Lost Art Press

Author: meghanlostartpress

The Ideal Tool Cabinet

Posted on by meghanlostartpress
Fig-2
FIG. 2. DOORS OPENED SHOWING TOOL ARRANGEMENT When doors are opened back flat the position of every tool can be seen at a glance
Fig-1
FIG. 1. CABINET WITH CLOSED DOORS With lightly rounded corners and a painted or lacquered finish, the cabinet makes a most attractive as well as useful item. The closed size is 2 ft. 9-1/2 ins. wide, 3 ft. 7-1/4 ins. high, and 11 ins. deep. These dimensions can be varied to suit special tools


This is an excerpt from “The Woodworker: The Charles H. Hayward Years: Volume IV” published by Lost Art Press. 

A sense of orderliness in woodworking is an important factor contributing to good work. For instance, the bench should be clear of tools, excepting those in immediate use, and when a tool is no longer required it should be replaced in the rack or tool chest. By far the most convenient arrangement is to have a tool cupboard fixed to a wall at the back of the bench and above its level so that shavings are not swept into the cupboard. With such an arrangement, the tools are within easy reach of the worker and, when not required, can be safely stored.

In the tool cabinet shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the tools in frequent use are arranged so as to be close at hand. The heavy tools are accommodated in the cabinet proper, and the relatively light ones in the boxed-in-doors; thus, no undue strain is placed on the latter. The three drawers are intended for screws, nails, and various small tools. As most workers prefer to use a combination plane instead of separate tools for such operations as ploughing, rebating, etc., a space is provided for the box in which the tool is usually kept. It will be noticed that the saws are placed edge-wise in the cabinet.

This effects considerable economy in space as compared with the usual method of laying them flat. Incidentally, the tools shown comprise a useful kit, enabling a variety of work to be done.

As chisels are more in use than gouges, the former are placed on the right hand side of the cabinet and the gouges to the left. It will be seen that the setting-out tools are together on the right hand side, excepting the marking and mortise gauges. All of the tools will be easily recognised, except perhaps the bevel shown at Fig. 3 (a).

The tools shown in Fig. 3 are all drawn to scale and the cabinet is dimensioned to suit the layout of the tools.

Fig-3
FIG. 3. FRONT ELEVATION SHOWING LAY-OUT. IT WILL BE REALISED THAT THERE IS A DISPLAY LENGTH OF OVER 5 FT. 6 IN.


Construction. The carcase, Fig. 5, can be made from 7/8 in. stuff, finishing 3/4 in. As the cabinet is divided by shelves and partitions, a good fixing for the back can be obtained; therefore this may be of 3/16 in. ply. It is not possible to form the carcase and door frames in one and separate one from the other, as would be done in making a box, since the two doors frames have to fit closely where they meet centrally. If they were made with the carcase, sufficient material would not be available for cleaning off, to obtain a good fit. If possible, it is advisable to true up the stuff for both door frames together and rip the stuff down for the sides and ends for each frame. Rebated joints will suffice for the sides and ends of the carcase, and also for those of the door frames. The parts, of course, could be dovetailed.

The partitions (b) and (c) are secured by stop housing; as also are the shelves (d), (e), (f ), and (g). Although this may seem an unnecessary elaboration, it is well worth while since, if the grooves are set out accurately, the shelves will be found to be parallel and no trouble will be found in fitting the drawers. This might not be the case if the parts were nailed together. The plywood back is fixed and pinned in a rebate, as shown in Fig. 6, and it will be necessary to reduce the width of the shelves and partition by an amount equal to the depth of the rebate. The drawer rails which can be 1-1/2 in. by 3/4 in. are ploughed on their near edge, as shown in Fig. 7, the ends of the runners being tenoned into the grooves. The rails and runners are glued together and pinned to the side of the cabinet and the partition (c).

Fig-4
FIG. 4. PLAN VIEW SHOWING HOW DOORS WITH THEIR TOOL ACCOMMODATION FOLD BACK FLAT


Drawers. The construction of the drawers is shown in Fig. 8. The fronts are made from 3/4 in. stuff and the sides 3/8 in., the back being of similar thickness. For the bottom 3/16 in. ply is suitable. This is ploughed into the front and sides and pinned from underneath to the back. If it is desired to have one or more partitions, it is best to stop house them into the front and back, as shown, rather than nail them in position.

If the worker is uncertain of making a success of the lapped dovetails, the fronts could be rebated at the ends and the sides secured in the rebates by gluing and nailing, using 1-1/2 in. oval nails. If possible, 3/8 in. or 5/16 in. ply should be used for the door panels, as ply of the thickness stated will enable the outside edges of the doors to be rounded which will have the effect of improving the appearance of the cabinet.

Tool Supports and Racks. The profile of one of the spokeshave racks is shown in Fig. 9. In order to avoid short fibres, the grain should run lengthwise. The semi-circular rests can be formed by boring with centre bits according to the size of the spokeshaves, and then cutting to shape with a bowsaw and finishing with scribing gouge and chisel. Fig. 10 shows one of the supports for the hammer. The two are made together by boring a central hole and then cross cutting.

Fig-5
FIG. 5. GENERAL CONSTRUCTION FIG. 6. BACK DETAIL FIG. 7. RUNNER FIXING. FIG. 8. DRAWER CONSTRUCTION. FIG. 9. SPOKESHAVE RACKS. FIG. 10. HAMMER SUPPORT. FIG. 11 . SAW BLADE BLOCK. FIG. 12. HANDLE DETAIL

In order to position the rip and handsaws in their pocket a block is positioned centrally, Fig. 3, the blades of the saws resting in saw cuts in the block. The block is shown in Fig. 11. The tenon and dovetail saws are hung on a wooden peg which should be slightly recessed on its upper surface in order to prevent the saws slipping off the end of the peg.

The formation of the other supports and racks will be clear from Figs. 3 and 5. As it will be difficult to obtain a good fixing for the supports and racks from the front, it is a good plan to first glue them in position and then when the glue is set pin or screw each from the back, taking careful measurement in order that the pins or screws will enter each part.

Finishing the Cabinet. A pleasing form of handle for each of the doors is shown in Fig. 12. A recess is cut with a gouge on each side and the projecting edges of the handles are rounded. The handles are secured by gluing and screwing from the back. A satisfactory finish to the cabinet can be obtained by sizing and then applying two coats of knotting, or, alternatively, the cabinet can be painted according to the taste of the worker.

As the cabinet with its tools is of considerable weight, it would be as well to support it on two iron brackets, the attachment to the wall being effected by plates positioned towards the top of the cabinet.

— Meghan B.

Carve the Curled Lobe of the Italian Renaissance Leaf

Posted on by meghanlostartpress

25a

This is an excerpt from “Carving the Acanthus Leaf” by Mary May.

STEP 25: Round the Curled Leaf Tip. Using a #3, 14mm, round the curled lobe at the tip of the leaf and lower the outer edge of the leaf where the multiple serrations are located.

25b

STEP 26: Carve the Underside of the Leaf. Refer to the template to draw the details on the curled leaf tip. With a #7, 6mm, a #7, 10mm and a #7, 14mm, hollow the underside of the leaf and leave a sharp, high edge down the center of the lobe. The small leaflet should also be lowered at this time.

STEP 27: Carve the Crescent Moon on the Curled Leaf Tip. Using a #7, 6mm, make a vertical cut to define the outside edge of the curled lobe. Make a second cut at 45° to notch this section out. Round this small serration slightly with the same gouge.

STEP 28: Make Serration Notch Cuts. With a #5, 8mm, make notch cuts along the serrations edges in the outer edge of this lobe and the small leaflet.

STEP 29: Carve the Secondary Veins. Draw the secondary veins and use a #11, 1mm veiner to carve them.

STEP 30: Carve the Notch Cuts on the Pipe. With a #7, 6mm, carve three wrinkle notch cuts along the pipe. Make a vertical cut on the top edge of the wrinkle and an angled cut on the lower edge meeting at a sharp inside corner. These should reduce in size as they go down the pipe.

STEP 31: Undercut the Edges. With various curved gouges that fit the edge of the leaf, make undercuts along the entire edge to remove any of the original saw cuts.

31

Now that you have mastered this traditional leaf, take this design, carve another leaf in reverse and decorate the top of a mirror frame, or a headboard. Or … stay tuned for the next chapter where you can add a curled leaf onto this design. Feel free to explore new designs and add more “twisting leaf tips” curling at the ends of the lobes. Make it come alive with twists and curves!

— Meghan B.

Visiting the Saalburg Workbench

Posted on by meghanlostartpress

Bench1


This is an excerpt from “Ingenious Mechanicks” by Christopher Schwarz. 

Throw the Bench Down the Well
It’s not unusual to find Roman artifacts stashed in wells. Archaeologists have recovered thousands of tools, domestic goods, nails and even coins from the bottoms of Roman wells. The reason: Stashing valuable goods in wells was a typical Roman reaction to the threat of an overwhelming attack. If the Romans threw their precious bits down wells before retreating, there’s a chance they could recover their valuables later. And if they weren’t able to recover their items, there’s a chance their attackers wouldn’t find them, either.

But before we start discussing the fall of Saalburg, let’s look at how it started.

The Saalburg fort was founded about 85 C.E. as two earthen enclosures to protect a mountain pass. This was later improved to a wood and earth fort. In the second century C.E., Saalburg was expanded to become an impressive stone fort that housed a “cohort,” a unit of about 500-600 Romans. The fort served as one of the important links in the “limes” (pronounced “lee-mez” and not like the citrus), which was the frontier between the Roman Empire and the hostile Germanic tribes to the north.

Bench-3
Return to Rome. The reconstructed Roman fort at Saalburg offers a glimpse of the fort as it likely stood 1,800 years ago. Walking through one of the fort’s four gates is thrilling. Even more fascinating are the objects on display in the fort’s museum.

About 260 C.E., the Roman limes fell. All areas east of the Rhine River were lost to the Germanic tribes of the north. Saalburg was abandoned during this time, apparently without a fight. Yet the fact that the fort’s wells were filled with tools and other important commercial objects suggests that its occupants felt threatened.

After the fort was abandoned, it was used as a quarry. And its history and very existence faded away until the late 19th century. After decades of research into the Saalburg fort by archaeologists, Kaiser Wilhelm II ordered in 1897 for the fort to be reconstructed. It is now an open-air museum and research center for archaeologists who study the limes and Roman technology.

We Go Below
Today, below the museum is a climate-controlled room with thousands of Roman objects. That’s where museum educator Rüdiger Schwarz took us one summer day in June. Its entrance is below grade, like a cellar door. Then you traipse down a few steps to a masonry-lined room that looks like the mechanical area of a school or office building. There’s equipment to control humidity. Lots of locked doors. Any janitor would feel at home.

Rüdiger unlocks a couple of doors and the scenery changes. It’s still a climate-controlled basement, but the hallways are lined with wooden shelves that go from floor to ceiling. And they are filled with bricks, pottery and woodwork. All of it neatly labeled. Though we’re walking at a normal pace, I stumble when my eye latches onto a label or an interesting ceramic. My feet don’t know what to do – move or stop.

We make a left turn; as do the shelves. To my left are banks of wide and shallow drawers filled with hundreds of artifacts. The only sound is a buzz from the lights above as they flicker on and warm up. I don’t suffer vertigo, but the floor seems to sweep upward as we pass into a cluster of wooden objects – wheels, stools and pieces of bridges that are bound in iron. Every wooden object is blackened from its time in a well that had no oxygen but lots and lots of iron objects.

And then there it is – the workbench standing on four legs like a lame dog. None of its legs are in the same plane, likely the result of it being waterlogged for hundreds of years and then being dried out in 1901. At some point, the benchtop split in its middle across its width, but it has been mended and looks sturdy and ready for straddling. There’s a piece removed from the back end where archaeologists attempted to date the bench – the offcut is also handy so you can see the annular rings of the tree and the way the iron has leached its way deep into the fibers of the workbench. It is black through and through.

Bench-2
Well, well, well. Some of the restored wells outside the walls of the Saalburg Roman fort. Many of these wells were filled with Roman artifacts. During our visit we failed, however, to locate well No. 49.

I want to sit down, but the only seats available are 1,800-year-old stools and benches. And that’s when I realized the bench was between my legs.

“Pick it up.”

For me, the Saalburg workbench is a touchstone and a mystery. As the earliest surviving workbench, it is a link to woodworkers who existed centuries before us. Their tools are remarkably similar to ours. Yet their workbenches are a bit foreign. Many of the benches are knee-high and have workholding schemes that are dirt simple and somewhat alien.

When I’ve shown images of these early benches to other woodworkers, many have ready explanations for what this peg did or that notch was used for. But they don’t really know. The only way to find out – aside from cloning an old Roman woodworker – is to build these benches and build furniture using them. And even then, it’s difficult to be certain you are on the right path.

— Meghan B.

Chisels Needed for Dovetailing

Posted on by meghanlostartpress
chisel1
Here is a trusty Marples chisel that I have tuned up for dovetailing. I filed the chunky side bevels until they met the flat face of the chisel.


This is an excerpt of “The Joiner and Cabinet Maker” by Anon, Christopher Schwarz and Joel Moskowitz. 

After years of dovetailing, I noticed that two of my chisels were seeing almost all the action: the 1/4″-wide and a 3/4″-wide tools. I use the narrow one for removing waste between the tails and the larger one for removing waste between pins.

If you are like Thomas and have limited funds for high-quality tools, these two chisels would be my first purchases.

But what about the so-called dedicated dovetail chisels you see in catalogs? As a beginning dovetailer, I had a crappy set of plastic-handled chisels, a newspaperman’s salary and a copy of the Japan Woodworker catalog. All three things conspired to make me miserable.

I wanted to cut dovetails with bold angles, but my crappy chisels had side bevels that were as big as Cheddar Mountain at Bonanza. So every time I went to clean out the waste between my tails, the side bevels would wrench a bite out of my tails.

I wanted to buy a sweet dovetail chisel from Japan Woodworker that didn’t have side bevels. That would allow me to sneak into the corners with ease. But I had a newspaperman’s salary, which made me want to sell drugs to the local Junior Leaguers.

Luckily, I met some clever people in my travels. Dovetailing demon Rob Cosman showed me his hot-rodded chisel on which he ground the side bevels down to nothing (and he shaped the chisel with a fishtail sweep). Woodworker Lonnie Bird showed me how he lopped the end off a plastic-handled chisel and reshaped it so that it was easy to strike.

And what did I bring to the equation? I figured out chisel geometry (like most woodworkers eventually do), which allowed me to make the tool take a beating like a rented mule.

Here’s What You Do
So let’s say you have a nice four-figure salary and can spring for one of the nice $1 chisels at the flea market. Here’s how you can make it into a sweet worker in about 30 minutes.

Step one: File the side bevels. The side flats below the side bevels on cheap chisels are too big for dovetail work. You need to file the bevels so that there is absolutely zero flat area on the long sides of your chisel’s blade. When you are done, the chisel’s blade should look like a decapitated pyramid in cross-section.

You can do this with a grinder, a stationery belt sander or a disk sander. Or you can take the cheap (and safer) route and use a Multicut file. This style of file, which is generally used for shaping metal, can dress the side bevels of a typical chisel in about 10 minutes.

Secure the chisel in a vise and work the side bevels with the file. Hold the file with two hands: one on the tang and one at the tip. Cut only on the push stroke. And stroke the file so your hand is never (ever) right over the cutting edge of the chisel. One slip and you are (blood-soaked) toast.

After filing the side bevels so they extend to the flat face of the chisel, clean up your work with light strokes of the Multicut file. Then clean up your work (if you like) with a fine file or sandpaper.

chisel2
Hacksawing the handle makes the tool less top-heavy and easier to balance. It also makes striking it easier than hitting the rounded surface provided by the factory.

Step two: Adjust the handle. If the striking end of the handle is rounded and plastic, it is likely too top-heavy to wield comfortably. The chisel should feel like a pencil, and the rounded end is probably difficult to strike without your mallet glancing off the end oddly.

Take a hacksaw and cut off the top 3/4″ of the handle. Try the balance. Still feel top-heavy? Lop off a bit more. Make sure you leave enough handle so you can grasp the handle in your hand to strike it without striking yourself.

Once you get the balance right, file the top of the handle flat and dress the sharp corners to remove any odd burrs.

Step three: Sharpen the edge correctly. Grind the primary bevel of the tool at 25°. Then grind a 35° secondary bevel on the tip. It will be a tiny secondary bevel, which is a good thing. The advantage of this steep bevel is that your tool will be durable through a lot of chopping. A steeper honing angle increases edge life. And the steep angle isn’t a detriment to chopping out waste – it scarcely feels different than a 25° chisel.

Then you are off to the races.

— Meghan B.

Unsegmented Felly Wheels

Posted on by meghanlostartpress
felly-3
FIG. 177. Bending an unsegmented felly. Kodavere, Assikvere village. Photograph by A. Univere, 1942. Photocopy 1146:4.


This is an excerpt from “Woodworking in Estonia” by Ants Viires; translated by Mart Aru.

Unsegmented felloes in Estonia and Latvia were always bent from ash wood. In Russia too, ash was occasionally used, although oak and elm were preferred. The Assikvere wheelright used ash also for the hub and the spokes.

felly
FIG. 175. Bending blocks: In the foreground, bending block for wheel; above, pushing pole; in the background, bending blocks for two rear wheels; near the fence – bending block for sled runners. Kodavere, Rüütli village. Photograph by author, 1948. Photocopy 1105:92.

Here we will describe the process of unsegmented felloes as it was practiced until recently in Assikvere. Young ash trees had to be used for bending, the thinner ones yielding four boards and the thicker up to 12 boards. In order to make sure the suitability of a tree for felly making, a notch was cut into the trunk with an axe. If the piece of wood came out whole, the tree was no good for wheel making. When cutting wood for the front wheel, the length of the trunk had to be 8-1/2′ (2.5 m) and for the rear wheel 10-1/2′ (3.1 m). The boards were cut with an axe and wedge and then trimmed and smoothed. The width of the board before bending was about 2-1/4″ inches and it was 1-3/4″ – 2″ thick (5.7 cm x 4.4-5 cm).

felly2
FIG. 176. Top view of bending block: a. Pushing pole, b. Wedge, c. Holes for wedges; d. Holes for joints in bending block; e. Hole for rear wheel bending. Kodavere, Assikvere village.

The green boards thus chosen were steamed or heated for about two hours. Bending on the wheel bench was done while the boards were still hot. A large wooden circular mold was used for the front wheels and a somewhat smaller one for the rear wheels. This circular block of wood was attached to a cross-like base (Figs. 175, 176) to which the end of the board was secured before starting. Bending was carried out by three persons (Fig. 177); they were described humorously, according to their functions as the “pushing boy, wedging boy and pulling boy.” The pushing instrument, or the bow, is a pole between 6-1/2′-9- 1/2′ (2-3 m), where it is mounted on a metal pushing pin. The latter is held in position by a strong wedge. In working the bow (or the pole), the pushing boy forces the board round the bending block with the aid of the wedge. The operation has to be performed evenly, without moving the pole up or down. The wedging boy moves the wedge as the board is bent, and inserts it into the appropriate hole in the cross-like base of the bending block. Sometimes an additional wedge is driven in for firmness. The pulling boy goes in front and guides the board, making sure of the board’s direction round the block. When the circle is completed, the pulling boy and the wedging boy join the ends with two pieces of birch. An additional board is now used to join the ends of the bent felly from the inside, it having been previously steamed or heated together with the board for the felly proper. It is a job of the wedging boy to hold the ends tightly while the pulling boy attaches the inside joining board. Only then may the pushing boy release the pressure. During the bending the ash board may often “crack with the inner ring,” i.e. , along the inside of the annual circle. If the crack is thin and the wood remains sufficiently thick it is still fit for use.

felly4
FIG. 178. Bent unsegemented felly. Saarde, Saarde village, Photograph by A. Järvesoo, 1938. Photocopy 904:102.

Before proceeding with processing the curved unsegmented felly (Fig. 178), it has to dry in a room for at least one week. After it has dried the ends are sawn off, so that a space of about 1/2″ (1.2 cm) is left between them. They are later pulled together by the smith with an iron band.

— Meghan B.