Winding sticks

After working for years without proper winding sticks, I finally broke down and built a set.  I had some padauk boards that I picked through to find one with some quartersawn grain that I could rip from one edge.  I also had some holly left over from the winding sticks I made for my niece a few years ago.

I more or less followed Paul Sellers design and build.  They are somewhat triangular in cross section with a holly button at the bottom center of each and holly inlays on the top edge of one.  The other one has a strip of walnut rabbeted along the top edge for contrast with the holly.  I wanted to use ebony but didn't have a piece long enough.  In hindsight, I wish I would have tried to ebonize the walnut since it isn't that much darker than the padauk.

I made these 18 inches long but I think 15 or 16 would have been better.  I used a 1:7 dovetail marker to layout the holly inlays and chopped out the waste with a chisel.

I glued everything in place with liquid hide glue.

Here they are in the white, looking good.

I finished them by wiping on a few coats of sealcoat shellac.  That turned out to be a mistake.  I had purposely avoided sanded these so I wouldn't contaminate the holly with dust from the darker padauk.  I wasn't able to get a good surface with a smoothing plane since there seemed to be reversing grain, so I used a card scraper to finish up.  Even though the scraper was making shavings it still left some dust which I failed to clean off well enough before shellac.  Long story longer, I ended up with pink holly and had to scrape the finish off of the inlays to try and remove it.  I got most of it but you can still see signs of it, especially in those end grain plugs.

They turned out OK but it chaps my backside that I was capable of better work and failed to produce it.

Lessons learned for the next set, I will make them shorter, ebonize the walnut, spray the shellac, and no scraping or sanding, handplanes all the way tear-out be damned.

Small carcase saw

I have built a few back saws in the past couple of years.  I bought this kit thinking it would be my first.  It consisted of a toothed plate (not sharpened), a machined brass back, and two brass saw bolts with split nuts.  Before I put the kit to use, I figured out a way to make all the parts to build my own saws from scratch.  As a result, this kit sat unused for a few years.  I decided it was time to do something with it.  I had actually cut out and started shaping a black walnut tote for it way back when, so it would be a pretty easy build to finish.

I don't really care for a machined saw back since they are typically permanently attached to the plate with loctite or epoxy.  I used a plastic dead blow mallet to pinch the slot partially closed so that I could treat it like a folded back when installing the plate.  This took some time and a little care but worked out perfectly.  If the plate ever becomes damaged, I can remove it and reuse the brass back or, if the saw is ever dropped causing the tooth line to becomes wavy, I can remove and reinstall the plate to fix it.

Saw kit after cutting everything to size and punching the holes.

Before cleaning the plate and punching the holes.

The plate was 12 x 2-7/8 x .020 inches.  The finished plate ended up 11-3/4 inches long after a minor mistake cutting the bevel where the handle would fit.  There is 2-5/8 inches of usable plate under the back.  It is 14 PPI and I filed it crosscut with 15 degrees of rake and 20 degrees of fleam.

Flush bolt heads.

The heads of the bolts had a ridge around the outside leaving a relived center about .030 inches deep.  I didn't like this so I put them in the lathe and turned the ridge off making the bolt heads flat.

Clocked split nuts.

I initially set the teeth using a nail set and hammer.  I put the plate on a sacrificial backer board and gave every other tooth a light tap or two, flipped it over and did the remaining teeth.  The board I used had a dent under one of the teeth.  Consequently, when I struck that tooth with nothing to support it, it broke off.  Not the end of the world but next time I'll pick out a better board.  This put a little more set in the teeth that I wanted so I moved to the anvil on the back of my vise and lightly tapped the entire tooth line down both sides to reduce the set.

I made some test cuts to see how the saw tracked.  It pulled a little to one side so I ran a diamond hone down that side of the teeth and tried another cut.  With some trial and error I got it to cut pretty straight.  The cuts were nice and clean but there was some binding in the kerf which annoyed me.  I fought this for a while then decided I just didn't have enough set.  This time I used a plier type saw set which normally over sets the teeth but I used a very light touch with it and got acceptable results.  The overall kerf is a little bigger than I would like but the saw tracks straight and doesn't bind.  Now the saw cuts fast and leaves a fairly smooth finish.

Completed saw.

Overall, I'm very happy with the results.  This will become a go to tool in my shop.

Saw and plane till

I used to store my handsaws on pegboard hooks with multiple saws stacked on top of each other to save space.  You know where this is headed, the saw I needed was always at the back of the stack.  I was getting tired of this and wanted a saw till but didn't feel I had the available wall space.  Most of my shop has pegboard on the upper half of the walls with lots of hooks holding lots of crap.  After looking at the space above my tool chest, I decided that I didn't need a lot of this crap, so maybe I did have the wall space for a till.

I saw an article in the August 2016 edition of Popular Woodworking magazine that started this whole reorganization project.  The link to the online portion of that article and the Sketchup drawing are at the bottom of this post.  I liked this design better than any I had seen before and it would also hold my bench planes.  Not only is it convenient storage but it looks cool when someone walks into the shop.

My recently cleaned off pegboard wall (forgot to take a before pic).

The case construction is pretty straight forward.  Through dovetails, dados, glue, nails, screws, etc.  I sprayed on two coats of Sealcoat shellac followed by two coats of satin lacquer.  I'm not a big fan of shiny. 

Dry fit of the components.

Dovetails and upper cleat detail.

Mounted with six #12 flat head screws into the studs.

I stacked some scrap boards on top of my machinist chest to rest the till on while I marked for the holes and screwed it to the wall.  It wasn't terribly heavy but it was too much to hold steady with one hand while trying to mount it.  With two people, it would have been easy enough.

Showtime!

I would have liked to have had the drawers in the original design but I needed enough space below the till to open the top on my machinist chest.  With the open back, I was able to utilize the pegboard to hang my saw vise and saw sets above the saws within the cabinet so that was a bonus.

The divider in the saw till can be moved if I need to adjust left or right to allow for a changing saw collection.  Of course I would have to take it off of the wall to remove the two screws that hold it in place.  For now, I have plenty of room to expand on my saw addiction.  I also have a place to store my recently built marking gauges which have been all over the shop waiting for a home.

I now have a permanent home for my small collection of molding planes and my plough plane.  The plane till dividers are customized for my collection of bench planes.  The empty spot above the shoulder plane is for a traditional wooden smoother.  It felt a little top heavy and I was afraid it wouldn't take much of a bump to knock it out of the till.  I'll need to add a taller cleat to make sure it stays securely in place. 

I used hand tools for all of the case joinery.  I did use my drill press to bore the holes for the closet rods and my impact driver to install the screws.  I also used a brad nailer to secure the saw divider at each end.  It was only four nails, so I could have pre-drilled and driven them by hand but I didn't have the right size nails on hand.  Overall, it was a really fun project.  

Popular Woodworking link

Sketchup model

Split-nut driver

I am in the process of building a 12-inch carcase saw from a kit I purchased about three years ago.  The kit included brass bolts and split-nuts.  I could either order a driver for $30 plus shipping or come up with a method to make one myself.  The easiest method would have been to modify an existing screwdriver but I could only find one locally that had a wide enough blade, it was much too long and was more than I wanted to spend.  I didn't really have anything laying around the shop that I could use to make one either.

I did a quick search online and found one that someone had made from a spade bit that I liked.  So, back to the store for a 1/2-inch bit.  It was only $3, well within my price range for a tool that only has one use.

This one has a hex shank which will help when gluing on a handle.

I used an abrasive cut off wheel to remove the part of the bit I didn't need then used the bench grinder to reduce the width to 7/16-inch.  After grinding the end square to the sides by eye, I made a wooden v-block that I clamped to the grinder rest.  This helped hold the bit straight while I hollow ground the faces.

Once I had the thickness I wanted, I used a small triangular saw file to cut a notch in the center of the tip.  I cut the notch deep enough to allow it to guide the chainsaw file I would use to cut to final depth.  I found that the notch was still a bit too narrow to go around the saw bolt.  I moved to a slightly larger round file and widened the slot to it's finished size.

Files used to make the notch.

The tips of the blade look rounded over in this pic but are actually straight across and make full contact with the bottom of the slot in the nuts.

The faces of the the drill bit had a pretty rough grind from the factory, so I used a flap disk on my angle grinder to smooth those out and make a nice transition between the factory grind and where I had ground the faces.  I also removed just enough material that the driver would also fit the nuts on my Lie-Nielson saw which had slightly narrower slots than the nuts in my saw kit.

At some point I will probably turn a wooden handle but right now it works well enough as-is to let me finish my saw build.

Bench Puppies

I saw this article on building bench puppies in Fine Woodworking magazine and thought it was a great idea.  I don't have a specific use in mind but I'm sure I'll find them handy now that I have them as a work holding option.

When I built my bench, I decided to place the tail vise and dog holes back from the front of the bench so the leg wouldn't interfere with hole placement.   The hole centers are 5-1/8 inches from the front edge.

 The puppies ended up being 10-3/4 inches from tip to tip to allow for this distance.

Rather than using hard wood, I laminated these from salvaged 3/4 inch plywood.  The large dowels are hard maple and were turned on my lathe to fit the 3/4 inch dog holes.  I used two 7/16 inch dowels to strengthen the business end where the clamping will occur.  These smaller dowels were made from birch using my shop built dowel plate.

I glued cork sheet to the clamping faces to protect my work pieces.  If this turns out to be too soft, I can always replace it with leather.

They seem to hold quite securely.

Marking Gauges Conclusion

After final sanding with 220 grit, I was ready for finish.  I used Chris Schwarz workbench finish.  Equal parts oil based varnish (I use satin) boiled linseed oil, and odorless mineral spirits.  I wiped on two coats with a piece of old tee-shirt.  I let the first coat dry overnight and the second coat dry for two days.

The beech takes on a nice color with the first coat of finish.  The original color was almost as white as the pine sticks I have the parts sitting on.






The final step of the finish was to clean up the parts with 0000 steel wool and apply a coat of paste wax.

The last part I needed was the steel marking pin.  I made these from music wire that measured .078 inch diameter.  I cut them 1-1/8 inches long. I filed the flat and used a bench grinder with an 80 grit wheel to round the back side.  It ends up being kind of a football shaped.

I heated these to bright red and quenched in water then tempered them to straw color.  OK, some of them may have been more blue than straw.  You have to be very careful when heating something this small.  Either way, then are harder than when I started.

I refined them on my sharpening stones until I had a nice sharp edge.

I laid out the hole location 3/8 inch from the end of the beam.  Then used my drill press with a #48 drill bit which measures .076 inch diameter.  This proved to be a little too tight so I ran the same drill through again using a cordless drill and it took out just enough to make the pin fit.  It's still pretty tight, I tapped them in with a small hammer.  I think that's the kind of fit you want so it won't slip.


This was a fun project and I'm very pleased with the way these turned out.

You may be wondering why I need six marking gauges.  I plan to keep three and give the rest to friends who also enjoy woodworking.

Marking Gauges Part 2

I made a layout wedge out of scrap to help mark the mortise for the locking wedge.  I can't swear to it but I think I used 10 degrees.







I knifed in the first line about 1/32 inch above the bottom of the beam mortise using a square.  I deepened the line slightly with a chisel then chiseled out a little wedge of material.  I deepened the knife line again and removed more material until I could set my layout wedge against the knife line.  This way I could use the wedge as a guide to knife the second line.

I used a carcase saw to cut down both sides of the mortise then removed the bulk of the waste with a chisel followed up by a router plane.

The front piece has the knife lines and chiseling to guide the saw.

In the back, you can see the beam extends slightly into the wedge mortise.

This shows a test fit with the layout wedge holding the beam in place.

Here are both parts of the head before glue up.  The front piece is a little more than 5/16 inch thick.

By leaving both parts a little bit thick, I could come back and plane off the layout lines later.



I resawed and numbered the parts so I could match up the grain when I glued them back together.  This makes it look more like a single piece of wood when it's finished.

I used numerous spring clamps to hold it in place while the glue dried.  I also used an F-clamp to keep the edges aligned.








I used a plane to clean up the long sides, making sure to keep them square to the top and the faces.  Then I used a square, marking knife, and marking gauge to transfer the mortise location to the opposite side.  I tightened my layout wedge into the wedge mortise to keep from blowing out the fibers inside the part when I chiseled through.  I had some tear out but it was minor and won't be seen when the gauge is assembled.

I used the lid from a can of spray paint to mark the radius on top the head.  I cut these on the bandsaw then cleaned them up at the disc sander.






I failed to get photos while making the wedges.  On the first batch, I fitted the wedges before gluing the head halves back together.  I think this made it a little easier to see just how well the wedge fits.  I forgot this lesson on the second batch so it took a little longer but everything still worked out fine.

The back of the head gets a 30 degree bevel and the back edges were rounded over at the router table.  I think I used a 3/16 radius, could be wrong, the bit was already in the router and it looked good on a test part. :)



Unlike the first batch, I made sure that I situated the parts so the thickest part of the head stock (the part with the wedge mortise) was at the back.  This way, when I cut the 30 degree bevel, it doesn't expose the glue line.  As you can see here, the glue line is practically invisible and the grain matches very well.

I broke the corners along the length of the beams with a block plane and chamfered both ends with a chisel.

Stay tuned for the conclusion.

Marking Gauges Part 1

I had seen this article and this tutorial on making traditional marking gauges which  inspired me to make some of my own.  I took some liberties with the process and the wedge orientation to come up with a method that is easy and fun using 'mostly' hand tools.

This article documents the construction of my second batch of gauges.  The first batch came out fine but I didn't get many pics and I learned some things in the process that made the second batch a little bit nicer.

This is my first batch made with bubinga that was left over from another project.

I placed my wedges under the beam rather than on top as in the original.




I had seen one online with the wedge oriented this way.  I think this makes it more comfortable to hold and use.

I decided to make the second batch of three from beech, since I had some quartersawn that I had bought a few years ago.  I had 2x2 inch stock and was able to resaw it on the bandsaw to get the beams and stocks from one 9-1/2 inch length.   I had to saw another 3-1/4 inch length to make the wedges.  That left me with plenty of extra wedge material if I decide to make more gauges.

This is my beech stock roughed into beams, stocks, and wedges.  The stocks or heads are resawn into two different thicknesses which will be glued back together during the build.

After planing away the bandsaw marks and squaring the stock, I marked out the mortise on both sides of the thicker piece of the head.  These are 2 x 3 inches and a bit more than 5/8 thick.

I used a 9/16 Forstner bit to remove most of the waste.  I roughly squared up the corners with a 1/4 inch chisel, then finished up with a 1/2 inch working from both sides.  The finished mortise is approximately 5/8 inch square.

I was aiming for a close, slightly snug fit.  It took some minor paring inside the mortise then planing the beam to fit.

I mortised all three before moving to the next step.










Stay tuned for part 2.