I admit, I’ve chosen an easy bay for this Covington Mechanical Library post (it’s been a frantic – and slightly under the weather – week). Today, it’s the Foxfire series, volumes 1-12 (which is an almost complete set – I believe there are two additional anniversary editions).
For those of you unfamiliar with the series, it’s a compendium – assembled from a quarterly magazine of the same name – of the crafts, culture and heritage of Southern Appalachia. The first was published in the early 1970s; Chris doesn’t remember a time when there wasn’t a Foxfire book in his home.
Also in the bay are “Trades and Occupations: A Pictorial Archive from Early Sources,” selected and arranged by Carol Belanger Grafton, and “2000 Early Advertising Cuts,” edited by Clarence P. Hornung. Chris has had these two since the early 1990s, when he was editor of “The Kentucky Gazette,” a weekly political newspaper in Frankfort, Kentucky. This was before digital photography, and Chris used these to illustrate articles when they didn’t have any appropriate photography – it was either use old clip art or he had to draw Skippy the Turtle.
To the far right are seat models, one with wire to bend the legs into position for new chair designs, along with a cutaway showing how staked joints work (from “The Anarchist’s Design Book.”)
Funky Winkerbean looks decidedly proud (as he should) of Katherine’s new batch of Soft Wax 2.0
Katherine “the Wax Princess” Schwarz has a fresh batch of Soft Wax 2.0 now now available in her Etsy store. It’s my favorite finish for Shaker trays and tool chest tills, and Chris uses it on just about every not-painted chair. It looks great, smells great, is easy to apply, is non-toxic – and it makes my hands softer.
Instructions for Soft Wax 2.0
Soft Wax 2.0 is a safe finish for bare wood that is incredibly easy to apply and imparts a beautiful low luster to the wood.
The finish is made by cooking raw, organic linseed oil (from the flax plant) and combining it with cosmetics-grade beeswax and a small amount of a citrus-based solvent. The result is that this finish can be applied without special safety equipment, such as a respirator. The only safety caution is to dry the rags out flat you used to apply before throwing them away. (All linseed oil generates heat as it cures, and there is a small but real chance of the rags catching fire if they are bunched up while wet.)
Soft Wax 2.0 is an ideal finish for pieces that will be touched a lot, such as chairs, turned objects and spoons. The finish does not build a film, so the wood feels like wood – not plastic. Because of this, the wax does not provide a strong barrier against water or alcohol. If you use it on countertops or a kitchen table, you will need to touch it up every once in a while. Simply add a little more Soft Wax to a deteriorated finish and the repair is done – no stripping or additional chemicals needed.
Soft Wax 2.0 is not intended to be used over a film finish (such as lacquer, shellac or varnish). It is best used on bare wood. However, you can apply it over a porous finish, such as milk paint.
APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS (VERY IMPORTANT): Applying Soft Wax 2.0 is so easy if you follow the simple instructions. On bare wood, apply a thin coat of soft wax using a rag, applicator pad, 3M gray pad or steel wool. Allow the finish to soak in about 15 minutes. Then, with a clean rag or towel, wipe the entire surface until it feels dry. Do not leave any excess finish on the surface. If you do leave some behind, the wood will get gummy and sticky.
The finish will be dry enough to use in a couple hours. After a couple weeks, the oil will be fully cured. After that, you can add a second coat (or not). A second coat will add more sheen and a little more protection to the wood.
Soft Wax 2.0 is made in small batches in Kentucky. Each glass jar contains 8 oz. of soft wax, enough for at least two chairs.
Katherine’s latest batch – done but for the stickers.
Rounding over the long edges of the sole is important.
Sure, we all know to keep our handplanes sharp, clean and lubed. But when was the last time you did maintenance on the tool’s mouth and the edges of its sole?
These areas are fragile and take a heap of abuse. Yet little is written about how to regularly maintain them.
Let’s start with the mouth of the tool. The area of the sole right in front of the mouth gets worn away from use. Not decades of use. Usually just a few months of heavy use will cause noticeable wear.
Why do we care? If the sole in front of the mouth isn’t pressing down the wood fibers, then the cut will happen ahead of the tool’s cutting edge. And that’s tear-out.
If the wear is shallow, you can remove it by rubbing the sole on some #220-grit sandpaper affixed to a flat floor tile. (If the wear is deep, you will need to file the front of the mouth, which I will cover in a future entry).
You can see I have a lot of work to do on the sole in front of the mouth.
To flatten the sole, paint some red marker on the sole surrounding the mouth. Then rub the sole on the sandpaper until all the color is gone. I usually dress my plane sole every six months, and the dressing can require 5-10 minutes of work.
Once the sole is done, you should bevel the edges of the sole – with sandpaper or a file. Why? The edges of the sole are fragile when they are a sharp corner. They are stronger when they are rounded over. So if your tool has a sole with rounded edges it is much less likely to develop a burr when the plane collides with a fellow tool or a knot. These burrs look like plane tracks on the work and frustrate beginners.
To round over the edges, I tilt the plane 45° and round over the plane’s long edges on the sandpaper (see the photo at the beginning of this entry). Then I file the front and rear of the sole with a fine needle file – these areas of the sole take the most damage – to create a bevel. Then I round over that bevel with some fine sandpaper.
File the front edge of the plane.
Then round things over with sandpaper.
These small efforts make a huge difference. Your plane will produce less tear-out. And it is much more likely to leave a flawless surface behind.
Lately I’ve been thinking that the spirit of Joseph Moxon isn’t so happy with me. Maybe Old Joe – a printer by trade – isn’t happy about being known by moderns as a vise sold at Woodcraft. Or he isn’t happy about being called out for stealing images from André Félibien.
This book was supposed to be out in February 2022. But it suffered every possible delay in the printing process. First a paper shortage. Then the printing plant was shut down due to COVID-19. Then the plant was held hostage by Russian ransomware. Then I honestly believe the pressroom forgot about the book sometime in early May.
When we finally received our printing in June, there was a significant mistake in it. Some of the pages were missing. And so, for the first time ever, we had to pulp (aka recycle) the entire print run. This was a $25,000 mistake.
We have now reprinted the book. And we are reaching out to everyone who bought the defective book to send them a free replacement. Because of all the problems above, I estimate we will break even on this project about the time my grandkids go to college (I don’t have any grandkids; my kids aren’t even married yet).
So if you want a gorgeous, not-entirely-cursed version of this very important woodworking book, order one here. I am still glad we did this book project. Moxon should always be in print. And it should be available as a durable hardcover that will last generations (20th century versions of Moxon are literally falling to pieces because of their cheap glued bindings).
Thanks for your patience with the process.
Hats Are Coming
In happier news, we have a run of so-called “dad hats” in the works that should arrive in two weeks. These are fashion-backward hats. Cotton khaki twill with an adjustable brass buckle. The embroidery is in black thread and is done here in Covington just a few blocks away.
We are also working on a special tool for Christmas. (It’s definitely not a Ouija board.)
OverDrive bits (left) work for shallow angles. Bits with longer lead points can tilt much more.
One of the most common questions I get is why I don’t use Forstner bits much in chairmaking. The bits are readily available, make flat-bottomed holes and cut cleanly.
The answer is basically this: The Forstner’s lead point is too short*. That means if I want to drill anything other than a shallow angle I need to start the bit nearly vertical then tilt my drill to get to the desired angle. It’s do-able, but it’s easy to over- or under-shoot things.
So most of the bits I use in chairmaking have a long lead point. This long lead point allows me to tilt the bit to the right angle, lock my elbows then drill. Here are the three bits I use the most, with their advantages and disadvantages.
Star-M F-Style bit.
Star-M F-Type Bit, 16mm, by WoodOwl
This is my favorite bit, but good luck finding it. Most reliable sources are regularly sold out. This bit can handle just about any common chairmaking angle. I can tilt up to 30° off vertical if I make a small starter divot with an awl for the bit’s point.
Other advantages: It cuts clean holes without any splintering on the exit side. This makes drilling through the arm and seat a quick and painless operation.
Disadvantages: The side flutes are sharp. So if you move your drill sideways while boring, you will end up with an overly oval hole. The solution is to practice (sanding down the flutes doesn’t seem to help much).
The bit is metric and drills a 0.629”-diameter hole. So you’ll need to adjust your tenon-cutter to get a snug fit.
Finally, the bit seems to dull faster than my other WoodOwl bits. This is a problem with the other two bits discussed below. I get about five chairs out of one of these bits, and I haven’t found a way to sharpen them (yet).
WoodOwl’s OverDrive bit.
WoodOwl OverDrive Bit, 5/8”
This bit is much easier to find than the Star-M. So keep searching. Lots of little suppliers have them in stock. The bit makes a true 5/8” hole (0.625”). And it also leaves a clean exit hole.
So what’s the catch? The lead tip isn’t long, so you are limited in the chair angles you can bore. I can easily bore 11° off vertical. And 14° when I am pushing things (and if I make a small starter divot with an awl for the bit’s point). That range of angles will get you through most dining chairs without too much trouble.
Like the Star-M’s, the side flutes are sharp – so practice makes round. And the bit doesn’t last as long as its big auger cousins from WoodOwl, which seem to last forever.
WoodOwl’s spade bit.
WoodOwl 5/8” Spade Bit
Really, any spade bit will do. The WoodOwl just happens to come sharper than most cheap bits. Another good option is to look for vintage (meaning ye olde 2020) Irwin bits that have the rim cutters. Other people have had luck with Milwaukee and Makita bits. Basically, look for spades that look like the WoodOwls. The bit needs two rim cutters (the little cat ears). The bit’s faces need to be surface ground (otherwise the bit will fail to bore gouda). And the lead point should *not* be a screw. These lead-screw spades are a sin against the Chair Gods.
Spades can handle almost any angle – up to 34° off vertical with ease. They can be resharpened. You can adjust their diameter on a grinder in seconds. They are cheap and plentiful. And they don’t have the side-cutting problems that the two above bits do.
But they blow out the backside like an American tourist after 10 currywursts. So you need to clamp backing blocks below the arm and seat when you make through-mortises.
— Christopher Schwarz
*There are Forstners out there that have a long lead point – usually a replaceable brad-point bit. But they are hard to find. And expensive when you do.
