Katy has a new batch of soft wax up in her store today. She tried to get Wally the cat (aka Black Phillip) to pose with the wax. He took one sniff and backed away. Slowly.
Soft wax: furniture finish and cat repellent. Get yours here.
— Christopher Schwarz
Though I’ve been up to my neck in “Woodworking in Estonia” and building a Danish Modern Campaign chest, I’ve been sneaking in a little work on our Willard Street storefront.
Most of that work is happening in my savings account. We need a new roof. And because we want one that will last longer than we will, it’s going to cost us about $19,000. Good thing Katy works at a grocery store and gets a discount on generic ramen.
I’ve been working on our facade a bit; I removed the furry (yes, furry) exhaust fan and rebuilt the top of our entrance to have three windows. This improvement lets in even more light. Then I hired designer Nicholas Moegly to paint our street numbers on the new center window.
The numbers are hand-painted and then gold leaf is applied in what is called a Boston gild. I’m still sweeping up little scraps of gold (I have a little PTSD from the glitter).
Nicholas’s work is outstanding. You can see the street numbers from a block away and they look a lot classier than the plastic Blaze bar sign we inherited. We should receive our new custom entry door in the next week or so. And after I install that and the fire exit signs, I’ll hire Nicholas to paint our logo on the new door – once I get city approval.
The other progress is in the stables. Today I finished building a braced and ledged door for the stable’s entrance to the courtyard. This doorway was formerly secured with a tarp. The door was a blast to build because I did it all by hand.
I also built and installed a new door frame and I’ll hang the door on massive strap hinges tomorrow.
With the stables secure, I can start to lay a new wooden floor and (after replenishing the savings account) reconnect the electric service to the stables.
— Christopher Schwarz
This last entry in this series will focus on the remainder of tools I have in my chest today. Most of them have to do with making holes and filling them.
Boring Tools
While I had great affection for my Spofford brace, I found that a ratcheting brace is really helpful for reaming mortises, particularly when correcting a reaming gone wrong (boy, that sounds salacious). So I gave my Spofford brace to a student and now have one of the Stanley versions of the North Bros. famous brace.
The other big change in the world of hole-making is I use WoodOwl augers instead of Irwins. The WoodOwls cut faster than any vintage auger I’ve tried. And they work in my electric drills, too. I store my augers in a tool roll from Texas Heritage Woodworks. Normally I wouldn’t single out a tool roll for praise, but this is the best one I’ve ever owned. It’s bulletproof, rolls up tight and holds a lot of bits.
I’m a big fan of hand drills, and when I wrote “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest,” I had a Millers Falls No. 2A or 5 (I forget). Five years later I have a Millers Falls No. 2A or 5 (I forget). In the intervening years I had a Goodell-Pratt, but a friend fell in love with it, so I gave it to him.
As far as bits for the hand drill go, I have the little plastic boxed set from Rockler (best $20 I’ve spent in boring) and a set of Snappy countersink bits. The Snappys are made in the U.S. and are much cheaper than the Fullers (also made in the U.S.). Get the Snappys, they are 11.4 times better.
The Wonderful World of Screwdriving
I had to become a better person who drives screws to write “Campaign Furniture,” which involved installing hundreds of pieces of inlaid brass hardware. I have the Grace USA set of screwdrivers, which is what I have in my chest’s tool rack. They have held up really well.
I also have the two Elemen’tary screwdrivers that take replaceable bits. And I use gunsmith bits from Brownell’s (I have the standard set No. 2). One caution: If you order from Brownell’s, be ready to receive lots of gun literature, which may be welcome or unwelcome in your house. The NRA sent my wife a tote bag as a result. Weird.
Also new to my chest is a Starrett centerpunch, which makes installing hinges easy. I still use (and love) my Czeck Edge birdcage awl.
I also have some junky hardware store screwdrivers and an eyeglass screwdriver for odd jobs (or to loan to people).
Sharpening
I don’t keep my sharpening gear in my chest – I keep it in a boot tray under my bench. I use Shapton Pro stones (#1,000, #5,000 and #8,000) and a Lie-Nielsen Honing Guide. I have been switching back and forth between oilstones and waterstones and landed on Shaptons because they will sharpen everything, even D2.
Rasps
I still have three Auriou rasps: The cabinet rasp, modeller’s and a rattail. All are protected in a tool roll. I also have a brush for cleaning them.
Odds & Sods
The second till of my chest has become a repository for spares – spare TiteMark blades, a lifetime of Pegas blades, a toothing iron for my block plane, a whole box of pencil leads.
My Cabinet Scraper
Finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention my Sandvik cabinet scraper, which I’ve had since day 1. They don’t make it anymore (the story is that the machine that ground them broke and Sandvik decided not to replace it). It’s protected in its original plastic holder and is sharpened with an Arno carbide burnisher.
— Christopher Schwarz
Dennis Santella dug up three great-looking staked furniture pieces – two benches and two chairs – from the middle of the 20th century that are all connected to Jean Touret and posted them on the forum (check out that discussion here).
I’m smitten by all three, though I’m most fond of the bench by Atelier Marolles. The idea of combining two groups of three staked legs is genius. Plus the rake and splay of the legs add an animalistic appeal.
I also really like the four saddled areas on the seat with matching curves in the back. I contemplated this approach for the bench I’ve been sketching this summer (which is on hiatus right now as I build a stable door and finish “Woodworking in Estonia”).
Also nice is the more conventional bench from Jean Touret (who headed Atelier Marolles). Check out how the seat is saddled – it curves only in one direction (front to back). That’s something that can be done with a jack plane or a large round plane and is explained in “The Anarchist’s Design Book.”
Both of these benches have a surface treatment that is hand-carved.
The last pieces are a pair of chairs from the Marolles workshop, also under the direction of Touret. These are a traditional form that is very common in the Germanic countries. The cross-battens allow you to use a thinner seat without sacrificing strength in the leg joints.
Check out other pieces from Touret here.
— Christopher Schwarz
I always felt odd building French workbenches using English (or worse) inches.
Anyone who has studied the history of measurement knows that there are as many systems of measurement out there as there are cultures and epochs. Surprisingly, many of them are similar because they are based on the human form. But they are all a little different.
Rather than whitewash these differences or convert them to metric, I try to incorporate them into my work in the same way you would never put a Roman ovolo on a Grecian piece.
At the vanguard of this curious approach is Brendan Gaffney, a woodworker and musical savant who has been taking a deep dive into alternative measurement systems. He recently made three rulers for sale based on Japanese, Roman and Egyptian systems. I purchased the Roman ruler and it is a work of great beauty. I plan to use it in constructing two upcoming Roman workbenches.
And now Brendan is exploring the 18th-century French measurement system.
After some back and forth, Brendan has constructed French “fathoms” that are based on A.J. Roubo’s plate 100 from “l’Art du menuisier.” Here’s Roubo’s description of the fathom:
“Woodworkers use fathoms as the fundamental unit for taking their measures. This is nothing other than a ruler of 6 feet in length divided into feet and one of these divisions into thumbs so as to be able to know how far each part they are measuring is in length. There are those who do not use fathoms but simply use a ruler of whatever length on which they mark their measurements.”
Brendan’s version, which goes on sale on Saturday, is faithful to that description. His fathom is made from flame maple, planed true, hand-marked and finished in Brendan’s workshop. If they are anything like his other rulers, they will be spectacular.
Do you need a fathom? No. You can make your own if you think you need one. But if you’d like to support a fellow explorer who is diving deep into waters that have been uncharted for more than 200 years, you can do that here.
I’m ordering one for layout work and to help interpret the drawings from our forthcoming book “Roubo on Furniture,” which contains lots of scaled drawings.
— Christopher Schwarz