How many machinists know a good file when they see it? I don’t believe one in fifty can take a pile of files and pick out the best one. The average man will pick up two or three, turn them over, squint along the corners, pick out the straightest one and call it as “good as any.” They don’t seem to have any idea that a file may be soft, or fire-cracked, or burned. If they were choosing a cold chisel they would look out for all these things, but “a file is a file” so long as it has teeth and tang.
Talk about certain tools being abused in the machine shop, or in any other shop. What is more abused than a file? No matter what job is on hand, they are expected to take right hold of it and never let go. Hard iron, soft iron, steel or lead, brass, copper or wood, it makes no difference. The file must go at it hammer and tongs. (more…)
There are lots of ways to achieve a cracked paint finish, and I don’t pretend to be an expert on all the different products and methods out there. But I do know what works for me every time, is completely controllable and is done with stuff I always have on hand.
I use a coat of slightly thinned liquid hide glue that I brush on between the base coat and the top coat of paint. As the top coat of paint dries, it cracks to reveal the color of the base coat.
I decided to use this finish on one of the many six-board chests I’m building for “The Furniture of Necessity” book. This chest features an enclosed base and a suite of iron hardware. The finish on this piece is a base coat of flat black latex paint with a topcoat of a flat acrylic blue paint.
Between these two coats is the hide glue, which is the big question in the minds of newcomers to this technique. Here’s how I do it and how I control the crazing effect.
1. Paint the case with your base coat of color. Flat sheens work better than gloss sheens. After the paint is dry, level it with a fine sanding sponge.
2. Get some liquid hide glue. Make sure it hasn’t expired, or the glue will dry slowly or not at all. Pour some glue into a bowl or cup and thin it with a little warm water. You want to get it the viscosity of latex paint – thin enough to brush on but thick enough to cover the base coat of paint.
The thickness of the glue/water mixture controls how much cracking you will get in your top coat of paint. A thick mixture will promote lots of cracks. A thin coat will produce fewer and smaller cracks. If your glue/water mixture is as thin as water, it is too thin. It won’t do much cracking to the top coat. So add more glue to your mixture. Or add a second coat of glue to your project.
I apply the glue with a chip brush and let it dry until I can touch it without removing glue from the surface.
3. Apply your topcoat of water-base paint and use all the same care you would use when applying any finish. Don’t get sloppy. Let the glue do that work for you.
The cracks should start to appear as the paint starts to “flash,” which is the point where it goes from wet to dry. Don’t muck with the finish as it dries. That’s a bad idea, like picking at a scab.
4. If you want to go a step further in adding age to your piece, apply a coat of black wax over the crazed finish after all the paint has dried. The color in the wax will lodge in the cracks and make the piece look both dirty and old.
For the piece shown in this article, I applied a heavy coat of glue to the top to create big cracks. I wanted the base to have more subtle cracks, so I added some warm water to my glue/water mixture before brushing the base.
This chest is complete except for the escutcheon plate. I’ve ordered a few iron German and French ones from Whitechapel Ltd.
If you want to dive deeper into this technique, here are resources I trust (there are some dumb, dumber and stupider methods on the Internet.)
• Glen Huey wrote an excellent article on this technique for the Summer 2008 issue of Woodworking Magazine. He compares hide glue to commercial crackling glazes and barriers formed by white and yellow glues. For a few dollars more, you can order the entire 2008 annual – a very good year.
Probably few of our readers have any idea of the number and scope of the questions that continually pour in upon us, or of the labor involved in satisfactorily disposing of them. We certainly do not answer them all, and for at least two very good reasons, one of which is that we do not know enough. This is of course, very much to be regretted, both by ourselves and by those who apply to us. (more…)
Workmen in almost all trades can be separated into two classes, and pattern makers are no exception to this rule, for everywhere we find on one hand the careless workman and on the other the ambitious man who looks ahead. The indifferent pattern maker still abounds and seems to have no ambition at all, or rather none except one which is all absorbing and has for its goal six o’clock and pay day. (more…)
I’m teaching woodworkers how to make the Dutch tool chest all over the hemisphere this year. I have Dutch chest classes going in California in March, Alaska in April, North Carolina in June, and in Maine and England in July.
The Dutch chest is a great project for beginners or for those woodworkers who travel with their tools. It protects your tools, makes them easy to get to while you’re working and is easy to build with dimensional pine.
If you are taking one of the Dutch chest classes this year or seek to make one one your own, here is the list of tools I think are necessary to get the job done.
Birdcage or Brad awl
If you can’t find a used one, Czeck Edge, Blue Spruce Tools and Lee Valley all make good examples.
Panel saws (rip and crosscut)
These are the tools needed to dimension the stock. A 7- or 8- point crosscut is handy. For the rip, a saw that is 7 point or coarser is ideal.
Backsaws (carcase saw)
This saw is ideal for trimming the pieces to final length and some joinery cuts. And sharp carcase saw will do.
Router plane (large)
A vintage tool such as the Stanley 71 will do. Also check out modern closed-throat examples from Veritas and Lie-Nielsen Toolworks. This tool finishes all the dado cuts.
Rabbet plane (or a tongue-and-groove plane if you prefer that)
I use a moving fillister for all the rabbet cuts in this project, but a straight rabbet will handle all the shiplap joints.
Jack plane
A Stanley No. 5 or the wooden equivalent is necessary for almost any project. Once you get the iron sharpened to an 8” or 10” radius, you can conquer the world.
Block plane or Smoothing plane
Either tool can handle the final surfacing of the pine boards.
Hand drill. Bits. Countersink
If you have an electric drill, good for you. A good hand drill is about $10 and never will go in the trash.
Hammer, nail set, nail pullers
A 16 oz. hammer with a wooden handle (I like octagonal handles) will serve you for the next 120 years.
Screwdrivers (slotted)
Good screwdrivers from Grace USA are the cat’s meow. But you can buy old ones and grind them to perfection if you prefer.
Framing square
It seems like a carpenter’s tool, but hand tool woodworkers are lost without it.
Optional tools
• Moving fillister plane (for making the thumbnail moulding on the lid and drop front)
• 1/8” or 3/16” beading plane for detailing the backs (a No. 66 beading tool would also work)
• Shooting plane and shooting board
• Router plane (small) to make the recesses for the sliding lock.
