Good evening and welcome to Monday. After you order your copy of the “Stanley Catalogue No. 34” it is time to read the forum. Remember, if you have a question about our products, procedures in our books or anything related to Lost Art Press, the fastest way to get an answer is our forum. Check it out here.
Dealing with a Water Stain How does one remove a water stain from untreated European oak? Or can you? If this is an area you have expertise in, here is the place to leave some advise.
Bookcase Finishing Kevin is trying to figure out in what order he wants to paint, glue and nail his bookshelf. He asked if anyone had pictures of their projects showing these steps done in different orders. A few people have responded and this bookshelf by Michael gets my vote! (above) You can give your feedback here.
Project Ideas for k5-2nd Grade Mark is going to be teaching kiddos a little something about woodworking and is looking for project ideas. They will be using cedar, leather, and copper tacks, nails or rivets. If you have ideas for him, let him know here.
Moravian Workbench: Does it Stand up to Hand Planing? This question is pretty straightforward. Robert just wants to know if this bench can handle dimensioning boards cross grain with a scrub plane. Help him out here.
Panel Saw for Bench Work Shannon is in the market for a panel saw and is looking for recommendations. Right now she is looking at the BT&C Hardware Store saw and curious to know if anyone has feedback on it. If you do, or have another panel saw you would like to vote for, here is the place to comment.
Dutch Tool Chest with Leather Hinges I have seen many people on the forum looking for cheaper alternatives for hinges that still give personality to their projects. I like Mark’s solution for his dutch tool chest. The leather hinges added turned out to be a great addition. More pictures here.
All of the pieces in this book were designed using dirt-simple techniques that rely on photos of old furniture, a pencil, scraps of wood and wire clothes hangers.
The method allows you to stand on the shoulders of successful designs and alter them to fit a particular space in your home, to remove ornament or to even change the purpose of the piece (you can turn a stool into a desk).
It begins with finding a piece of furniture with an attractive form or, as I like to say, “good bones.” It doesn’t matter in what style or period the piece was built. What matters is that the piece’s proportions and lines hit you in the gut.
The chair and backstool in this book both began with a piece from Victor Chinnery’s classic “Oak Furniture: Fine British Tradition.” I liked the rake of the legs, the four evenly spaced spindles and the smallish crest rail.
But there’s a problem when starting with a photograph. As a photographer friend says, “Photos are lying bitches.” Well-designed furniture looks good from almost every angle, and a photo shows only one view-point. The solution is to make a quick digital model or small mock-up.
To do this, you need some dimensions. I use a pair of dividers and a ruler to work these out. For example, I knew that the seat of the back-stool in Chinnery was about 14″ from the floor. That allowed me to figure out the width of the seat and the other relevant dimensions. Some dimensions, such as the depth of the seat, I guessed at using ranges from “Human Dimension & Interior Space.”
If I’m building a case piece, I then make a quick 3D model in a computer-aided design (CAD) program. No joinery. No details. Just boxes that reflect the mass and major components of the piece. Then I rotate the piece and look at it from all angles to see if the photo was lying.
‘Modeling’ Projects in ‘Wireframe’ Modeling chairs or any staked piece in CAD, however, is stupid. OK, “stupid” is a strong word. It’s much faster to make a half-scale model using scraps and wire.
Nice backside. When I began designing the chair in this book, I started with rear legs that were angled 30° off the sightline. This angle gave the chair a wide stance that looked great from the rear.
Bambi? Is that you? But when I viewed the model from the front, the chair began to resemble a newborn fawn that was struggling to stand.
Fix you. Just like in nature, the answer was to help the model stand up a little more straight. In a chair, I usually make changes in 3° increments or so. But because this chair looked splayed like a squashed spider, I changed the angle by 5°.
I epoxy the wire legs into the plank seat and bend them into position with pliers. As you’ll see in the next section on staked furniture, this modeling process will also solve the geometry problems for you when building the piece.
Then I put the model on a table and walk all around it. I bend and snip the wire legs until the piece hits me in the gut the same way the original photograph did.
At this point I’ll do one of two things: If I have the time, I build a quick full-size prototype from junk wood. This allows me to work out some of the joinery and construction problems that I might not have anticipated.
If I’m in a hurry, I take a picture of my wire model, print it out and draw on the printout. I might add bulk to the legs, scalpel bulk from the seat, add spindles and other details.
Then I head to the shop and build what I pretty much know is something that will work.
Run Forrest. The 5° alteration changed the stance significantly. Viewed from the rear and the front, the chair looks more like a bird dog in the field.
If this process sounds arduous, you might not be ready to design your own pieces of furniture. Stick to plans – there’s no shame in that.
Design, like anything in woodwork, takes a little effort. I’ve never met anyone who can design a piece using pure inspiration and nail it on the first try. The process outlined above, however, is the shortest distance I’ve found between desire and satisfaction.
It is not an early morning forum update like it usually is, but it is written from the most scenic viewpoint so far. Instead of my office I am sitting in beautiful Turkey Run State Park in Indiana. After an exhausting morning of hiking it feels great to sit back, relax and write the update. (Especially when it is quiet because your husband has the toddler.) A lot is going on in the forum these days, this update is just the tip of the iceberg. So don’t rely on me; make sure to check it for yourself throughout the week. Remember, if you have a question about our products, procedures in our books or anything related to Lost Art Press, the fastest way to get an answer is our forum. Check it out here.
Worktable and Bookcase Adam is looking to put a version of the bookshelf from “The Anarchist’s Design Book” on top of the worktable from the book. He has a sketch drawn up but thinks it looks a bit top heavy. See the rendering here and give your thoughts.
Steaming Boards Flat Anybody have experience trying to steam boards flat? Another Adam has finally found the Brazilian mahogany boards that he has been looking for but they are a bit wavy. If you have any tips to give him, here is the link.
Strong Trunk: How to Accommodate Wood Movement with Brass Straps Inspired by “Campaign Furniture,” William is about to start on a trunk. However, he is concerned about the brass straps constraining the wood and leading to splitting. If you have advice or would like to see the responses so far, the post is here.
Workbench Holes worn out from Holdfasts Shannon has a “Naked Woodworker”-style Nicholson bench that is less than a year old. She has noticed that a couple of the holes on the bench have become ovals and are no longer holding the holdfasts as tight as they used to. She has a few ideas on how this issue could be resolved but is looking for some insight from those who might have had the same issue. See if you can help here.
ADB Bookcase – An Eagle Scout Project Hats off to Brett and his son for taking on the bookshelf from “The Anarchist’s Design Book” as an Eagle Scout project. Brett’s wife works at a Title 1 school that was in need of six bookshelves and their son rose to the occasion. Pictures are above and the link is here. Awesome work you guys!
Shelves can be fixtures, often helping to strengthen the carcase, or they can be adjustable. The former will be considered first. The simple or stopped housing joint (Fig 293), has no strength, being all end grain glueing, however it does prevent the shelf from warping. The stronger dovetail housing or tapered dovetail housing is not a basic skill. The best method for the beginner is to tenon the shelves into the sides. Through tenons are particularly suited to the coarser grained woods, oak, ash, elm and chestnut, but not to the finer mahoganies and similar woods.
Fig 294 shows a bad example of tenoning. The very wide mortices cut across so many fibres that the component is severely weakened. Unfortunately examples of this are common. The joint at Fig 295 is both constructionally more sound and aesthetically more pleasing. Fig 296 shows the most effective form of this joint, which combines a housing with the tenons. The front corner should be stopped to conceal the joint. At the rear the joint may or may not be stopped, according to preference and the construction chosen.
Fig 297 shows a common variation where the shelf is set back from the carcase front. This also permits a moulding on the shelf edge when the carcase itself is plain. It is essential where a door is fitted inside the carcase or when sliding glass doors are used. The gauging for this is very simply arranged. A block is produced (Fig 298) of a thickness the same as the set-in. This is slipped over the marking gauge. The shelf is gauged with the block and the carcase sides without it.
When tenons are brought through, giving a very strong carcase, they are generally wedged (Fig 299). Fig 300 shows how the wedges are mass produced from a small block, sawn to the tenon thickness. Make the cuts with a fine saw then saw off the entire strip. Making them individually by paring with a chisel is time-wasting and can be dangerous. Note that sawcuts are made for the wedges, which are not driven in at the ends of the mortice in the manner of the joiner. The mortice is opened out slightly to accept the wedges.
There are many methods of supporting adjustable and removable shelves including quite a number of commercial systems. One of the simplest is Fig 301. However this does not prevent the shelf from sliding when in use. This defect is remedied by glueing a small strip to the rear edge of the shelf to t into a gap behind the bearer (Fig 302). In a backless carcase a similar strip is needed at the front (Fig 303). This has the further advantage that thinner material may be used for the shelf while retaining the appearance of thickness. Moulding may be required on this thickened edge.
For better quality work a more sophisticated method is recommended. Fig 304 shows notches cut into the under face of the shelf, to accept turned supporting studs (Fig 305). These are usually 13mm (1/2in.) diameter with a 6mm (1/4in.) peg. Rosewood or a similar exotic wood is generally chosen.
It is worth making a metal drilling strip for adjustable shelves (Fig 306). It will always come in useful again. Carefully mark the top then screw the strip in place. Drill all the holes using an electric drill with a depth stop. Insert two metal or wooden pegs next to the screws to locate the strip, remove the screws and drill the remaining two holes.
There are a number of other shelving variations which the beginner may find of practical value, for example, when displaying china plates on a dresser. For this purpose a groove is worked (Fig 307), which may be anything from 6mm (1/4in.) to 25mm (1in.) in width. Alternatively a small beading can be glued in (Fig 308). Open-backed shelves can be fitted with a lipping to keep books or other items in place (Fig 309). A deep shelf may be fitted with an adjustable stop (Fig 310) in order to keep small books lined up on the front edge.
Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a great weekend and that you are ready to face the week. I know my husband and I spent the whole weekend hiding from the world and being as anti-social as possible. It was wonderful. As far as I am concerned, you have to do that every now and then. And what better way to continue my recluse ways this morning than to hide in my office and read the forum? Remember, if you have a question about our products, procedures in our books or anything related to Lost Art Press, the fastest way to get an answer is our forum. Check it out here.
Drawboring vs. Screws for a Simple Shed Daniel is building a shed but hasn’t decided how to secure the mortise and tenon joints. He had planned to drawbore them but is now considering construction wood screws. What would you do? Would drawboring be overkill?
Making Winding Sticks but the Wood Cupped Along the Length Scott was making winding sticks out of quartersawn white oak but after cutting they have a bow in them. It is about 1/4” over the 34” length. He wants to know if there is any chance that they will relax back into straight or if it is a deal-breaker for the winding sticks to have a slight bow in them. Help him out here.
Bench in a Day and Other Stuff After seeing all of the questions about whether wood needed to be dry to build a bench and how families got by “back in the day” before there was time to dry wood properly, Adam decided to build a bench in a day with what he had laying around. Photos (one is at the top of the page) and his description of the project are here.
Cambered Jointer Plane Iron Jason has been digging into the archives of Popular Woodworking and the idea of using a cambered jointer plane iron caught his attention. He is curious as to how this works and what those who use one think. Have any information that can help him decide if this might be for him?
ADB Bookshelf – But Bigger and with a Lid Last but not least, the completed build that caught my eye this week was Michael’s take on the ADB bookshelf. (above) He was able to use the feedback he got on the forum last week, so thanks to those who lent a hand. Looks great Michael! There are closer shots of his project here.
