubricate the fibers so they're not chafed by the shearing action of the twin blades.

It's a remarkable bit of ingenuity. I give it two thumbs up!

Curb Your Enthusiasm

Woodworkers Safety Week isn't for another few weeks, but it's never too early to talk about shop mishaps.

You know how it is when you buy a new tool—you want to try it out right away.

Such was the case with the antique handsaw I bought from Tom Law and the sloyd knife I bought from Del Stubbs.

My jeans took the hit from the knife and saved my thigh from what surely would have been a cavernous gash in my leg requiring a freakishly huge number of stitches.  And the poor little 5 board stool that I absconded from the house to use as a sawbench bravely endured the cold bite from the wickedly sharp crosscut saw.

Friends, tragic events like this can be avoided.  Before you use your new tool, inhale 10 deep breaths, play an Air Supply CD, maybe take a candlelit bath with rose-scented bath salts and loofah.  

Do whatever is necessary to quell your I-just-bought-a-new-tool-and-have-to-try-it-out-NOW! hysteria.

Stone Age-Style Spoon

My first attempt at spoon carving resulted in a piece of dinnerware befitting of Fred Flinstone. Chunky, lumpy, and dino-sized.

In my defense, I didn't have any green lumber so I grabbed—what else?—a gnarly piece of cherry whose grain pattern looked like a Jackson Pollack painting.

Plus it had a few knots.

Nonetheless, I bullheadedly worked on this ornery piece of wood until I sprouted a few blisters on my hand.

During this time, a chunk of dry silver maple soaked in a tub in an attempt to soften the fibers and make it easier to carve.

The second spoon went more smoothly and the straight grained, semi-softened maple was much easier to carve.

I rough shaped both blanks with my new BTF (Best Tool Forever)—a hewing axe—and a slojd knife at my outdoor bench.

The cherry was too hard to cut with hook knives, so I secured the blank in a simple jig: a long v-block with two stops at either end of the workpiece. Then I hollowed out the bowl with spoon gouges. The hook knives worked great for final clean up.

The decorative elements on the maple spoon were carved with a gouge, chip carving knife, and stab knife.

And after finishing the second one, I hope I've moved up to the middle ages.

Pile of Pine

You know how sometimes your eyes are bigger than your stomach? How you know you shouldn't eat several pieces from the bottomless bread basket at a restaurant, then order appetizer, side salad, main course, and dessert, but everything looks so tempting you can't say no?

Then you experience growing pains in your stomach.

A similar thing happened to me when my friend who works for Volunteers of America let a few of us in on some free offucts that had been donated to the organization but which didn't sell. They needed to get rid of it in order to make room in their storage unit. No problem, I'm always happy to help a buddy.

So my friend, Scott, and I took his truck to the VOA site and started sifting through piles of plywood, mdf, pine, and a few pieces of hardwood.

Most were small pieces, but as woodworkers we can always talk ourselves into reasons why we should not pass up free wood—it's just too tempting. Surely we can find a use for it, otherwise, it will just end up in some landfill, right?

By the time we finished rifling through the piles, we had completely filled his truck with lumber.

I chose mostly pine, which we unloaded outside my shop, and he headed home. Later that week, after I had stowed the wood in my shop, Scott came over, walked in, looked around with a puzzled look on his face and said "Is your shop getting smaller?"

He didn't know what was different, he just knew my shop seemed to be more "stuffed."

And so it was—my eyes were bigger than my workshop and now I'm experiencing growing pains.

Brown Auction and Tool Sale

Another show for those of you who missed the Patina auction.

This one—the 34th Annual Tool Sale & International Tool Auction—is in Camp Hill, PA on April 3 & 4.

The dealers' show will have approximately 60 vendors.  Admission is only $3 [I think] but free if you have an auction catalog.  

I plan to attend the dealer show on Friday and might show up for the auction on Saturday. Maybe see you there! Be sure to say hi. :o)