Profiles.

O.P.V.

Other People's Videos

A movie about woodworking would likely bore the general public to tears.  I, on the other hand, would be thrilled to watch a movie about someone else's creative process.  Hollywood continues to ignore my script submissions for a high budget drama about a woodworker struggling to make ends meet.  So, instead of a feature length film about building furniture, or a blockbuster about timber framing we are stuck with short independent documentaries profiling individual woodworkers.  Fortunately, a lot of these hipster-born brainchildren are actually executed rather well.  These are two that I found which, while very different in style, focus on what makes woodworkers tick.  I appreciate Mr. Rogowski's approach to design in the first video.  His simple straight forward attitude is likely what has made him so successful.  If he looks familiar it's because in addition to being a celebrated furniture maker, he also writes for Fine Woodworking Magazine.

I am enthralled at the ingenuity and determination of Mr. Kapek in the second video (fair warning, it's subtitled).  Contrary to popular belief, power tools have a much welcomed home in my shop.  I am a believer in the right tool for the right job, but if I can do a task by hand I find myself preferring that method more and more.  As I find myself building skill sets (very slowly) I see the value in making my own hand tools.  I can custom tailor them to my needs and learn a lot of important lessons during their construction.  Fortunately, however, haven't yet had to build any of the machines in my shop by hand as Mr. Kapek did.  These videos are worth a watch, as both are rather inspiring, but when I see a 92 year old woodworker still happily toiling away in his shop, I feel there is hope that it is possible to do this for the rest of my life.  So that leaves me several years to actually make something!

Gary Rogowski - Northwest Woodworking from William Schultz on Vimeo.

Stolarz ( Carpenter ) English Subs. from StamtadFilm on Vimeo.

Pockets Full Of Chips.

Pockets full of wood chips are indeed better than pockets full of ice cream, but both are equally aggravating when you are trying to pay for something that requires pocket change.  I am constantly trying to clean out wood chips from all my pockets (yes, including my dress pants).  Even when my clothes come right out of the wash, I end up with a handful of mulch when I reach for my car keys.  This problem has gotten worse since I started doing more wood turning (it is akin to standing in front of a wood chipper with an open trash bag), and don't get me started on the pockets of my hoodies!  In short I have been having trouble leaving the workshop mess in the workshop.  This is why I have been on the search for a good shop apron.

A Day Late And A Dollar Short.

Last year I wrote a post about a useless thingamabob that I made while teaching myself to use my South Bend metal lathe.  At the end of the post I mentioned a super secret project that I was creating.  Well, imagine my shock (not to mention extreme disappointment) when I saw my secret project released in February for sale on Lee Valley's website!  I had been working on the minutiae of this thing for a little less than a year (including the time I spent cursing at myself for not learning the metal lathe faster), and I had planned to release it for sale on my blog in the next month or two.

No, they didn't steal my design (that would be crazy talk... or so I'm told).  They had access to the same tool that inspired me.  The Briggs Patent Saw File Guide!  Fortunately for woodworkers, Lee Valley is an excellent company that obviously put some thought into their redesign of this once lost, ingenious little tool.  If you are on the fence about sharpening your own saws, get one of these things and you will never look back.  I learned to file saws with mine.  I don't use it all the time now, as it actually does train you to hold the file correctly, but I do use it more frequently than some of my other sharpening guides.  The original, like my prototype has an outer ring that rotates to set the rake angle and a swiveling set of arms used to set the fleam.

My Briggs Patent Saw File Guide
Patented in 1919

The File Gets clamped In The Bottom

This tool allows you to choose the rake and fleam you want to use when sharpening your saws.  You dial the angles in on the jig and then clamp it to the end of any triangular file and away you go.  Just keep the wings parallel and level to the line of the saw and you get perfect results every time.  The prototype I was building was more a copy of the original (patented in 1919) whereas Lee Valley did an excellent job giving it a much sexier design and an all aluminum chassis.  I opted for a solid brass body, with a stainless steel thumbscrew and a Lignum Vitae grip (it would have ended up being maple or apple after I ran out of my limited stock of Lignum).

Solid Brass Construction With A Lignum Vitae Handle

You Can See The Rotating Outer Ring For Setting Rake Here, Which
Moves In Concert With The Set Of Wings For Fleam

The Setup On My Prototype Was The Same As The Original

Like a dunce, I didn't race to the engravers to have my markings put on the guides I was making as soon as I had the prototype finished.  I wanted to be able to do everything in my shop which meant waiting and searching for a machine that would allow me to engrave the tubular brass guides.  I tried to do it by hand but it was an utter failure (as can be seen in the photos of my prototype).  Again, fortunately for woodworkers, Lee Valley doesn't have any problem engraving their tools accurately.  I am both excited and saddened by this arrival from Lee Valley and if you don't own one, get one...it'll be worth it, I promise.

Here's How It All Fits Together

A Raggedy Old Chest.

I had a friend in college that inherited a home from his grandparents.  The home was a stunning and enormous brick Gothic Revival that he remembered from his childhood.  He was certain it was going to be the home he would move his eventual family into after he served his time in the Air Force and settled down.  He went to visit the house as a side trip on his journey home for winter break from school.  He hadn't seen the home in a long time, as his grandparents had moved into a retirement home after his grandmother had fallen ill almost fifteen years earlier.  Fortunately for him, his grandparents saw fit to keep the house even though they no longer lived there.  Upon returning from our winter break, I asked him about his visit.  His face immediately fell.  "They didn't hire anyone to keep it up" he said.  The house, after years of neglect had been all but swallowed by the wooded lot on which it rested.  The roof had caved in, the cellar was full of water, and the floors had started to rot.  As it turns out, his grandfather who was a professional carpenter at one time, had ambitions of returning to the house every so often to maintain the residence and do some minor improvements.  Over the course of the first year he spent in the retirement home with his wife, he too had fallen ill and neglected to ask anyone to help him take care of the house.  The years passed and whether through miscommunication, lack of interest, or just plain forgetfulness, the home started to quite literally fall apart.  As a result, my friend, while excited about the eventual prospects of the property, had inherited a crumbling money pit.

Love Is In The Air...Again...

Today, I am enjoying the second annual celebration of the New Order of Saint Valentines Day.  Last year I wrote about my disdain for the traditional Valentines Day celebration of sappy love notes and gross cherry flavored chalk candy.  During the last 12 months, my stance on this weird sap-centric holiday hasn't changed one iota.  I established N.O.S.V.D. (I haven't worked on the name at all) last year in order to sew the seeds of change in the fertile soil that is Valentines Day tradition.  The goal of the New Order is to celebrate inspirational hand made objects, especially tools.

This year, I am celebrating some of my favorite chisels from Blue Spruce Toolworks, an antique set of dividers and a genuine handmade sign of love.

I got this chisel as part of a set two years ago as a Christmas gift.  Meet the fishtail chisel.  Initially, this little guy seemed very task specific, but once I started using it I found that it is useful for a lot of different tasks.  Any time I need to clean out a tight corner or get into a narrow opening of a mortise or dovetail  I reach for this little guy.  David Jeske, the owner and operator of Blue Spruce Toolworks makes incredible tools.  They are both functional and beautiful.  I have several of his chisels and every one of them performs exactly as advertised.  These hold an edge extremely well, are made of excellent steel and have comfortable, elegant cocobolo handles.

The second chisel is a long paring chisel also from Blue Spruce Toolworks.  This 3/4 inch chisel is part of a set of six which all perform equally well.  I use this chisel a lot, but I don't have to sharpen it very often at all. A quick hone before use is typically all it needs.  The long blade lets this chisel flex a little under use, which gives me a little more control when I am paring.  Additionally, Mr. Jeske provides these chisels with a concave side, allowing the chisel to get into tight corners when paring.  I have found this to be a very desirable trait in a paring chisel.  The handle, like the fishtail chisel, is comfortable for long use and excellently made.

This set of wing dividers inspires me every time I put them to use.  They used to belong to my grandfather which gives them some sentimental value, but they are equally functional.  Fortunately, they were taken care of during their early years so they still work perfectly today!

And now for the handmade symbol of love, BACON ROSES!  My sister made these for Valentines Day, but they work so much better for N.O.S.V.D.!  I now declare a new tradition for N.O.S.V.D, the gift of hand made bacon roses to show your appreciation for things hand made...and delicious pork.  Now, go admire a beautiful tool and allow yourself to be inspired...or just go eat some bacon!

Gimlets.

Often, my addiction to tools takes me on weird tangents through stores like woodcraft or through the virtual aisles of online markets.  Three or four years ago I came across a set of gimlets from Garrett Wade during one of their crazy sales, and like a zombie on a brain bender, I just threw them in the cart with the rest of my stuff and mindlessly checked out.  When they arrived, I tested them out on a small project which required pre-drilling some very small holes for copper pins.  After a little bit of tweaking I was amazed at how quickly these little guys worked.  I stuck them on a D shaped carabiner, clipped them to my tool belt, and have never looked back.  For infrequent, small holes these beat carrying my drill around any day.

Easy Like Sunday Morning.

Getting ready for the Super Bowl at our house usually means doing absolutely nothing because we go to someone else's house for a party.  That left an unusual Sunday morning for some light reading, coffee and a quick trip to the workshop to clean up the mess from earlier that week.  Light reading consisted of some very serious literature dedicated to.......okay it was the Sunday Funnies.

It's Funny, Because I Have Done This...

While I was in the shop I also wrapped up some panels I am assembling for my entertainment center.  The panels are assembled like doors.  The four corners are blind mortised into one another and an MDF core plywood panel is inserted into a dado running around the interior of the panel prior to assembly.  I'll post some photos of the panels when I write my entry on building the door for the entertainment center.  Prior to cramming the mortises and tenons together, I did something I have never really given much thought to before.  I can't remember where I learned this little trick but I have done it for a long time.  When assembling mortises it helps to ease the edges of the tenons at a slight angle.  This helps to see where the tight spots are, if there are any, and it helps the tenon fit into the mortise without tearing up the sometimes delicate ends of the tenons.  The severity to which I ease the edge depends on the depth of the tenon and the importance of the strength of the joint.  More easing equals less contact area between the walls of the mortise and the sides of the tenon, so just a little will do.  This is just a super simple little step that can help make some assembly easier and help prevent breakages and blowouts.  I'm all about things that make my life easier...give it a try.

Eased Tenon Edges On The Right Original Tenon On The Left