Cornering the Stained Glass Lamp

There is a requirement for some people to consistently move things around in their lives. There are theories that this is a sign that something is not quite right, maybe they are unhappy with things. I think some people just enjoy to change things up a little bit from time to time. It also allows them to dust under and around things which I obviously do not do.

I tend to leave things as they are until I trip over the fully-formed and now sentient dust bunny. My wife is thankfully a "move things around" individual. She is mostly unhappy that I do not dust (or vacuum) under things. Obviously, when she wants things moved I help as much as I can. Let's face it, I owe her.

Recently, she wanted a small lamp with a stained-glass shade moved to the lower shelf of our corner cabinet. Unfortunately, it was about 1/8 inch taller than the space allowed, and these shelves are not adjustable. Honestly, I can't think of any shelves in our house that are adjustable.

Back to the lamp. First, I checked my peanut butter jar full of spare nuts, nothing there. 

Then I checked the other lamps in the house, only one lamp had the same retaining nut threading, but it was as tall as the one I was replacing. 

Hey, this coaxial cable nut seems to be the same size! So, I snipped the connector off and sawed the nut from it. Who uses coax anymore? Turns out the size was right but the threading was wonky, or "not-the-same".

Finally, I decided to shorten a retaining nut from one of the lamps. I choose the less decorative of the two, it also had a small lip on the bottom that would hide the alteration nicely.

I had to find some way to hold the small nut securely to work on it, it wouldn't do to have it rolling everywhere while trying to work on it. In short order, I quickly notched a 'V' into the jaws of a small hand screw. I've got two of these that I don't use very often and can easily make another if I feel I can't live without. 

The notches allow the nut to have four points of contact with the holding device. I then filed down the soft brass retaining nut past the lip.  

Ah, after all that, the lamp fits!

Of course, other alterations to the cabinet have to be made to accommodate the new immigrant. I made a second hole to put a Scentsy warmer on the middle shelf.

This is how it looks this morning as I write the blog.

So things are dusted
     and Easter has moved in.
Everyone is happy,
     until we have to dust again.

Dan.

A Clean Tool is a Happy Tool

Keeping your tools sharp and clean is very important in any shop, but even more so for the green woodworker. My task of modifying the birthing pen for the goat moms-to-be left me with some very sticky tools!

If you have dealt with pine pitch, which would even include anyone who has had to adjust the Christmas tree in the stand. You are familiar with the fact that it sticks to everything and even soap and water did little to clean it off. Simply put, pine pitch isn't soluble in water. 

To dissolve pine pitch you can use either alcohol or spirits (mineral or turpentine), either one does the job. I currently have about 2 gallons of denatured alcohol on that needs to be used, so that's what I grabbed. 

I also keep a can of used mineral spirits for paint clean-up that I would probably use normally. I do my clean-up and recycle it back into the can.

If you want to go "au natural", I suggest using spirits of turpentine or ether. Neither of these are not mechanically process and 100% safe to use. 

Finally, if you wish to learn more about the solubility of different gums and resins, I suggest picking up a copy of Shellac, Linseed Oil, and Paint; Traditional 19th Century Woodwork Finishes by Stephen A. Shephard. This was one of the books I used as a text during my years of teaching preservation. 

Cleaning with alcohol is a simple process; simply wet it down and brush it a little to help the alcohol dissolve the resins. 

After a few minutes, the resin will be completely dissolved and the alcohol will quickly evaporate, harmless to the finish of the tool. 

Another tool I had to clean was a drawknife I had used during a recent shaving horse build. I had planned to use green pine for the leg and pegs, but ultimately only used the pegs. I was sucessful, however, in making the drawknife all icky-sticky in the process. 

This is the auger bit I used during the goat pen chore. In the end, I switched to using wire nails, but if you read my earlier post, you already knew that. But as little as I used it, this auger still needed a cleaning. 

This is my number 7 bit that I always leave on one of my braces. I use it every spring to bore holes for my maple taps and also for any for drawbore holes at the bench. The old auger bits were numbered according to size, each to the sixteenth of an inch, thus this auger bit is equal to 7/16 inches 

After cleaning I like to give the tools a quick rub down with a linseed oil and beeswax mixture. There are many different mixture recipes out there, but there is really no wrong way to do it. I toss them in an old crockpot and cover the beeswax chuncks with lindseed oil. I like the mixture to be a little on the softer side, more oil than wax, so when it cools I will add more of one or the other to my liking. 

Clean-up is also when I give the tools a quick sharpening. Do yourself a favor and stop freaking out about how to sharpen. There is no secret to it, just learn a quick repeatable method and do it often. 

This is the hatchet after cleaning with the alcohol. 

And this is the hatchet after honing and oiling. I even oiled the leather cover this time. NICE!

You may not always have the opportunity to keep your tools in flawless condition. I sometimes have to leave to get things done ans saddly the tools have to wait on the bench until I get back. Do what you can, respect them, and they will last you many years, 

Dan. 

The Solution at Hand - Making a planing stop

I picked up a book not so long ago from Lost Art Press called The Solution at Hand, by Robert Wearing. You can find it HERE. This book contains many of Wearing's jigs and work helpers from his many years of printing with Woodworker magazine. My goal with this book is to try out as many of these items as I can and pass the results along to anyone with an interest.

The book starts with a workbench, guess I will skip that one for the time being. I really don't need another workbench, but I may use the designed later if someone wants one or I get another apprentice.

The first item I found of interest were two L-shaped pieces to lock your workbench in place. Well, even 'The Beast" will walk away from some heavy planning from time to time. I made these out of some scrap maple plywood and installed them at opposing corners of the bench.

I haven't had any more problems with movement, even with a lot of test work to try push the racking of the bench as much as possible.

Moving on to the next project, I decided to build a simple planing stop. I don't currently have one morticed into the bench top, so I figured I would follow one of Wearing's templates and make one I could clamp into the vise and that could handle narrow or wide boards. It would also use one of the holdfast locations I installed the day prior.

This old shelf has been under my feet for months. I've been hoarding it for over 10 years and four different workshop spaces. I have yet to find someplace worth hanging it in this shop so it has officially volunteered to be recycled. 

I took it apart, saving the brackets and 2x4s for later projects. I honestly hadn't even planned on keeping the shelf this long. 

I ripped a length from the shelf, 3-inches wide. Notice the holdfast being used!

I then took one of the scrap 2x4s and planed one edge slightly out of square. This detail will force the plywood strip down to the workbench top when the stop is clamped in the leg vise. 

I glued and screwed the two pieces together and the planing stop is ready for use!

It's such a simple jig and takes mere minutes to make. You can also make multiple stops at varying thicknesses as needed.

Dan.

Holdfast to the course, Mr. Smee. This worktop be gettin' holey!

I've been using my current workbench for well over a year now, waiting for it to tell me where a holdfast would be beneficial.

I look through the woodwork forums and always see the same bit of advice: "Only install holdfasts where they are needed." 

That sound good, but whenever I could use one I found myself inventing some other method to hold my work in place. After the task was over, I simply forgot about the problem and moved on to the next job. 

Guess what? You don't NEED a holdfast, like everything else in woodworking, there are multiple ways of getting things done. None of them right or wrong, just differing opinions. 

Anyway, I finally got around to adding some holes in the current bench. 

My first hand tool workbench in 2010 had holes set 2-inches from the front edge, every 6-inches to accommodate the very small tail vise I had installed. Most of the lumber I used at this time was pre-milled. I had very little use for the multiple holes. 

My second workbench, built around 2015, was a design was taken from one of  Roy Underhill's books and I followed the holdfast pattern as it had been laid out. I used this work bench mainly at woodworking shows and conferences. I used wedges to hold pieces in place in conjunction with the holdfast. 

The "Beast", my current bench, has a worksurface 6-foot long, 26-inches deep and 3-inches thick. It also has a tail vise that sees as much use as the leg vise, not for pinching a work piece to the surface but as an awesome quick-release second vise. I may add that ability in the future, but I get along fine without it. 

Searching for advice on where I should place my holdfasts, I located a couple articles written by Schwarz that laid out his favorite locations and the reasoning behind it. I emphatically advise you to search them out for yourself.  I used the drawing above as a source on where I wanted to place my holes. 

I bored this hole out without once thinking about how close it was to the leg. Luckily, it skimmed the outer edge of the leg, but doesn't stop the holdfast from functioning. 

I used my own measurements to lay out the spacing, allowing the holdfasts to overlap slightly in reach.

I've owned these Gramercy holdfasts since bench number one in 2010. Using 3/4-inch holes, they have a 9-inch shaft. Rather short for a holdfast, they are barely long enough to handle the 3-inch work surface. I will probably notch the gripping surface of the holdfasts to improve the grab even more. 

The reach is about 7-1/2 inches, so I spaced the holes on the work top to 14-inches on center. 

Here are all the highlighted hole locations. Five are located 4-inches from the back edge, these are for use when planning across the grain. The other three are for use with the planning stop, morticing and holding the work piece to the bench hook. 

More on the plane stop next time. 

Dan. 

Tools be hanged!

I spent much of the last year in the new workshop procrastinating. It got so bad that I was constantly putting stuff in the workshop anywhere I could find room and no projects were completed because I always felt I needed to clean up first and it was a daunting task. The occasions that I did work in the shop, I would have to move this and that, knocking over a tower of tools in the process. Finally, my wife came to the rescue with logic allowing me to get past this depressing workshop era.

I can't quote her precisely, but it was along the lines of, "Take out everything you don't need. You don't need to get rid of it, store it in the attic until you figure out what to do with it." So that is precisely what I did.

I had house carpentry tools, roofing tool, blacksmith tools, and lots and lots of extra tools. So then began the great purge.

Most of the tools in the shop are now used on a daily basis. Mind you there is still plenty of room for improvement but as long as progress is made I am much happier.

One of the things I've been needing to do is organize my hand drills and hammers, which have been littering the mobile bench because I had no clue what to do with them. I don't find that I use the hand drills much, but I hope to change that in the future.

I have all these glorious ideas of hanging them using pegs and if I could only find the time to do it, I would be happy...but time tends to be a precious commodity of which we all lack. So I decided to hang them using finish nails for the time being, a more attractive solution may present itself later, or not. Whatever, it works for now.

I begin by eyeballing the approximate position I want the tool to be located. 

Measuring the gap gives me a span for the hanger, after adding a little extra so the tool isn't pinched, but not so much to all the tool to slide right through. There is not a lot of leeway on these hand drills. 

I mark the location for the nails and make an indention using a nail set. The nail set reduces the chance of your nail or drill bit riding away from the mark due to the hardness of the grain of the wood. I also predrilled a hole about 1/4-inch deep to guide the nail and reduce the hammering needed to set the nail in place.

I then copy the technique for the second drill. I had about six of them, so all the spares will be hung in the hallway leading to the shop as decoration. 

I follow a similar technique with all the hammers. I decided to keep three on hand in the workshop, all older. I've noticed that I tend to use the smallest on the most. My giant framing hammer has no use in the workshop so I set it aside for now. I plan to make a mobile work box for him and his friends later.

I drilled holes in the mallet handles and hung them in front of the drawshave. The smaller one is used on holdfasts and the other is a mortice chisel beater.

There, that definitely works for the time being! 

Dan.

Job bid and siding update

We have gotten a couple more roofing bids out there. All wooden shingle and about the same size 1700 -1800 square feet. The latest one is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This is just a teaser and I'll talk more about it if we get the contract.

I'm slowly making my way around the workshop with the siding. I only get about 3 or 4 hours in the afternoon to work on it, but every little bit counts.

Hindsight is board and board

With the weather drying out a bit and the spring semester finally over, I've had a chance to do a little more work on the workshop.

A couple days ago I notched in a couple more nailers across the studs in order to prepare for the vertical siding. These are spaced two feet and were pretty fast to put up even with all the notch cutting I had to do.

Yesterday I finally started putting up the siding! I have been planning a board and batten pattern with varying width boards for quite some time. Only after I started did I realize that I could have just as easily done a board and board pattern which would eliminate ripping the battens down to width.

Oh well. Hindsight, and all other cliches that add to your experience levels. ;)