Last Thursday John told me he was heading to the warehouse and asked if I wanted to tag along. I jumped on the opportunity. I was glad to get a chance to meet people that I was emailing with regularly. Also, the more I get involved in the business the more I am curious about what happens in the process once we are finished on our end. John happened to be going to review the systems in place with those who do our shipping so I knew I would get a great look into their side of things. It was worth the trip. They are great people and looking to make our shipping processes better than ever.
So, In case you want to know what it looks like being the scenes, here are some pictures of where your Lost Art Press orders are coming from. Lots of beautiful books!
Nothing fancy but there it is. Now both you and I know where the books are coming from when we put an order in the system.
Good Morning and Happy Monday! It’s that time of the week for a forum update. 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.
Making a Wider Bookshelf
Thomas needed a bookshelf to fit a 6 foot space in his home, so he modified the bookshelf from “The Anarchist’s Design Book.” (shown above) Now he is trying to decide on a paint color. See his modifications and put in your vote for a paint color here.
1770 French Bench Doe’s Foot
Ever wonder how one would plane the edge of a board that was too short to reach the hold fast holes on the right hand leg on the vise-less French benches? Or wonder why the doe’s feet shown on most plates are so wide and short? Chris had. And then he saw the recent posts on the Lost Art Press blog. See his thought process here.
The Campaign Worktable of Necessity
How do you guarantee yourself a great workspace if your job moves you around to different offices on a regular basis with no promise of a decent desk at the next location? Build yourself a campaign worktable of course. And not just any table, one with style. Above it is shown disassembled and ready to be moved. See the table assembled here.
Why do cut nails rotate when driven?
John has noticed a rotation when driving cut nails and was wondering if there is a way to avoid it. A few suggestions have been provided to him as to how to prevent this. Have your own solution or the same problem? Here is the place to comment.
A Boarded Campaign Chest Joshua’s Campaign Chest that he was looking for some feedback on a couple weeks ago is coming along really well. (shown at right) The hardware is a great touch. Now for some feet and it will be set to go!
Parallel Guides
Jeremy has been working on a split top Ruobo and has a couple questions on parallel guides. Check out the specifics of his build and see if you can offer some advice here.
We will assume that the chamfer is to be, say, 1-3/4 to 2 ins. wide and that the stops are to be shaped as shown in Fig. 1. In the best construction the uprights would be in the form of solid squares, the ends and the drawer rails being jointed into them. Any such joints should be marked out, cut and fitted first. In fact it is an advantage to chamfer after assembling because cramps are more easily applied.
The position of the chamfer is marked out in pencil. If the gauge is used it will make a mark which cannot be removed in subsequent chamfering. Square in the line of the stop and prepare a template in cardboard giving the shape of the stop. This is shown in Fig. 2. It is merely necessary to lay the template in position against the squared line and mark round it with pencil. The template does for both front and side.
Working the Chamfer. A saw cut has to be made up against the stops, but in addition it is advisable to make a series of cuts across the grain throughout the length of the chamfer. The purpose of this is to cut up the grain. If, in the subsequent chopping away process, a split should develop it cannot run past the next saw cut. These cuts should stop about 1/16 in. short of the finished depth. They are shown in Fig. 2.
A great deal of the waste can be removed by chopping with the chisel. Use a wide chisel and, holding it bevel side downwards, strike the handle with a mallet. Watch carefully the grain and if it appears to run downwards work in the opposite direction. In any case, however, stop about 1/16 in. short of the line. This is shown in Fig. 3.
It is immaterial whether the ends are finished first or last. The bullnose plane is extremely useful, but much careful paring with the wide chisel is also necessary. The ordinary smoothing plane can be used for the bulk of the middle part of the chamfer. It will have to run out towards the ends, of course, and these parts will have to be finished with the bullnose plane or spokeshave. When approximately down to the finished line use the scraper, and make smooth by rubbing with glass-paper wrapped around a flat block.
The Decorative Stop. It will have been seen that saw cuts are also made across the grain of the decorative stop. Note that they stop well short of the pencil line. Fig. 4 shows how the bulk of the waste can be cut away in steps with the chisel. Afterwards a gouge can be used to bring the shape approximately to the line. Following this the file is used as in Fig. 5. Give this a compound movement, rocking it sideways at the same time as it is pushed forwards. Scraping follows and finally glasspaper, this being wrapped around a rubber.
Details of a Planted-On Stop
Planted on Construction. To avoid the troublesome necessity of working a wide chamfer up to a stop, the method of planting on the stops is sometimes adopted. The advantage is that the ordinary plane can be worked right through from end to end.
The first stage of working the plain chamfer is shown in Fig. 6. The blocks for the stops could be glued straight on at the ends but this is not very satisfactory, the better plan being to cut away the chamfer to a depth of about 1/8 in. as in Fig. 7 and plant the blocks in this recess. This is really essential in the case of a curved stop which forms a continuous sweep with the chamfer. At A, Fig. 9, for instance, there would be a feather edge in the event of the block being planted straight on.
Fig. 8 shows how the block is glued on, It must be thick enough to enable a square corner to be worked.
After spending the weekend staining our deck I am too sunburnt to go outside again for days. I thought when you hit adulthood you became wise and remembered to reapply sunblock. This seems to not be the case. So, here I sit. This means I have all kinds of time to read the forum. The good news is, there is lots to read. 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.
Deficiency in the prototype 6-board chest? Jacob was at the Lost Art Press storefront on Saturday and liked the 6-board chest that was for sale. (photo above) After leaving he was curious what Chris didn’t like about it that he changed for his next design. Curious to find out too?
Soap finish: soap to water ratio? Has anyone had success with the “soap soup” finish from “The Anarchist’s Design Book”? If so, Mark is looking for your tips that worked for you. What was your soap to water ratio? What type of soap did you use?
Alcohol Torch Question James bought this Alcohol Torch (which I have to add that I think it is awesome) and is looking for someone who is able to tell him how to turn it off properly. The torch spout continues to draw once it is turned off and a stream of alcohol leaks out. Know the answer to his question? Answer here.
Campaign Card Table Justin is designing a table with a drop leaf that has stored support legs. He is curious to see what people think of using hinges or if they have other ideas that may be more stable. Weigh in with your design here.
Pricing Criteria for woodworking projects Anyone here sell their work? If you do, Gary is curious what you charge. Here is the link to help him out.
Cherry Bench Last week we posted on the forum to help Daniel recover from some bad breaks on his bench project. After recovering from a cracked leg and other setbacks, here is the bench. Congrats Daniel!
FIG 1. THE SNAIL COUNTERSINK. A shows the appearance of the bit, and B the correct shape. At C the cutting edge is dubbed over. The cutting edge needs undercutting at D (see dotted line). At E the part d is too high.
Bits often come in for a good deal of neglect. A man will keep his chisels and planes keen and have his saws sharpened, but just won’t be bothered to touch his bits when they become dull. It is a pity because you can’t expect to bore clean, accurate holes if your bits are dull or out of order. Not that a bit should be sharpened too often. Remember that there is a limit to the number of times any bit can be rubbed up, especially those having threads. The secret is never to allow a bit to become really dull, and to avoid running across hidden nails. The last-named do a lot of damage and necessitate a lot of filing—in bad cases the bit may be made entirely useless.
The Snail Countersink. This is for wood cutting only. If the cutting edge of this becomes dull it means that you have to apply considerable pressure to make it cut at all. Furthermore it is liable to form an uneven recess. Fig. 1 shows at A and B the correct shape and makes clear the features to be noted in the sharpening. Note first that the cutting edge, a, is undercut and is sharpened only at the inside. If dubbed over as at C it will fail to cut at all because the actual edge does not touch the wood to be removed. What has happened is that someone, not understanding the principle of the cutting, has filed the outside instead of the inside.
Another cause of bad cutting is shown at D, a fault less easily detected. The edge may be apparently sharp, and the sharpening may have been on the inside as it should be, yet the bit cuts poorly. The fault is that the edge is not undercut sufficiently. In all probability a flat file has been used so often that the undercutting has been almost completely removed owing to the angle having been gradually changed. There is no harm in giving a final rub with a flat file or oilstone slip—in fact it helps to keep the edge straight—but the gullet, b, should be deepened occasionally by using a rattail file. The dotted line in D shows how the metal should be filed.
The last fault at E is not likely to happen in a bit of reliable make, but may be found in a cheap one. It is clear that the surface of the cone at d is higher than the cutting edge, and the latter cannot therefore touch the wood. The remedy is to file down the part at d.
Most wood bits have a fairly low temper to avoid being brittle, and they can therefore be filed. Use only a fine file to finish off, and follow if possible with an oilstone slip.
FIG. 2. THE ROSE COUNTERSINK. Sketch of bit is given at A. Correct shape appears at B. At C the angle is wrong so that the bit merely scrapes.
Metal Countersinks. Two bits fall under this heading, the rose bit for brass and the iron countersink. They have a common feature in that both are too hard to be sharpened with the file. The oilstone slip or grindstone must be used. Fig. 2 shows the rose countersink and it will be seen that the grooves must be treated with a 90 deg. slip. Note, however, that the latter must be held over at an angle so that the edge cuts rather than merely scrapes (B). If sharpened as at C in which the angles are equal the bit would have poor cutting qualities.
Sharpen each groove the same amount so that all the edges are level and keep the edges pointing to the common point.
FIG. 3. DETAILS OF IRON COUNTERSINK. A is side view, B, plan, and C edge view.
In the iron countersink in Fig. 3 the edges are ground back at an angle of about 60 to 70 deg. so that a fairly acute edge is presented to the metal. Keep both sides equal, and note that the slope is 45 deg., thus making the over-all angle 90 deg., the correct slope for countersunk screws.