This year, we’ve decided to stop offering pre-publication orders for books (we’ve never offered it for tools).
Here’s the reason: About 80 percent of our customer service inquiries consist of, “Where is the thing I ordered?” And the “thing” is still at the printing plant. Most of these customers didn’t realize (or forgot) that they’d placed a pre-publication order.
It didn’t matter how many times we put the shipping date on their receipt or at the top of the ordering page. People overlooked it.
And as our company has grown, answering this question over and over has become a significant part of the work that Meghan and Megan do for us. We’d much rather have them work on making you new books instead of dealing with frustrated customers.
So going forward, here’s how book releases will work. When the book arrives in our warehouse, we’ll open up sales and start shipping immediately. And for the first 30 days the book is out, customers will receive a free pdf download of the book (if one is available).
This change will (I hope) reduce frustration all around.
This tool began as a question: What the heck is under A.J. Roubo’s workbench?
Right under the benchtop up by the crochet is something that looks like a tool. It looks like it has a couple angled cuts. Because most of the tools shown in this plate show up elsewhere in the engravings in “l’Art du menuisier,” I began poring over the other images in his books.
Plate 11.
Plate 14, Fig. 4.
Plate 14’s Fig. 4 wasn’t an exact match, but it had a similar shape to what was under the workbench. After reading up on this square, I became intrigued and decided to make a few and use them at the bench.
The tool looks like a miter square, but it’s far more useful than that. It also marks 90°, and the angled cutout in the blade is fantastic for checking a board’s edges for square.
According to Roubo’s text, this square was usually made in walnut, and it was cut from one piece of wood. This, of course, makes it fragile and subject to wood movement, which would ruin its accuracy. And making all the angles perfect from the get-go is tricky.
So after a bit of thought I decided to use some modern technology to make the square geometrically perfect from the start, make it immune to wood movement, and increase its durability.
The Crucible Bench Square has a blade that is made from 1/4” Baltic birch that is laser cut so it’s dead-nuts accurate. Then it is joined to a maple stock that is machined on a CNC to fit perfectly and make the whole tool accurate. Each square is then hand assembled. It is supplied without a finish, like most wooden bench tools.
It is designed to start square and remain square. And because we know it’s a handy tool, we’ve added a hang hole so you can keep it close under your workbench.
We’ve just finished up the parts for the first 400 squares and they have gone to a shop in neighboring Newport for assembly. In the next few weeks we’ll have them up for sale in our store. My guess is the retail price will be about $27.
Yes, you absolutely could make this square for yourself. And if that’s your inclination, please go right ahead with my blessing. But if you want yours to be perfect (for woodworking) right from the start, our squares will be available.
Raney Nelson at Daed Toolworks has finished a new batch of Improved Pattern Dividers, which are now up for sale in his store. I use mine every day in the shop, and they are as wonderful as blacksmith-made dividers, but the tension is easily adjustable.
We’re glad that Raney has been able to get these back into production. If you’ve ever wanted a pair, here’s your chance.
After building the green chair, I was compelled to build one more iteration. Instead of worrying about how easy the chair was to build, I wanted to make a chair that made me happy (technically speaking).
That meant some significant changes.
The seat shape changed from a rectangle to a rectangle added to a 21-1/2”-radius arc at the back.
The comb changed from a flat board to a sweeping 21-1/2” radius curve, positioned right at the shoulder blades.
I added sticks to make the chair more durable.
The arms are curved and have circular hands. But the hands are petite, and are difficult to wedge without cracking them.
The seat is saddled, but I used a more contemporary saddle without a pommel.
The legs are octagons but aren’t tapered. The joint between the leg and seat is a tapered mortise-and-tenon joint.
Gorgeous unsteamed walnut.
The back is pitched at 25° (5° more lean than the green chair). The seat is pitched back 3/4” from front to back. And everything that touches the sitter is curved.
This chair is also cosmetically flawed (as I’ve mentioned before). The mortises in the arms are tight, but they don’t look the way I want them to. The problem is the drill bits I’ve been using.
I’m still getting used to the Star-M bits from WoodOwl. They cut so clean. Their only downside is that the bits’ flutes are so sharp they can also do a lot of cutting. That means if you move off-angle, the bit’s flutes will cut the hole to an oval shape. This problem is exasperated when you use a bit extender.
I’m getting better at holding still when I drill, but the arms have cosmetic gaps around the tenons in the arms.
In my heart, I know that vernacular chairs are supposed to have imperfections. In some cases, the imperfections are what make the chair special.
But I also know that I can do better.
When I finished construction (and the day of “make pretty”) I was ready to burn the chair. But I didn’t. I applied a coat of Allback (organic linseed oil and beeswax) and drank a beer.
And that was enough for me to make peace with the thing.
— Christopher Schwarz
P.S. This chair is the most difficult chair I’ve ever photographed. Too many curves and angles.
Fig. 1. Simplest form of square shooting board. Fig. 2. Alternative pattern with detachable mitre stop. Fig. 3. Mitre shooting board. Fig. 4. Square board with one end raised. Fig. 5. Donkey’s ear mitre shooting board. Fig. 6. Board for wide internal mitres. Fig. 7. Waste piece to prevent edge from splitting. Fig. 8. Wood planed at angle in its width. Fig. 9. Wood planed at angle in thickness. Fig. 10. Angle in both width and thickness.
Although the shooting board is a well-known appliance in the workshop, we are frequently asked by readers for more information about it, and we therefore give here the chief types and their use.
The purpose of a shooting board is that of planing the edges of thin wood, either to form butt joints, to make the edge straight, to trim an end square, or to form a mitre. Normally the edge is made square, though in special cases it can be at an odd angle, as we shall see. If you tried to plane the edge of a piece of thin wood in the vice it would be difficult to hold the plane square and it would be liable to wobble. When the shooting board is used, the wood is held flat on the upper step, and the plane is worked on its side on the lower step, all wobbling being thus eliminated.
Types of Shooting Boards. The simplest form of shooting board for square trimming is given in Fig. 1. It can be of any length from about 18 ins. upwards in accordance with the size of the work to be trimmed. The upper step might be from 4 ins. up to about 6 ins. wide, and the lower one should project far enough to take the largest plane in use—say, 4 ins. At the far end a stop is fixed, this fitting in a groove. The near end is at right angles with the working edge, but it is tapered in width, partly to simplify fitting, and partly to enable it to be driven in with a dead tight fit. After being knocked in, screws are driven in and any projection is trimmed off flush.
There are one or two points to note. Firstly the heart sides of the two pieces face each other, so that in the event of shrinkage the twisting tendencies are opposed. Then again, ledges or battens are screwed to the underside, also to help in keeping the parts flat. Along the under-corner of the top platform a chamfer is worked so that any dust which may accumulate will not interfere with the true running of the plane. So far as thickness is concerned, the upper step should bring the work to about the middle of the plane—7/8 in. wood is about right.
A rather more elaborate type of square board is given in Fig. 2. The two parts are fixed to two or more notched cross-battens, a slight gap, say, 1/8 in., being allowed between them to allow dust to escape. Such a board is more likely to keep flat but will not produce better work. If desired, a detachable mitre stop can be fitted with dowels, though generally it is more satisfactory to have a separate mitre shooting board, as in Fig. 3. The construction of this is similar to that of Fig. 1, except that the stop recess is cut in at 45 deg.
Yet a third kind of square board favoured by some workers is that in Fig. 4. In this one end is raised so that as the plane passes forward a different part of the cutter comes into operation, thus spreading the wear over a wider length of edge. It is satisfactory providing the cutter of the plane is sharpened with its edge perfectly straight. Otherwise the shaving will be thicker in one part of the cut than in another.
Mitre Shooting Boards. The board normally used for small mouldings and for wood mitred in its width has already been dealt with in Fig. 3. When wood is mitred in its thickness, however (as in the case of, say, a plinth) the donkey’s ear board in Fig. 5 is used. The construction is obvious from the illustration. The piece beneath, running along the length, is to enable the board to be held in the bench vice. External mitres are trimmed in this way, the wood being held so that the plane always cuts into the moulding, so avoiding splitting out. Internal mitres need the board in Fig. 6. The stop of this could with advantage be fixed in the middle instead of at the end so that the moulding could be placed at either side of the stop, enabling the plane to work into it. Note the dust groove.
Use of the Shooting Board. When the end of a piece of wood has to be trimmed square it is held against the stop, and the plane worked so that its sole bears against the edge of the upper, step. As the plane is worked, the wood is pressed steadily against the plane. To prevent the far corner from splitting, the corner can be chiselled off. Should, however, the wood not be wide enough to permit this, a waste piece with its corner chiselled can be held against the stop as in Fig. 7. Thus the far corner of the wood is supported and is so prevented from splitting. Note that the waste piece should be somewhat thicker than the wood being planed. In the case of a joint being planed the method is somewhat different. The wood should overhang the edge of the upper step by about 1/4 in. or so. The joint is planed true by virtue of the trueness of the plane itself. The latter does not touch the upper step. Remove shavings from the centre of the wood until the plane ceases to cut, and then take a couple of shavings right through. If the plane is accurate (and is long enough) the joint will be straight. It may be necessary to take an extra shaving where needed, but it will not be much out. It is better to rely on the truth of the plane rather than to keep it running along the step—unless the wood is quite short.
Incidentally, always have one board face side uppermost and the other face side downwards. In this way the two will go together in alignment, because if the edge is not dead square (possibly owing to the plane side not being square with the sole) the two angles will cancel out, so to speak.
Odd Angles. Sometimes several ends have to be trimmed at an odd angle, and, when the angle runs across the width, a piece of wood planed to the required angle can be placed against the stop as in Fig. 8. Thus any number of pieces can be planed to the same angle.
When the angle is across the thickness, an angle piece can be used as in Fig. 9, the wood being placed above it. Fig. 10 shows how compound angles which occur in both width and thickness can be dealt with. The two angle pieces are prepared to the required angles first, and the wood placed as shown.