I suppose that a woodworker may never have enough tools so it’s never really news when a woodworker gets some new tool. I feel like I’m approaching a place where I can get increasingly choosy about which tools I get and when. I have a nice selection of saws, chisels, hand planes, measuring and marking [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Hand tools’
Re-sawing by hand
As I move more and more of my woodworking to using hand tools, I have to try and experiment with different elements and techniques of hand tool applications. My latest attempt is re-sawing boards which is most commonly done with band saws.
I have an increasing collection of saws. I have a bow saw that I [...]
Dovetail practice
Just a quick post. In addition to the mortise and tenons, I have continued on with my dovetail practice. I hope I’m reaching a significant milestone because I cut one of my best dovetails yet. It was tight (except for one small corner) in all places. A joint like that would be one that I [...]
Mortise and Tenon Practice
I’ve been practicing Mortise and Tenon joints for the past couple of days.
I’ve found some things out about hand cut Mortise and Tenon joints.
Shallow mortise/tenons are easier to keep square
Conversely, deep mortise/tenons are much harder to keep square
Deep mortise/tenons can be tuned a bit to make square after they are cut
Keeping the mortise inside the [...]
Mortise and Tenon
I decided that I should mix some Mortise and Tenon practice amidst my dovetail practice. The real reason, is that I have done machine cut mortise and tenon but not very well. Since this was a different technique given that I’m cutting them by hand, I was hopeful that I could do much better.
I used [...]
More dovetail practice – oak
As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I have taken a path to practice hand cut dovetails. In the first round, I worked with poplar.
Now, I’m down the path of using oak. My first attempt (back before Thanksgiving) was a disaster. I had forgotten how easy it is to split oak and I did split the [...]
Updated Shop Tour – Detailed
Since well before Christmas, I’ve been working on a background project. Making my work areas more efficient. In the couple of little projects that I’ve done since this Summer, I’ve realized that a few things needed to be moved to a better location. Here is the results:
Main Workbench:
Rather than building a bench from scratch, I [...]
Another new tool – Brace and hand drill
Yesterday, I made a post about getting a new tool (which arrived today). I forgot that I had also ordered a Hand Drill (eggbeater drill) and Hand Brace. As I move to using hand tools, this is a new set of tools that I’m excited to use and experiment with. I have hand drills and [...]
Expecting New Tool – Low Angle Jack
Having your hobby live on a tight budget, you have to save and buy up. This can take month and requires a great deal of patience. Well, my patience is paying off. I had saved up so that I could buy a few tools. One that I’m very excited about is a Lee Valley/Veritas Low [...]
Back to practicing dovetails
I’ve mentioned in the past that I am practicing hand cut dovetails (see Practice Update). Our family had a run with the flew so it’s taken a few weeks to get back into a normal groove. I haven’t been to the shop in almost 3 weeks – not good. I’ve cut up some blanks. This [...]
Dovetail Practice – an update
OK, I’ve been practicing…and practicing…and practicing…and…
Here are some of my test samples:
I’ve tried both tails first and pins first. Pins first is frustrating. I find that I make many more errors with pins probably due to assumptions and skipping steps. For instance, when I make tails first, I mark the waste before I cut. I [...]
Dovetails – Tails vs Pins
As I noted in a previous post regarding my Handcut Dovetail Hopechest class, we learned about cutting tails first. I came into the class with no opinion on the old battle about cutting pins vs tails first. Even if I had, I would have probably gone with the direction from the class. What’s the point [...]
Woodworking with my son
Xander, my elder son, is ten years old. He’s in a gifted program which he goes to one day a week. Part of this gifted program is that he must do a year long research project which culminates in a presentation at the “Experts Fair”. He’s picked How to be a Video Game Designer and [...]
Hand Plane for shooting board
As I mentioned in my last post regarding the Lie-Nielsen Tool Event, I was thinking about a dedicated hand plane for the shooting board.
I’m currently using my Lie-Nielsen Jointer Plane which is set up for medium planing work (versus rough/aggressive or smooth/fine work). This works though I’ve found that the plane should be set up [...]
Lie-Nielsen Tool Event – Wrap up
As I mentioned in my last post, I headed up to Port Townsend. It turned out to be a 2 1/2 hour road trip (each way, including the required ferry ride) though I was able to catch up on a lot of podcasts during the ride so it wasn’t totally wasted.
It was a much smaller [...]
