Hello.

This is my tool chest I finished back a few months ago. If anyone is seeing this for the first time I have a blog I wrote about the entire build.

http://lumberjocks.com/CartersWhittling/blog/series/4735

The chest is roughly 38” wide, 22” long (front to back) and 24” deep (top to bottom). It is made from eastern white pine and white oak. The hardware is identical to the hardware used on Chris Schwarz’s Anarchist Tool Chest, which is from Horton Brass Inc.

http://www.lostartpress.com/The_Anarchist_s_Tool_Chest_and_DVD_p/bk-atc-kit.htm

http://www.horton-brasses.com/

The shell of the chest, skirts and the sliding tills are dovetailed and the lid is a double raised frame and panel. The bottom if the chest is tongue and groove and the bottom of the tills are ship lapped white oak. The top two tills are 2 3/4” deep and the bottom till is 4 1/4” deep. All three tills are 9” from front to back. The bottom front of the chest has a till for holding up to six drawknives and the space at the back of the chest is for moulding/joinery planes. The main space in the bottom of the chest is for bench planes and is about 11 1/2” by 36”. Along the front wall of the chest I have nails spaced every 3” which allow me to hang various custom tool rolls I have made, which can be seen here.

http://lumberjocks.com/CartersWhittling/blog/31567

I still need to build a saw till which will go on the inside of the lid, but until I have all the saws I need I am going to wait.

The inside of the chest is left without a finish, but the outside of the chest has pitch black on marigold yellow milk paint finished with linseed oil.

http://www.milkpaint.com/prod_mp.html

I have been using this chest for a few months now and I am very pleased with how it helps organize my tools and keep them safe from dust. Now that my tools have specific storage places I can keep my workbench clean which helps get work done faster, safer and easier. Plus it looks great in the shop!

Hello.

This is a cabinet that I cannot take full credit for. The project was built between myself and another woodworking friend of mine. The cabinet was originally going to be built by my friend for his son, but for various reasons he got me to help out. The cabinet was designed mostly by him, the actually construction of the project by me and the finishing was done by him.

The cabinet is built from white ash and baltic birch plywood, except the bottom of the drawer which is oak plywood. The panels on the side gables are book matched and the two front door panels are book matched as well. I made sure the rails on the two front doors were from two boards instead of four so that the grain pattern flows across both doors. The majority of the parts are 7/8” thick with the top being about 1”. The drawer is guided by wooden strips under the drawer bottom. The drawer is built with machine cut dovetails (my friends decision, not mine) but I have to say they weren’t all that bad to make. All the hardware was purchased from Lee Valley.

Hello.

This is my shop apron my sister and I made for myself. It is largely based off the large apron LeeValley sells. I have wanted an apron for a while now so that I could have some basic tools close at hand and keep my clothes protected from glue and finishes.

The upper pocket holds two pencils and a marking knife and scratch awl. You can see in the pictures that I made a handle identical to my marking knife for my scratch awl. I never found a short stubby handle necessary, and the long pen-like handle fits better in an apron. I also have a 6 inch rule and my plane adjustment hammer at the top of my apron. The lower pockets are made in the same way the LeeValley apron is, with the openings on the sides to keep dust from fallen in. I usually keep my 6” try square in one of these lower pockets with a small chunk of paraffin wax.

By making an apron myself I could have the fit perfect and custom make the tool pockets. I have the upper pockets positioned so that if I am bending over or sitting down, the tools will not jab into my stomach. The lower pocket is positioned so that when I sit down I still have access to it. The apron is also long enough to cover my legs when I am sitting down. The straps are comfortable and distribute the weight evenly.

Now that I have been using my apron everyday I am not sure how I worked with out one.

(I know this project isn’t made of wood, but I thought it was related enough to woodworking to be posted.)

Hello.

These are two try squares I just finished. They are 12” and 6” long, made from 1/8” brass and ebony. I have had a set of wooden try squares I made a year or so ago but I found that I sometimes cut into the blade with a marking knife. Since I have left over ebony from a previous project and came across some brass I decided to make new squares. I used epoxy to attached the brass parts to the ebony. Because I have a strip of brass along the bottom edge, the blade is lifted up an 1/8”. Therefore when using the square to check a corner, any debris will not keep the square from contacting both surfaces.

Hello.

These are two marking gauges I made with ebony and maple. The beam is about 7 ” long. They both have blades made of O1 tool steel. One blade is a sharpened pin and the other has a knife edge. The ebony on the fence and beam will keep the tool lasting longer through years of use. Unlike most marking gauges of this style I have seen, I put the main wedge below the beam. This means it tightens against the ebony on the beam which is more durable than the maple, and it allows me to shape the top of the gauge. I used a wedge to hold each of the cutters in place, this allows me to remove/adjust the cutters quickly. Its also a very easy way to hold the blade in place without metal or screws. I rounded the bottom of the gauge for comfort and chamfered the back edge just for looks. I have two more gauges I will make for a 1/4” and 3/8” mortise chisel I have ordered. I will also be making a panel gauge to match. The wedges hold everything very tight, its quick and easy to use, and looks pretty neat. Now I finally have some gauges I am satisfied with.

Hello.

This is a marking knife I just finished. Its made of ebony with an old jig saw blade and a brass ferrule. I made the blade 1 1/2” long and the handle is about 4 inches. The handle shape is based off of the common windsor chair leg design. Now I finally have a good marking knife.

Hello.

This is a picture frame I made for a sketch I drew for my mom for mother’s day. Its made out of Gaboon Ebony so its as black as could be and has many half lap joints holding the parts together.

When I finished the sketch and my mother requested that I make a frame for it so she could hang it up, I began trying to design a frame that would suit the picture. I wanted a frame that would be well built and attractive, but not be so “flashy” as to draw attention to itself over the picture within it. I was quickly drawn to Asian inspired design because the subject of the drawing is from those regions. I eventually decided on the frame I built having a 5/8” frame in the centre, with a 1/2” frame around that. By having the two frames different in thickness, the pieces as a little more interest and less weight then if both were 5/8” thick like many frames I saw. I quickly knew that I wanted the frame to be black and so I decided to go all out and buy ebony for it. All I did to finish the piece was apply some wood polish which gave the piece a nice soft shine that makes me at least want to touch it.

I also choose the matting to be black so that the matting wouldn’t compete for attention either, and I think the black gives the frame a little more weight and size (which I think it needs seeing as the frame uses a lot of negative space and thin lines). I also made little ebony swivels to hold the glass/picture in place.

Hello.

This is my first pair of hollow and rounds. These are a pair of number 4’s, so they have a 1/4” wide blade and make a circle with a 1/4” radius.

-Quarter-sawn hard maple body and wedge
-9 3/8” long
-3 3/8” high
-55 degree bed angle with a 12 degree wedge
-finished with linseed oil
-1/8” thick O1 tool steel blades
-1/4” wide blade with 1/8” wide tang
-7” long blade

The planes perform very well from what little use I have given them so far. It took me about 5 hours to make each plane and a couple bucks for the metal, so I would say it is worth making your own. I have enough steel to make almost two dozen or more moulding and joinery planes. I also purchased some 1/4” O1 for a few traditional bench planes. For the almost $200 it cost for the steel and for whatever cost I can get the wood for, I will save a few thousand dollars making the planes myself instead of buying them new. Plus I can make sure all the planes are consistent in size, style, material, and quality.

Hello.

This is a brace I got during the summer. I bought it from an antique store for probably $3. Like most braces, this one was covered in some dirt, rust, and grime. It wasn’t until recently that I finally cleaned the brace up. I first used a wire wheel to clean most of the rust and dirt off, then I soaked the head of the brace in CLR and scrubbed it all clean. Then I used thin strips of sand paper to polish the brace crank.

I decided to replace the handles which weren’t in bad shape, they were just grimy and painted black. So I picked a piece of straight grained walnut for the handle. I drilled a 3/8” hole through it (the diameter of the crank) and used jam chucks to turn it on the lathe. After the handle was turned I split the handle in half with a knife and glued it back together around the brace. Because the walnut was straight grained it split nicely and glued back together seamless.

Then I got a blank for the front knob and drilled the hole for the quill to go in. I then cut the blank round and mounted it on the lathe with the quill in place. Then I turned the knob and used metal files to turn the quill nicely aswell.

The chuck was not originally all nice and shiny, it had some really ugly texture ingraved in it. Since that wasn’t acceptable I used jam chucks to turn the chuck on the lathe with metal files and sandpaper. Then all I had left to do was apply the linseed oil to the handles.

Hello.

This is my shave horse that I just finished. The entire shave horse is made from 10/4 walnut, except for the arm which is fir or spruce. The entire horse comes apart with the threaded rods and nuts. The seat has a block underneath which is tenoned into the seat, so that the seat can slide back and forth. The bridge and head have leather on them to try and kep from maring the work pieces. The main beams on the horse are 55” long and from the ground to the seat surface is 18”. The top of the bridge is 7 1/2” high from the top edge of the beam.

I decided to make the German/Dumbhead style shave horse because of the advantage it has with working on long work pieces over the Bodgers/English style horse. Thank you to all the lumber jocks that messaged me back giving me comments on their shave horse designs.

EDIT

I have since added an upgrade to the seat adjustment. The seat could previously be slid back and forth but when you go to use the shave horse the pressure from cutting and clamping with your foot would slide the seat back. So I put a hole through the tenon in the seat to place a 1/2” dowel, and cut a few grooves in the main beams 5” apart. Now the seat can easily be lifted up and into any one of 4 positions.

Hello. This is the first handsaw I have refurbished. From tip to handle tip it is 25” long. I replaced the old handle with a handle made of white ash. I downloaded the template for the handle from the Wenzloff & Sons website. The original handle was too large and chunky, cheap hardware store type handle. The blade has 10 tpi filed crosscut with a 20 degree fleam angle. I got this saw for probably $2-$3 bucks at an antique store during the summer. Not sure if there is anything else to say. I hope this encourages other folks to try fixing up some old saws.

Hello. This is my newest wood hand plane. It is made of african mahogany, with a hard maple sole. The blade is 1 5/8” wide and is from a block plane I had that was no good to use, and the plane is about 9” long. With every plane I make they become better in performance aswell as in shape and handling. This plane was resawn from one blank, and the shaping was done on the bandsaw. I think I like the bandsawn surfaces better than the smooth sanded surfaces on some of my previous hand planes. The quality of cut and adjustment are excellent, in at least soft-medium density woods. I have not tried it in a hard or figured wood yet. Do not attempt making a wooden hand plane unless you have patience during your first couple planes, and do not care if you become addicted to making more afterwards.

Hello. This is the workbench I finished making on November the 12th. It is a combination of both the Roubo and Scandinavian bench designs. It has a shoulder vise, leg vise, and tail vise. The bench is made from hard maple with the shoulder vise chop and sliding deadman made of walnut. I also have two holdfasts to go with the bench. I may eventually make a shelf between the base stretchers, but not sure yet. The top is also removable from the base to make the 250+ lb bench much easier to move. The bench took just over 2 months of full time work to build, but the design was made back in June. I have two 2 1/2” 2tpi wooden screws on the leg vise and shoulder vise, with a 2” 2 tpi screw on the tail vise. The bench is finished with boiled linseed oil.

If you go to the link here http://lumberjocks.com/CartersWhittling/blog/23792 you can see the first blog entry for the entire build of the workbench.

Here are two videos I made going over the bench now that it is finished. In the first video I talk mainly about the design and construction details, while in the second video I show practically how each vise can be used.

Hello. This is a woodburning of a cougar I just finished on a piece of maple. Only about 7” x 4”. My first attempt at a furry animal and I have read nothing on woodburning. So if any experienced woodburners have any critical comments to make or tips to do things better, please comment.

Hello. I just finished a new tool rest and platform for my bench grinder. Its made with cherry plywood, cherry, and maple. I have two t-tracks, each running beneath a wheel of the grinder. I have a tool rest for lathe gouges and a more standard tool rest for chisels, gouges and such. The latter has two platforms, a 5” deep one for plane blades and other large objects, and a thinner 2” deep platform for chisels so that the handles do not get in the way. The angle is adjustable and the maple platforms also can slide in and out. I used ChunkyC’s project as inspiration http://lumberjocks.com/projects/51685 . Here are some close up shots disassembled incase anyone whats to make one similar to mine.

This is the drill press table I just finished. Its 36” long and 18” deep. The table is made out of 3/4” cherry veneer plywood that I got for free from my uncle’s cabinet shop. It has a 4×4” sacrificial insert where I can place 1/2” MDF to drill into. I have two stop blocks made to slide in the T-tracks. I have also replaced the crummy plastic knobs on my drill press with turned knobs made of maple, walnut, and african mahogany. There is a cut out in the fence which allows for the turning of the handle to pass over the fence. There is also a second layer of plywood under the table that helps to stiffen the top and provide the screws holding the T-tracks in, extra wood to grab without blowing out the bottom. I finished the table with 2 coats of a tung oil/vanish and paste wax. I got the plans from a finewood working magazine I have, and only modified it slightly. Its been great to use so far and it makes drilling accurate holes a lot easier and faster. If anyone has there own drill press table I would like to see your designs and any jigs you have made to go with it.

Hello. This is my latest hand plane. Its a 20” jointer made with maple and walnut wedge and 2” blade. I designed the body with an exagerated “hook” on the front so if I do any face planing I have a good place to push with my hand. The plane body is finished with a few coats of danish oil and a coat of paste wax. The sole only has some paste wax on it.

This is a cabinet I built to hold my handplanes behind my workbench. Its 24” wide by 36” tall and 6” deep. The sides are dovetailed together and the fame and panel back is in a rabbet. The panel in the back is made up of two pine boards which I hand planed flat. The rest of the cabinet is made with poplar and finished with just 2 coats of Danish oil. I used a wooden adjustable shelf system I saw in a Fine Woodworking Magazine. I put nosing on the shelfs for extra strength, but primarily to keep the planes from sliding off. I have two french cleats on the back screwed and glued to the back frame which hold the cabinet to the wall.

This is my second project using dovetails and the first time I made a frame and panel door/back. I learnt a lot during this build and thought I would share some mistakes I made, and things I learnt.
New skills gained
- I used the “book match” technique to plane the glueing faces together to create a seamless joint for the back panel.
- Flattening a wide planel by hand. I had done some lumber preperation by hand for fun/practice before, but this was the first time for a project.
- Frame and panel joinery.
Mistakes made
-The joinery for the back frame. I cut bridle joints by hand and the joints have some unattractive gaps in them. Luckily the edges are concealed in the rabbet which the back sits in.

This is another one of the wooden planes I’ve made. Its a 12” Japanese style smoothing plane with a 45 degree bed angle and 2” wide blade. The body is made of maple and the wedge is cherry. Like traditional japanese planes I relieved the sole behind the blade and the area between the blade and front. I’ve never used a pull style plane and it felt akward at first but I find the motion comfortable and enjoyable. I’ve gotten the best results from this plane so far out of the 2 other smoothers I’ve made like the one posted here http://lumberjocks.com/projects/47165

Hello. This is my second wood handplane I’ve made. Its an 8” smoothing plane with a white oak body and walnut wedge. I have a 2” wide blade from LeeValley. I had milled the wood for the body on a Friday evening, and on Saturday did the cutting on the centre block, made the crosspin and assembled and glued it together, which took only a few hours. And on Sunday took a few hours to shape, flatten the sole, and make the wedge and I had a working handplane. So it doesn’t take very long to make one of these planes and its satisfying using a plane you made to work on other projects. I have another 2” blade and a 1 3/4” blade and a 1 1/2” blade for a scrub plane which I already made. The great thing with making your own planes is you can buy only a few blades with different sizes and make as many bodies as you want for different purposes and swap the blades out. I plan on making another smoother with a higher bed angle, a foreplane, jointer, and another scrub plane without the handle I have on the one I already made. I will probably do a step-by-step project build on one of the next planes I make.