So I pulled a bunch of the equipment out onto the porch,

New Pics
I pushed stuff around for a few hours and ingested a cup or so of dust while I swept. Here are the results:

The table saw is now up against the wall with the jointer out in the middle of the shop. The dust collector has a dedicated run to the saw. I can switch either the jointer or the planer off the dust collector. The Planer is on its rolling flip cart. I will roll it out for use. The lumber rack is chock full of recycled douglas fir shorts for a future cabinet project. Previously the jointer was wedged under the lumber rack where I would hit my head.
Close up on dust collector and planer cart:

To the right of the saw I moved my plywood and door projects:

The Air Handler is on a remote. I use a laundry hamper for some short pieces.

Turning to the East wall:

I moved my metal tool chest. I plan to set up a better miter station at some point as well as a router table in lieu of my WorkMate solution. I have to roll the little vacuum out of the way to get a ladder up to the loft. The cabinet on the left contains finish. The cabinets on the right contain various powertools and my stereo. The loft is chock full of junk.

Turning to the South East Corner:


I moved the workbench back near the windows and rehung my basic tool panel. I will be adding dog holes and a plane stop soon.

Finishing the short tour:

The disc and belt sander, drill press, and bandsaw. Now all of my big tools are close to the dust collector, all smaller tools will run off of the Festool Vac.

Let me know your thoughts.

My plane before tuning.

Step 1: Flatten Sole or pay a guy to do it

The sole of the plane before grinding.

We set up wet-dry paper on a granite plate and tested the soles.

Given the condition of our planes, we decided to take our teacher up on an offer to send the planes to his machinist friend who ground the soles and squared one cheek for $25. We are just running out of time for lapping.

Here are the planes after machining:

Step 2: Sharpen Iron

Just like sharpening a chisel.
Lap the face.

We set the honing guide for 25 degrees up and honed up to 8000 Grit


We ground camber (curve) into the blade. Both of them are aggressively cambered and we plan to regrind and home one to make it more subtle.

Step 3: Tune Chip Breaker
We ground the chip breaker so that it sits flat on the plane iron.

Smoothing the top of the chip breaker so that chips rise easily.

Step 4: Tune Frog and Bed
We removed the frog, taped the lateral adjustment and then ground the frog flat on a diamond plate.

Before

After
We put a silicone carbonate powder in grease and then ground the frog against the bed to seat it properly.
Step 4: Assemble

Now I should say that I did lose the frog adjustment screw and tote nut to Kristin’s plane. A few days later and a new set arrived it in the mail. I left the dog house.

Trial
The planes cut like a dream.


Restored….

Next time: Block Planes

So far we have finished our chisels and card scraper and worked a bit with the chisels. Our instructor has given demos on how to tune a plane as well.

Sharpening A Card Scraper
For the last two weeks Kristin and I have been sharpening our card scrapers. This was one of the things I have been interested in learning.

I started out with an old Two Cherries scraper that I had done unspeakable things to. Kristin bought a new Bahco.

We took two different paths to scraping. She spent lots of time lapping her scraper and I rushed through it (ten times). In the end I got a 19 out of 20 on my scraper and she got a 20.

Here is the basic process with photos
Step 1: Draw out the old hook.


Oil the burnisher and scraper. Set the scraper on the bench top and press down and diagonally across towards the edge a few times. Feel that any old hook has been compressed.

The idea here is that the hooks will now be pushed up by the burnisher in prep for jointing.

Step 2: Joint.



File with a single cut file set at 90 degrees. We chucked the file in our vise and pulled the scraper across it. Inspect the edges of the scraper for a nice even grind. (Some people stop at this step and use the scraper which now has a square edge.


Step 3: Lap



Using waterstones or other sharpening surface, lap the scraper. Kristin worked on hers for a long time (hours). I did as well. After jointing with the file there is a rough hook that needs to flattened. Move up through 4000 grit.
After the first sharpening this wont be a big deal. Notice that a wood block is being used to keep even pressure on the scraper.
Step 4: Hone edges



Holding the scraper at 90 degrees step through the grits to get a mirror finish on your scraper edges. This removes the rough surface left by file.



Now the scraper is approaching as square and polished as possible.
Step 5: Compress the scraper.



Chuck the scraper into the vise and oil both the scraper and the burnisher. Holding the burnisher to the scraper use moderate pressure to compress the edge.
Step 6: Draw the edge



Just like Step 1. This will draw the hook in preparation for turning it.
Step 7: Turn Hook



Chuck that scraper back into the vise. Now hold the burnisher at about 5 degrees down off normal. Use light to moderate pressure. Our Crown burnisher is round and requires more pressure than the Veritas Tri-Burnisher’s teardrop shape.



Video: Burnishing motion.


Using the scraper



The most amazing thing for me is how light the downward pressure is when using a well sharpened scraper. When I used the file method only: You have to put quite a bit of sweat into using the scraper. This scraper brings effortless curls.

Scraper Video:



Walnut Shavings


Next time: Tuning a smooth plane.

In the next phase of chisel sharpening we learned to hone the bevels. In order to more easily hone the chisel by hand we ground a double bevel.

For the purpose of the class we used a Tormek Super Grinder, however the same can be accomplished with a bench grinder and more care to not burn your steel.

Here is a chisel that has been hollow ground…

Hollow ground chisels provide two surfaces for you to rest the chisel upon, which makes it easier to maintain the chisels on the stone.

One interesting aside on the use of mechanical sharpeners: in order to square the tip of the chisel to its edge, you may have to shim the back of the chisel. I don’t have a clear picture of this, but it involves slipping a piece of paper or tape in between the back of the chisel and the honing guide on the long side of the chisel. This helps to roll the chisel and create an even and square edge. It is a finesse thing.

Here is my 1/4” chisel before hollow grinding and covered in paste wax.

After grinding on the wet grinder. Notice the hollow area.

Starting at 1000 grit on t the waterstone, we honed by setting the heel of the bevel and then “clicking” down the tip. Then pushing the chisel backwards. This is the biggest tip I can offer as learned in the class: Think of the move as pushing the chisel instead of pulling it.

We hone just long enough to create the bevel. Due to the hollow grind, you can see flat areas at the tip and heel of the bevel.

Honing on 4000 is to remove the 1000 stones marks. It is critical to flatten the stones often.

Moving up to 8000 grit erases the 4000 marks and moves towards polishing the bevel.


I also removed the wire edge / burr on the back by gently lapping the other side (face) on the 8000. For some chisels you have to chase the wire edge back and forth from the face to the back. But working gently seems to remove it without pushing it back over.

Finally I polished the chisel on a leather strop with honing compound.

Here is the finished chisel. it is razor sharp and easily cuts hair.

Sweet.

Next time: Card Scapers.

Previously we have taken Basic Woodworking, Cabinet Making and a Furniture Lab together. I have also taken table making and a few more lab classes. I have a pretty good grip on basic furniture making and power tool use, but have been frustrated in my use of hand tools. Kristin is not a fan of huge power tools and recently inherited some old tools from her Grandpa. We finally decided to take the class and good thing as they are discontinuing weekend courses after this semester due to crummy state budget here in California.

By the end of the course we will learn to sharpen and restore chisels, card scrapers and planes. The final project is a small tote/box that features hand cut dovetails, through mortises, and wood that is S4Sed using hand tools. We are excited to learn.

Week 1: What is Sharp?
After a few introductions we went right into a discussion of:

1. Why use hand tools?
2. What is sharp?
3. Wood structure and tree anatomy

For a few great answers to these questions I recommend (based on our syllabus we bought and are reading these)
1. Why hand tools?
“The Nature and Art of Workmanship” by David Pye. This is a somewhat esoteric but interesting book about the execution of workmanship as a dying art. It is too complex for me to sum up at this time. I do think it is required reading for all woodworkers.

2. What is sharp?
The Complete Guide to Sharpening by Leonard Lee is a must have for all woodworkers.

To quote: ... ” a sharp tool can be defined as one that has a keen edge that will hold its shape in repeated use for a given material and technique while producing a good surface finish on the the wood.”

Week 2: Chisels
We came back to class with some of our old planes in hopes that our teacher would evaluate them. The course can get pricey as the list of required hand tools is quite extensive.

Week 2 of class began with a recap of chisel cutting dynamics. A similar discussion can be found in the Leonard Lee book leading to the conclusion that correct sharpening angle is balance between efficiency of cutting and durability of the edge.

Our instructor demonstrated his process of sharpening chisels which involves:
1. Lapping the face
2. Grinding a double bevel
3. Honing and polishing the bevel

Sounds easy? Hmmm.

Homework
Our first assignment: Lap the face of the chisels. Our class defines lapping as transferring one shape to another. In this case we will transfer the flatness of our stones to the face of our chisel. (Note: I will the refer to the flat part of the chisel as the face as per my class).

Supplies:
In our sharpening arsenal:
Granite Surface Plate
Wet Dry Sand Paper
Bucket
Rags
Set of Norton Combination Stones
King 800/ 4000 Combo Stone
Leather Strop
Aluminum Oxide Honing Compound

All of this will set you back somewhere between $150 and $200 U.S.

The Method
Overview: Lap stones… Lap chisels… Repeat


Our chisels to be sharpened. My older set of Marples at the bottom. They have been abused by a Work Sharp Sharpener (more on this evil machine later). In the box: a set of Irwin chisels (newer Marples) I got for $17 bucks with 50% off coupon at a Rockler clearance sale (cha-ching).

Also my black handled paint/ glue scraping chisel and a crummy Harbor Freight Chisel.

We filled a 5 gallon bucket with water and soaked our stones. Meanwhile we got out the new Granite Surface Plate.


We set it up on our workmate on a towel in preparation for flattening our stones.
In preparation I “broke the back” of some 220 Wet Dry paper and soaked it in the bucket. The idea here is that it prevents the corners from turning up when I adhere it to the paper.

Here Kristin “Squeegees” it down to the granite.

You would think your stones would come flat. The Nortons actually were, but best practice is to flatten ‘em. My King stones were dished from prior use. Also, you the Nortons cut fast and wear away quickly which requires constant flattening. The surface plate is a necessity (you can use plate glass or a DMT stone too). The Norton kit comes with a flattening stone that keeps its shape fairly well but also requires maintenance

We drew pencil lines on the stones so we can watch our progress. You can see a sheen where the light reflects off the worn areas in some light, but the pencil marks help.

To flatten: just rub the stones on the Wet Dry paper

Chamfer the edges to help prevent cuts. They are extremely sharp after flattening.

I alternated between a skew angle and a horizontal approach. For one grit I would move with the chisel set at an angle this created an even scratch pattern that I could remove with the next grit.

My pressure is all on the left hand being careful not to tip the chisel up.

For the new set of chisels, Kristin removed their factory finish with lacquer thinner.

Most of the new chisels started off with grind marks from the factory. This is the HF chisel but the Irwin’s have a similar pattern.

A new Irwin chisel.

Here is one of my old Marples after lapping but before stropping.

After lapping from 220 to 1000 to 4000 to 8000 I polished the chisels on a leather strop with aluminum oxide. Here are the results on three (the instructor said we have it down).

I have a Work Sharp and I am almost convinced that it is one of my least useful tools. I devastated a 1/4” chisel on it a few months back. Check it:

It is too easy to roll the narrow chisel on the fast moving plate of the Work Sharp

After lapping on the 220 stone you can see that I am starting to flatten the back. I am pointing at the area. The cloudy diagonal marks indicate where I have begun to flatten.

A bit later as the pattern “spreads”.

Finally the same chisel after moving through all of the grits and polishing on a strop.

With narrow chisels I have learned to use a back and forth (as opposed to side to side) motion.

We have 9 chisels lapped between the two of us. We each worked for about 10 hours.

Next time: The bevels.

I soon realized it is much easier to fit my doors when the fridge doors have been removed and are laying flat.

In the above picture I had already fit the freezer door. I did not take photos of this but you will see the entire process on the upper doors.

I reattached the door to the fridge box.

You can see a center line in the above picture. I sized the freezer door with the desired side reveal of a 1/4.

Aligning the beadboard
My goal was to align the beadboard of the upper doors to the freezer door. When I built the upper doors I made them roughly half the size of the lower door. Each door contains a full piece of beadboard that I could reference to the center line of the freezer door.

Here are both untrimmed fridge doors resting on the installed freezer door. The centers and horizontals are perfectly aligned, but the edges are too wide on the uppers.

I marked the overhang.

Then I trimmed the edge.

I had earlier built a prototype door (basic frame cut to exact size).

Based on the new reference edge of the outside, I came back and trimmed the interior edges for the size of the prototype.

Installing backer panel
I cut 1/4” baltic birch to the specified size.

I then persuaded the panel into place.

Note: Unsafe stool standing.

Rabbeting the doors
The doors are rabbeted to create a 1/8” relief. This allows them to recess into the panel. I set up a single flat bottom blade and carefully nibbled the distances.

TEST BLOCK

Rabbeted doors. Rabbet on top, bottom and right edge.

Then I held the pieces on temporarily with clamps…

... to check the reveal…

Looking good.

Next time
I fancy up the backer board and start finishing. Plus making stainless steel trim go bye bye.

We found a fridge that would accept custom panels. It is 36” wide. and only 24” deep to the doors.

We had to cut back one stud in the wall to accommodate the depth and reinforce the floor for the weight, but the hole/nook is ready for the fridge.

Design
I drew up several designs in SU and settled on the one on the right.

The panels are beadboard with domino-ed bread board ends.

Preparing Stock
I have documented this process several times in my dishwasher and cabinet progress, but here goes.

All stock is reclaimed fir headed to the dumpster and acquired for free from local construction projects.
I comb it with a metal detector and cut to rough length. Time: 2 hours. Cost: Free

I re-sawed all stock in half on the bandsaw.

I left the stock to acclimate for a few days.

I did not take any shots of the stock milling process but it is well documented on my other blogs.

Joinery
Using the table saw ran grooves on both sides of the stock to accept splines. (no pic) This time I sized the grooves to accept 1/4” plywood. Much quicker than milling 1/4” stock.

After crosscutting, I ran the center v-groove on the rounter table using a 45 degree bit. I set up the table with two fences. If the board were to kick away from the first fence the groove would get off center.



The grooves left by the bit are fuzzy in fir, so I ran the edge v-grooves on the table saw. These are really just half of the groove, but look like a full v when two pieces are set edge to edge.

Here is a picture of the milled b-board with grooves.

The breadboard ends are attached with dominos. Here I set the layout for the first piece. I need to trim the edge of the panel, so I placed the domino off center.

I reinforced two of the lateral joints on each of the upper doors where the door pull would stress the joint.

Here is the large freezer panel during glue up.

Afterward I trimmed it to fit and exactly center the beadboard pattern (more on the math involved here next time).
It was freezing in the shop this morning (for So. Cal).

Final shot: Glue dries on a fridge door panel.

Next time
Fitting the panels on the fridge

I have a to-do list longer than my arm.

I’ll give you more details on that later.

Item 50: Build Deck
Previously we had a crummy set of dilapidated stairs leading to our back door.

After some poorly planned landscaping we ended up with a dirt circle. Seen behind me in this picture. On the upside it was a good place to finish furniture.

We hired a contractor to build the foundation of the deck, but I wanted to have a hand in it, so I decided to lay all of the decking and install built-in benches.

Hidden Deck Fastener System Thingies
We decided to use Eb-Ty deck fasteners and avoid holes in the top of the deck. They are fairly easy to install.

1. Cut biscuit slot at joist intersection.

2. Drill screw into biscuit.

The real evil thing is fixing bowed decking. For that I used a Cepco BoWrench: Very cool tool that hooks onto a joist and lets you straighten out boards.

So the deck laying is easy, but time consuming; about two sixteen-footers per hour.

Benches
I drew up a plan for built-in deck benches based on a drawing from the Sunset Deck Book.

I tested a few locations.



I notched out the 4×4’s to sit around the beam….

...and bolted the heck out of them with 1/2” carriage bolts.

I did something new this project. I printed my Sketchup Drawing’s full-size, glued them onto plywood and made templates. Very cool use of Sketchup.

Template for Rails

What’s a project without a new tool? My new Ridgid OSS smooths the curves.

I spent many nights working on this project. Here I am last Sunday under the flood lights. The short rails were attached with deck screws covered by plugs. The long rails were attached with pocket screws.

I built a little jig to hold the top pieces at 6” cantilever.

Plywood spacers set the distance between boards.

More night Work.

!!
in the rain.

Almost done now… Just need to finish the plugs.

Deck ends have been cut square after this picture was taken

Next up
Refrigerator Panels.

Well a hammer and saw later(see last blog) and they were ready to stain.

Procedure: Washcoat, two coats gel stain, shellac, poly.

FrankenHinges
Nothing comes easy around here. I knew the shape of the original hinges but could not find a supplier. So I order two different types of hinges from rejuvenation…

Check out the video of how I mixed the two hinges. Not rocket science.

Gramp’s metal vice put to good use.

The custom hinge.

Mr. Five Hour Installer
These doors took forever to install. Nothing was square!

Finished Shot of the sad doors seen above….. Wait for it….

Sweet home Alabama!

Here they are with the “new” cabinets I made.

The other side
Here is the other upper cabinet in process

No doors= bad idea = messy = I was hungry all the time looking at the food.

Shims in place. These doors are evil.

Oh yeah.

Last shot at the hinge

Next time
Can you say custom fridge panels?

If you are interested. I will be demonstrating my shellac application technique. I stained the doors and am ready to shellac. I might even do a little poly work. Who Knows.

I am outta there in one hour. Gotta watch "Lost".

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