The yin-yang results are in at the Lumberjocks Woodworking Awards – Winter 2010

February 8, 2010 by Al Navas (Sandal Woods) · Leave a Comment 

The top three winners are as follows (click on each image to go to the project entry page):

First Prize: yin-yang Earthquake box:

Second Prize: yin-yang Display Table:

Third Prize: Eye Candy box

You can view the rest of the winners at the Lumberjocks winners’ page. Congratulations to the winning entries – terrific competition by all, and an exciting contest. Thanks to everyone who participated!

— Al Navas

Details of my wooden try square

February 5, 2010 by Al Navas (Sandal Woods) · 4 Comments 

During a recent weekend I found myself with a little “free” time. Not wanting to just be idle, I decided to make a large wooden try square; I had read about them in several places, and the idea sounded attractive. I wanted to be able to use the large square  on large assemblies; of particular interest was its reported lighter weight, compared to my rosewood and brass try square. Because I had abundant  scrap maple around the shop, I used it for a prototype square.

I recalled seeing a nice try square in Moxon’s The Art of Joinery (commentary by Christopher Schwarz); I even wrote a short entry some time ago. Armed with this information, I proceeded to fashion my version of the square on the following photo, and even gave the handle an ogee pattern of my own design:

However, I forgot the details. A few pages before the photo above was the following image (rats! – did I put the ogee on the wrong side of the handle?):

The following photo of a modern square in the Woodworking magazine blog reinforced what I wanted to do (is it the same square as in the Moxon book? I believe it is!) – notice that the cavetto (thanks for the correction, Chris!) cyma recta (ogee) tapers toward the inside of the handle (from Schwarz’s My Favorite Try Square, in this article):

Sure enough, I put the ogee on the “wrong side”, based on very old design by Roubo. Christopher Schwarz recently made a gaggle (or is it a herd?) of try squares using cavettos (coves) as the decorative detail on the handle, and showed them off in a recent article in his Woodworking magazine blog:

As a result of my own confusion, I called Schwarz, but he was unavailable. However, he answered in an e-mail message:

…I don’t have enough information to say which is more common or which is correct. Seeing as the detail is decorative, I don’t imagine it makes all that much difference. I believe it to be decorative because neither Moxon nor Roubo discusses the decoration at all in regards to the functional characteristics of the tool. Heck, they don’t even mention the decoration at all…

— Christopher Schwarz, February 5, 2010

If you decide to make your own wooden try squares, and you are in doubt how to orient the decoration, make two and try it both ways- these are fun to make! The next time I have a little free time I will use a straight-grain hardwood, and I will make a really good, light, and attractive try square.

As I read the blogs this morning, I learned that Bob Easton also tried his hand at making this square, and he got it right, per Roubo; you can read his article here.

— Al Navas

Preparing a hollow mortise chisel

February 4, 2010 by Al Navas (Sandal Woods) · Leave a Comment 

One question from a reader prompts me to illustrate the process I use to prepare hollow mortise chisels before I even approach the benchtop mortiser.The process is called “tuning a hollow chisel”; it prepares the chisel for efficient cutting of the mortise, and eases penetration into the wood while minimizing burn marks. This results in smoother mortise walls, faster cutting, and better chip ejection while keeping the chisel cooler. So far I have not had to sharpen any of the drilling bits on any of the chisels.

In this photo you see the hollow chisel as received. The grinder marks are plainly visible:

Just like a bench chisel, the sides of the chisel should be lapped using either sandpaper or, as I show here, with sharpening stones. Following preliminary lapping on the 1,000-grit stone, I continue with the 6,000-grit or finer stone:

In this next photo you see how the steel begins to shine, and the tool marks have disappeared near the cutting edges – not quite ready for work, the chisel is getting close to being ready to cut:

Next I use a diamond-covered abrasive cone, to sharpen the inside surfaces of the tip of the chisel. The cone holder is part of a set available from various sources:

Careful inspection is a must, before using the chisel. Look carefully at the inside surfaces, to make sure the cone has left smooth, shiny surfaces:

Yup, that is the BenchCrafted tee shirt. And it is a shameless plug for the company that makes, along with 11 other winners, the Popular Woodworking magazine’s Best New Tools for 2009, the BenchCrafted Tail Vise. I was the lucky recipient of one tee shirt at the Valley Force conference:

To my friend Jameel Abraham, of BenchCrafted.com, and his brother Fr. John, congratulations for winning the award – it is well deserved!

Disclosure: I am a happy owner of one BenchCrafted tee shirt; I have no commercial or any other interests in BenchCrafted.com. And I love the vises they make.

— Al Navas

Revisiting the use of a template to make a divider

February 3, 2010 by Al Navas (Sandal Woods) · Leave a Comment 

Following the initial fit of the drawers, I want to re-visit how I went about making and fitting the divider rib shown in this photo (please bear with me, as I already described this process in an earlier article; however, the drawers were but a twinkle at that time). It is a simple process; and I keep this in mind as I approach making the drawer guides required to keep the drawers in place.

Critical layout using a large framing square is a must, to ensure proper alignment of the tapers on the side aprons with the taper on the divider. Now we can see the divider in the context of the drawer locations:

I suggest using the back of the back apron as the reference surface for the edge of the framing square, for best accuracy.

I made a template using ¼-inch plywood, carefully adjusting the length to the space from the back apron to the front apron. But, most importantly, to ensure proper alignment with the side aprons:

Fine tuning the angles became trivial, using a block plane, measuring, re-measuring, and measuring one more time:

Satisfied with the fit, I used the template to transfer the outline to the piece of quarter-sawn white oak that will become the divider:

Before cutting to the line on the band saw, I measured one more time:

I cut close to the line on the band saw, leaving the line. I then used the Krenov-style hand plane to trim to the line, for final fit:

Why did I use quarter sawn white oak for this divider? For the simple reason that the side aprons are also quarter sawn white oak, and I want the divider to move identically with changes in humidity. This is a design element that should ensure long-term flatness of the top.

But first I must tackle the 61-inch long stretcher between the legs; that will require mortises on the front-to-back stretchers, and tenons on the long stretcher. I will do this later today.

— Al Navas

A total of 151 entries in the Lumberjocks Yin Yang contest!

February 2, 2010 by Al Navas (Sandal Woods) · Leave a Comment 

Voting has started, and will run until February 7, 2010 – but you must have entered the contest to be able to vote. I think *that* is pretty democratic, don’t you?

The following should give you a flavor for the breath and the quality of the entries:

To view all the entries, click on this link. Enjoy!

— Al Navas

Postcript – From the Wikipedia:

Noun

yin-yang (plural yin-yangs)

1. A circular symbol consisting of a white and black droplet (☯), representing the fusion of the concepts of yin and yang

Keep your eyes open

February 2, 2010 by Al Navas (Sandal Woods) · Leave a Comment 

I hope all my readers notice that this new format is still a work-in-progress. I encourage you to click on the new Main Menu items, “WW’g Conferences” and “Video Archives”. Also, the sub-menu item “conferences” has a drop-down menu that I hope will help you get information from this new layout.

Thanks for reading, and for your continued support!

— Al Navas

Using my new (old!) shooting board from Evenfall Studios

January 30, 2010 by Al Navas (Sandal Woods) · 6 Comments 

OK, I must admit it. I have had the shooting board from Evenfall Studios (Rob Hanson, Owner) in the shop since June of 2009. One thing led to another, and the board sat without use for several months. Even The Schwarz gave it a glowing review on his blog in early July, 2009; that review pushed me to (try to) use it – but I was unable to do so, as a result of a shoulder injury that has since healed for the most part.

With that mandatory preliminary out of the way, I found myself in a situation that needed correcting before I could assemble the standing desk. When I made the leg stretchers, I consciously left the tenons about 0.050″ too long, to be trimmed later; this made it much simpler to get the shoulder-to-shoulder length of the stretchers matched perfectly to the distance between the legs, front-to-back and near the top of the legs (in other words, square).

Later became today. You can see the gap between the stretcher (vertical) and the edge of the leg (horizontal):

I could have used the table saw to trim the dual tenons, but I really, really wanted to try my hand with the shooting board. Of course, I don’t have a specialized shooting plane in the shop, like the one my friend Ron Brese makes (maybe Sandy will read this soon). But I had the old reliable Stanley #5 sharp and ready to go – a very good thing when you shoot the end grain (notice the end grain curlies?):

Well…As expected, the Stanley #5 does not have the cheeks perfectly square to the sole, but it did a splendid job in trimming the tenons – all it took was a little fiddling with the iron angle using the lateral adjuster, and I was shooting square! Hint: Using a block plane, I put a little bevel on the back side of the unsupported tenons, to eliminate tearout.

After trimming off the 50 thousands of an inch or so, I was so excited I did not even realize the following photo was out of focus – the trimmed tenons, and a much tighter fit, before drawboring and tightening the stretcher to the leg:

A neat feature of the Evenfall shooting board is its adjustable fence. I checked the fence for square before I started shooting, and after. The fence held very well:

The Evenfall shooting board has accessories. I also bought the double-high fence (it comes with its own attachment hardware):

Notice the angled cut on the back side of the fences? The fences can be reversed, for angle cuts – pretty neat! And each is adjustable within a 5-degree range, very handy when shooting boards that will go into areas not quite square, such as moldings. And Made in the USA is a great thing, too, as part of the amazing revival of makers of hand tools. In case you are wondering about the features and specifications of the boards, I invite you read more on the Evenfall Studios page. And if you wish to buy one, you can place an order at the Evenfall online Store.

My Hint of the Day: Adjusting the hand plane iron for use on the shooting board (or just about any other use).

I know I have seen the following somewhere, but simply cannot put my finger where. Use a narrow strip of a softer wood; make sure only one corner contacts the sole and the blade. Now run the piece of wood across the blade from the toe toward the heel, near the corners of the iron, and at the center:

The result: You should have three very thin, almost identical shavings at each location, near the corners, and near the center:

How do I like the shooting Evenfall board? My answer is that I just love it. I am certain it will become entrenched in my woodworking habits, as I integrate hand tools in the shop over time. I can’t wait to try my hand at miters! I will probably send one of my spare (old) hand planes to a shop for squaring, and to have a handle put on it. Or maybe I will try making one from some of the Osage Orange Sandy has near her lathe, since I already have the large iron from Brese Plane.

Disclosure: I am strictly a user of the Evenfall shooting board, and have no commercial or other ties with Evenfall Studios.

— Al Navas

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