Archives for December 2009

December 30, 2009 By Al Navas

Looking back on 2009

With 2009 done, I look back at the most-read and popular articles of the year, and find an interesting mix: Building, machine setup and use, techniques, and how-to articles topped the list. Videos, too, were extremely popular; not quite viral in 2008, the 1-minute video about the Schwarz Dances continued to be extremely popular.

And now, the top articles:

The single most popular article was about Ron Brese, his new hand plane, and his design philosophy. From that article: “As owner of Brese Plane in Thomaston, Georgia, USA, makes wonderful infill hand planes. In recent communication via e-mail I asked Ron about his approach and philosophy to a brand-new hand plane he unveils right now; I also asked him if he would allow me publish the first photos on this blog, and he agreed (photos below). Folks, get ready for a non-infill hand plane from Brese Plane – a stainless steel hand plane, at that!”

From early in 2008, My setup for resawing on the band saw continues to be a very popular item, and is number two this year. It thrills me when I receive an e-mail message telling me that a woodworker has solved a vexing resawing problem with their machine, and that my article played a role. I continue to rely on the band saw to make drawer bottoms, for example, from thicker stock. Other articles about resawing can be found here.

The FMT Pro and the Super FMT articles were also extremely popular. I have had the FMT Pro in the shop for several years, and is my go-to machine for all projects requiring mortise and tenon joinery (I love it!). And, although it arrived late in the year, the Super FMT is attracting a lot of attention due to its lower price, while keeping all the features of the Pro version. Leigh Industries sent me the Super FMT to evaluate; I have been using it in the shop, and continue evaluation as time permits. In case you missed it, this article on workholding and consistency with the FMT (Pro) is quickly becoming a favorite with many readers, based on feedback I have received since its publication.

When Things Go Wrong, my story about tearout like I had never experienced, hit a nerve with my readers. Of course, it helped that Sharpening Guru Ron Hock also published my story on his new blog, The Sharpening Blog. I always recommend setting aside some shop time to do maintenance on the power tools – January is usually the month in which I do this in my shop, as it is a convenient time of the year. Last January, the blades on my DeWalt planer looked fine; but I should have known better, for I have had the machine close to 5 years, and had never rotated the blades to expose the new edge (my model has dual edges)!

Although Sandy has not been able to spend much time in the shop much for the last two years, the article about her band saw box continues to be a very popular article. She had never made a box like this; but a local sawyer gave us an oak burl from his scrap pile, and Sandy knew immediately what she would make. Once made, she donated it to a local church, and was sold at a Silent Auction in October 2007. A few weeks later she demonstrated to our Woodworkers Guild how to make these boxes – and that was a very popular session, too!

My article about the new dovetail chisel from Czeck Edge was extremely popular. In the article I said “I felt lucky to get one of the new Czeck Edge Hand Tool dovetail chisels while I was in Cincinnati last week. The dovetail chisel is “…a design collaboration…” between Bob Zajicek and Jameel Abraham, of Benchcrafted. I promised Bob Zajicek, owner of Czeck Edge, I would use this little jewel as soon as I got back home…” Shown on the photo is the original version of the chisel; but Bob is already producing a second version, with a tapered and beveled rib, to allow getting into tight corners.

How about some videos? These are extremely popular! The top videos this year were:

Mario Rodriguez, at Woodworking in America (WIA) at Valley Forge, PA: Making and Fitting Drawers
Bob Lang, at Woodworking in America at St Charles, Ill.: Arts & Crafts Style: The Unadorned Truth
Roy Underhill, also from the Valley Forge WIA conference: Dovetails, the details
Bob Lang, in St Charles: What SketchUp can do for you
Christopher Schwarz, at Woodworking in America, Berea, KY: This ain’t no Tango

.I thank you all for reading my blog, and for your support. I wish everyone a wonderful, safe, and Happy New Year!

—— Al Navas

December 23, 2009 By Al Navas

Intriguing question at Finewoodworking.com

Asa Christiana, Editor of FineWoodworking magazine, posted earlier today an article entitled Is Danish Modern the furniture style of our time?

Asa and the art director were “…looking for a modern credenza to go under a flat-screen TV, we may have stumbled onto the answer…” The article ends with the following:

It is easy to look back on furniture history, and see how 18th-century styles, followed by Shaker and Arts & Crafts, each arose from a specific culture and commercial context. Is it even possible for a cohesive style to coalesce out of today’s fractured culture, with mass-production of disposable goods dominating commerce? And does Danish Modern hold the key?

— Asa Christiana, Editor, FineWoodworking.com
December 23, 2009

This particular article hit a cord in me. Why? Because Neil Lamens and I touched on this very topic in October 2008. Neil graciously agreed to be my guest at that interview. We talked about many topics, but a key item of that interview has stuck with me since then. In the text I asked the question, ‘What has transpired since the bean bag chair, “a living form”‘?

I invite you to download the podcast, listen to it, and then read Asa’s article at the link I provided. Please let me know what you think – but I request that you also leave a comment for Asa at their website.

— Al Navas

December 21, 2009 By Al Navas

Tutorial: hand-cut half-blind dovetails

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Duration: 21:41 minutes

One of the readers of the blog recently posted the following Comment to the earlier article on More great drawers:

Could you add ‘Cutting Pins by Hand for Half-Blind Dovetails’ to the list of topics to cover? I fully get how to cut pins and tails for through dovetails, but half-blind pins I can’t seem to wrap my mind around. Is it all chisel work? Is there a sawing technique I don’t know of to cut 80% through the thickness of a board?

Torch, this article and video are my response to your request – perfect timing!

Although today it is considered the hallmark of a woodworking craftsman, the dovetail was not always held in such high esteem. In fact, dovetails used to be buried behind trim, as they were strictly a utilitarian joint; but they were used for their holding strength. Today we make dovetails by hand and with dovetail jigs, to get beautiful results; and they are beautiful!

In this episode I show in detail how to cut one half-blind dovetail on a narrow board. Although I managed to damage the fit on the first attempt, I recovered to shoot the chopping of the pins for this episode in its entirety. In the video I show in high speed the details of chopping the waste, from start to finish:

Very light chiseling at the baseline, to ensure that it stays nice and clean.
Once the baseline is established, more aggressive chopping can take place.
But care must be taken at the half-pins, to prevent splitting of the wood; typically, a narrower chisel, and lighter chisel action are required, or the board will split.
Slight undercutting at the baseline, about 1° to 2°, will result in better and easier fit of the tails in their sockets.
However, too much undercutting will result in a weak joint – as a result, avoid too much undercutting. Practice, practice…
Chop the bulk of the waste with the board supported by the workbench; then place the work piece in the vise, to finish with light paring cuts.
Cut a very small chamfer on the back of the dovetails, to easy entry into their respective sockets in the pins board.

Gary Rogowski is a great advocate of the 5-minute dovetail, a practice session to get ready for the real job of cutting the joinery on a real project. And although the exercise is typically for through dovetails, I believe it applies just as well to half-blind dovetails. In fact, I always do a similar warm-up when I use the Leigh dovetail jig – I never start cutting dovetails cold, regardless the method. Click on this link to see the Inlaid Dovetails Tutorial videos I posted on the blog in March 2008, using the Leigh D4 dovetail jig.