This Week in Wood » Shop Projects

Rip Saw Bench

glennth — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 13:54:37 +0000

Over the last few days, I decided to build another saw bench. I have already built 2 in the Christopher Schwarz style.

I’ve found these saw benches to be absolutely great…except for ripping. The flared legs get in the way when ripping, especially a narrow board.

So I needed something that didn’t have flared legs and a split top sounded like a good idea. I searched the web for ideas and most of them are similar to what I came up with except that I built my bench from 2×4′s and 2×6′s rather than 1by material. It makes my bench heavier and maybe more solid.

As you can see it has a split top and a side apron. I doubled the thickness of the top so I can drill holes for hold downs and have them actually work. I also put a shelf but made it split like the top so I could rip in the middle if needed.

I spent a bit of time to make sure that the current bench and new bench are level so they can be used together on a long crosscut.

Overall I’m happy with it and think it will serve me well.

Of course, now I have 3 saw benches and really don’t have room for all 3. I’ll have to find a new home for one of the old saw benches.

Post from: This Week in Wood (c)2009 Glenn Thompson. For Downloads, Pictures, and other great content go to This Week in Wood. See This Week in Wood Legal Information Page for specific usage rights.

Rip Saw Bench

Introducing – my Wall Hanging Tool Chest

glennth — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 14:18:28 +0000

I did some sanding and hardware installation. Getting the doors hung square and even with one another took quite a few re-do’s. I probably spent more than an hour on it to get the door hang just right. I also put on nice wood knobs and some magnetic catches.

I’m super pleased with the way it turned out. It makes my shop feel a bit more finished and professional (though I will continue to be a hobbyist).

I was going to go with piano hinges but I decided that they would be overkill so I with a smaller hinge.

I still see plenty of mistakes and even one big one that I’ll notice every time I walk into my shop but I’m still immensely pleased with the results and what I learned in putting it together.

Panel for doors

glennth — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 18:09:53 +0000

After my last post, I had a nice fail and didn’t correctly determine the length of the rails for the doors. The old adage of measure twice and mark once only works if you have decided the length of a particular item correctly. For this project, I’m not using a plan so my determination was flat out wrong.

It took me a few days to get the rails fixed up and ready for the panel.

Next I needed to size the panels from my glue ups. Sizing was simply but keeping everything square was more challenging and requires a great deal of patience.

My next step will be to size the outer edges of the panels for the groove inside the rail and stiles. I’m going to keep it simple and not do any details on the panel or rail and stiles since this is a shop cabinet. Also, I don’t have any moulding planes so I’ll leave details for the next set of doors I need to make.

As an aside, i got some new shoes today and my wife wondered if I took a picture of them.

This picture is for Kathy!

Tongue and Groove for Doors

glennth — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 23:02:49 +0000

School is well under way for my 2 boys (Xander -12 and Mitchell -10). The beginning of the school year plays havoc with the entire families schedules and that of course means my shop time. I have gotten minutes in my shop since it began about 2 weeks ago. Today, I was able to resume a bit of work on the doors.

I’ve decided to go with a tongue and groove joint between the stiles and rails. You may have read a few posts ago when I was cutting the groove for the door panel and the tongues of the rails. In beginning this process I thought the most obvious tool would be my skewed rabbit plane and yes this is probably the main tool for the job but the thing that surprised me was that I would need a few others. I also used a rabbit block plane, a chisel and a side rabbit plane.

Working across the grain didn’t give the best cut but I was able to clean it up nicely with these other tools.

The result was a nice tight fit that I’m very happy with.

Now I have to cut the remaining rails and get the same fit. This job is much more satisfying than the groove.

Basic Glue up

glennth — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 23:46:35 +0000

A basic glue up is a skill every woodworker needs to master.

The first step is to get the rough material to the rough size. For hand tool users, this means hand crosscuts and hand ripping. For power tool users, this means table saw work.

The next step is to joint the edges to be joined. For power tool users, they will often need to do all the thicknessing work before jointing using a power planer followed by jointing with a jointer. For hand tool users, I’ve found that thicknessing can be done after the jointing (though note: you will have to flatten the board so you really aren’t avoiding any work).

For me, jointing takes 3 different planes. Using hand tools, I’ve gone with the jointing method where you place the 2 boards to be joined together and when they are jointed, you open the two boards like a book and glue them together. The first plane (above), is a #5 Jack which is tuned for roughing. I have a scrub but have found that the wider base on the jack gives batter coverage on 2 boards being jointed together. The purpose is to quickly clean up the edges and get them flush. The second plane is a #7 Jointer which is tuned for a medium cut. The purpose for this plane is to straighten the length of the 2 boards. The last is a #4 Smoother. The main purpose of this plane is to create a small spring joint (making the middle of the board a smidge, technical term, lower than straight allowing lighter clamping pressure on the edges and the main clamping pressure in the middle).

I’ve also found that biscuits, dowels, splines and other edge jointing methods are not needed for most applications. In fact they complicate the glue up process and at least for me, ensure a less than great joint.

I apply glue to the 2 edges and rub them together and then clamp. I do make sure not to over tighten the clamps and make sure I alternate the sides where I apply the clamps.

These will be panels floating inside a mortise and tenon frame for the doors on my Wall Hanging Tool Chest.

Now I have 2 panels ready for the next steps.

Now That’s Hung!

glennth — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 23:29:17 +0000

When using hand tools, you’ll probably find that crosscutting is pretty simple. The main reason is that when you crosscut, you are making a relatively short cut. On the other hand, ripping is a manually intensive job. Unlike the crosscut, this cut is along the length of the board.

For instance, I need to make some cleats for the Wall Hanging Tool Chest. Cleats are simply boards that have been cut at 45 degrees which enable the boards to interlock when one is attached to a cabinet and the other to the wall.

This kind of rip cut is even harder because you are trying to maintain the 45 degree angle along the entire length. Let me tell you – that is hard! And I failed. When you fail, it’s not a total loss but it takes a lot of effort with hand planes to clean up the cut. I think I improve because I come up with different strategies each time or subtle improvements for strategies that are mostly working.

Making the shelves also requires ripping but this is a simpler job and for me, much more successful. Now only 4 more!

Clean up of the cleat or the shelf is basically the same and is a matter of running a hand plane across the edge monitoring the progress with squares and straight edges.

Now that it’s complete, you can see the finished core cabinet (still need to make doors). The bottom shelf is fixed and will be open and not covered by the door. The upper shelves are adjustable with standard shelf pins. It turned out quite nice (you can even see the v-groove detail in the back!).

Of course, what good is a cabinet if it doesn’t hold things.

You can see my collection of hand planes. I have one or two more that I’d like to have and there is a little bit of room for them. Next it’s on to the doors.

Wall Hanging Tool Chest – The Back

glennth — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 14:45:44 +0000

Yesterday, I started on the back.

First step was to rough size the pieces for the back (it wasn’t that rough). I cut to length and ripped to width the 4 pieces I was going to use for the back, all with hand saws. I followed this with squaring and straightening the edges and ends that I just cut. I must be getting pretty good with the hand saws cause this step is getting shorter and shorter every time I do it.

I decided to again do a half lap joint between each board so I began on the dado on the sides. I used a skew plow plane which has a depth stop and and edge guide. This makes quick work of the dado. My first time with this tool had me pressing down and against the piece and I found that my pressure was actually moving the fences which are just pressure clamped. I learned from this that light pressure to guide the plane works great and you get fabulous results every time.

The next step was to cut the dado’s on the end which will fit into the dado’s for the top and bottom back rails where the back gets attached.

For this cut, I needed to adjust the side fence for a wider cut. To fix the first board and adjust it, I used a rabbit plane. After a little fine tuning on the boards, they all fit well.

On the saw till, Iliked the v-groove in between the boards so I decided to do it again. I used a simple block plane to accomplish this.

I’ll finish the work tomorrow and show the results. Next step is the hanging cleats and the shelves.

Wall Hanging Tool Chest Glue Up

glennth — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 02:41:40 +0000

Today I finished the rest of the joinery on the Wall Hanging Tool Chest. I needed to finish the pins for the upper and lower back braces. I needed to create the dado’s for the back in the upper/lower back braces

Then it was on to dry fit to make sure I’m satisfied with the fit.

The fit was nice and snug (a few hand blows but no mallet blows needed) except for …

The upper back brace was a bit tight and when I was disassembling the pieces, something extra came away.

During glue up, I was able to glue the piece in place and get a nice tight fit.

Next I will begin working on the back and the hanging cleats.

In the beginning…

glennth — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 02:52:08 +0000

As I finished my Saw Till (see previous post), I had one other major project before I get back to working on my 3 guitar builds.

I need to re-design and build anew a Wall Hanging Tool Chest. My main 2 issues with the existing plywood Tool Chest is 1) I have no room for growth and 2) there is no style in it (and hence no pride from me for the existing one).

To fix, somewhat, the first issue I have decided to store my hand planes laying down. To do this, the cabinet needs to be deeper. This will allow for more shelves in the same space though I’m actually widening and making taller the cabinet redesign.

For the second issue, I have several elements that I intend. First, I am using solid wood. It’s just pine (from the borg) but it’s still solid wood. I will continue to dovetails the frame. I also will try some different solutions to hanging chisels, marking, measuring tools on the inside and outside of the cabinet (I’d like to eliminate the need for hanging anything on the outside but not sure how).

You can see on the right side a rough sketch of the cabinet. I will have a lower shelf for frequently accessed items such as block/apron planes. The upper section will have doors.

On the left, you can see the top, bottom, and back 2 rails with their tails cut. I’ve started on the pins and am pleased so far as to the fit.

Saw Till – Wrap Up

glennth — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 17:35:51 +0000

Today was a very busy day.

First I decided to tackle the back. I rough cut the 3 pieces that make up the back and then properly sized them with hand planes. I decided to go with half lap boards and ultimately decided that a v-groove at the half lap would look the best. This took most of my day.

Next, I needed to cut out the curve from the top to the front rail. I cheated a bit and used a jig saw instead of cutting it by hand. I used a spokeshave to fine tune the look and am quite pleased.

I still have a small bit of work in cutting out saw blade supports (an upper and lower) with saw kerfs about 1-inch apart. Here is a shot with saws in it so you can get a feel for it all finished.

I’m not sure if the japanese saws will go in this saw till but I’ll play with them as I put the kerf rails in. I think the cubby will house my spokeshaves. I may create a small dowel based hanging area above the switch and next to this saw till for the japanese saws. I don’t have many but they are useful in certain occasions.

Just to show you how much work I did, I thought I would capture the image of all my shavings (they looked like even more when they were all over the work bench and on the floor around the work bench).

Saw Till – Main Glue Up

glennth — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 01:59:05 +0000

Great progress today.

First I decided to tackle the dado’s for the shelf. These would be my first hand cut dado’s so I was looking forward to them. First, I marked the edges of the dado using the shelf board. I cut these marks deep by taking many passes with my marking knife. I then made them even deeper by using my chisel and then taking a relief paring to allow for a saw cut. I then took a crosscut carcass saw and cut the edges to the desired depth. Now it was time for the router plane. The material came out easily. Last step was to use various tools for cleaning up the dado.

The dado turned out nice and the fit for the shelf board was nice and tight.

Danger Will Robinson! Danger Will Robinson!

And here was a series of errors that were fortunately non-catasrophic.

I first attempted to cut the rabbits in the back rails (top and bottom). Of course, I wasn’t being slow and methodical and wound up cutting them on the wrong side. It wasn’t catastrophic because at least the error was on the back. I did this to both the top and bottom. Ooops!

My next was glue up. I should have stepped back and taken a break because for some reason I was in a rush. Rushing always means mistakes for me. I was glueing up all the pieces starting with the top and bottom. I followed with the front rail and then I realized the rabbits were on the wrong side and had to fix these. I then realized I hadn’t finished sizing the shelf. It was still too deep. I fixed all these and got it glued up.

I haven’t decided whether it was an error not cutting the curves in the sides before the glue up or not. It probably was but that decision will have to wait till tomorrow.

That leaves only 2 steps left. Cutting the curve and making and installing the back.

There are also a couple of small pieces to do. I need to make 2 spanning pieces with saw curfs cut into them for holding the saws. I need to make the cleats for hanging the unit. I’ll need to ease edges.

Saw Till using dovetails

glennth — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 01:51:14 +0000

With my shop reorganization (see previous post), I need 2 storage solutions done. First is a saw till for holding full size saw’s for ripping and crosscutting, joinery saws including dovetail, tenon, and such, and a few japanese saws.

My saw till is based on several sources but probably the most dominant source if from Shannon Rogers’ Hand Tool School.

On the top and bottom pieces, I have put the tails (dovetail joinery) on the sides so that the top and bottom will resist pulling out. On the back, I have a top and bottom rail which will have the tails so that they enable the sides to resist pulling out. There will be a front rail which also has the tails. The front rail is where the handles of the saws sit.

On the top and bottom rails, i will put a rabbit to accept the back pieces.

The width is about 18 inches which should enable me to fit about 15 saws or so.

Above you see one of the back rails with the tails. As you can see, I’m not going for style with very thin pins. Also, I’m just using big box cheap lumber (pine in this case).

These are all the pieces that have tails. Now it’s on to the pins.

Recreate a Shop

glennth — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 15:37:27 +0000

A few weeks ago, I ordered Christopher Schwarz’s book, The Anarchist’s Tool Chest. Once I got it, I found it a quick read. It was clear and concise and more importantly inspirational. I found Chris’s discussion of his woodworking journey especially touching. Some of it even paralleled my own journey though mine wasn’t often reported on the pages of a woodworking magazine.

I think the important point of Chris’s book was to be inspired by the desire to create. My path is different. I’m ok with getting rid of different power tools while retaining others. I prefer wall hanging tool chests to floor standing chests. I love tradition but I understand my needs and desire so I may find other traditions to move me.

It’s not much of a review but there are many glowing reviews out there already. Go read the book and be inspired by Chris’s story in your own way.

I’ve been holding on to a few power tools that I know I could live without. My small shop really needs me to be disciplined enough not to be a tool collector so I decided it was time to get rid of a few. I may decide to replace the machine thickness planer but I will attempt to do this activity by hand for a while before making the choice. I’m keeping my bandsaw and my router table and my selection of Festool tools (especially the circular saw and track system) for some wood prep.

I’m making my bench the center point of the shop. I hope to build or buy a better bench in the future but this will tide me over for a bit. I’m inspired by Chris’s story about placing his workbench in front of his only window. I actually have 2 windows though they are both in doors. I decided to block one door with my bench and use it for some natural light on my bench. Brilliant though I’d like to know why I didn’t think of it sooner.

On the left side of the door/window, I am building a saw til which is roughly inspired by Shannon Rogers Hand Tool School’s Season 1 Saw Til Project. I will post more about the saw til in the near future.

On the right side of the door/window, I have a quickly built (read plywood) hanging tool chest. I am going to rebuild this based on many pieces found on the internet though it will not be elaborate and instead will be designed to fit into the space I have.

I am putting my guitar projects aside for a few weeks to accomplish these 2 builds. I’ll post on both.

Here are some shots of the reorganization.

You can see my bench in front of the door and the bare location which will hold the saw til when I’m finished. My saw till will likely be oversized but I’m still figuring out which saws I want and need so it’s the one area I may expand my tools.

Again, see the bench and above it is the existing hanging tool chest. You can also see my saw benches which now have plenty of room to be used. My goal with rebuilding the tool chest is to make the internal space more optimized so that I can have all my planes, spokeshaves, cutting and marking, measuring, and such in it. I’d like to keep the outer doors clean too even though it does provide simple access to some tools.

Above you can see what’s on either side of the door that will stay a functional door. These are the 2 power tools I plan to keep at this point. Next to the router is a jig for routing out neck attachment to guitar bodies. This is only it’s temporary home. It’s spot could be where I put a new power thickness planer if I choose to add it back to my shop. I’ve found that I beginning to get the hang of flattening but thicknessing can still be challenge.

You can see my sharpening station and all the storage I have in my shop. Sharpening is something I may change up after reading more (from Chris’s book and other sources) about oil stones. It sounds like oil stone maintenance is a simpler task. I will still keep the Tormek for grinding but most sharpening (I’ve found) is stone work and not grinding.

I find it actually fun to go into the shop again. That is what inspiration should do. Thanks Chris!

Next Projects

glennth — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 04:46:39 +0000

I am thinking, as I work more and more at my workbench (see Updated Shop Tour for pictures), that I will have to build one myself. I am figuring out that certain vices function differently and that I may need to apply different ones to my preferred bench. This picture is close to what I see as most functional to me.

I think that the few things I would change would be the tail vice which I’d like to be a twin crank vice. I’m also wrestling with the notion of having storage or not under the bench. My current bench has storage but the center support is not an option. That all being said, I’m not willing to work on a piece of shop furniture at this point so I’ll put that one off for a while.

I think that my next project will be a standing height small laptop desk for my music station. I may make 2 and have one (or both) have desktops that can be slanted so that I can use one for a music stand. In this type of project, I expect to use mortise and tenons. I also want it to be made of solid wood. I have some nice tables in the room my music station is that I think is made with maple so that may be my wood choice. I may also see if I can come up with a design for a music book and sound equipment stand. My biggest goal with all these pieces is to make them look like furniture rather than quickly put together shop pieces. Tapered legs, mortise/tenon joints and other details would contribute a lot to this.

Updated Shop Tour – Detailed

glennth — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 01:19:44 +0000

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 bought one. Many of the inexpensive benches are very light so I’ve anchored it to the floor for stability during planing and such. With the bench, I’ve made various bench hooks and such which have proven very useful.

Next a Dedicated Sharpening Bench:

This bench was my quick and dirty attempt at bench building. Rather than get rid of it, I’ve turned it into my dedicated sharpening station with my Tormek, water stones, and granite stations. I love having this set up all the time. I’ve already been more inclined to sharpen blades when they start cutting funky.

Tool Cabinet:

I designed and built this tool cabinet with scraps from my shop. It has turned out very well to house my chisels, measuring tools, and hand planes. On the outside, I’ve got magnets holding my measuring tools.

On the inside are my chisels, hand planes, files, marking gauges, and mallets.

Hand Saws:

Next to the tool cabinet, I have my various hand saws. This is a collection that is still being developed. Based on reviews and trials, I’ve selected some of the basic saws I need. I’m really focusing on Western saws though I have a few pull/japanese saws.

Next to the main saws, I have more saws along with my brace and hand drill. This is also the port to the dust collection shed (see later in this post).

Sanding Station

I have a Rigid sanding station sitting on top of my Craftsman toolbox which holds hammers, screw drivers, wrenches, plyers, and such.

Router Table and Planer:

I have a cabinet (originally a flip top but I found that it didn’t work nearly as well as my fantasy) which houses my power planer and my router table (again I chose to go for a kit from Benchdog instead of designing and making one of my own).

Drill Press:

I have a Delta bench top drill press on a shop made cabinet.

Bandsaw:

Here is my Delta 14″ bandsaw. I need to get a new blade and tune it up.

Festool:

Here is a shop made bench with a Festool work surface on top. In the cabinet is my routers and bits and other non-Festool hand power tools.

Here are my Festool tools including a vacuum, circular saw, sander, jig saw, Domino. I love my Festools (including the rail guides which I have in various sides).

The rest of the shop:

Notice that my dust collection is outside the shop. Dust collection includes a floor sweep and 2 flex hoses on either side of the shop that can connect to the router table, bandsaw, planer, sander.

Basically, I’ve optimized my 12′x16′ shop space for hand tools and some limited power tool usage.