Seatbelts for the planes - Situation normal.

  My current project was to make new shop furniture to hold my sharpening station, and some lumber and the like.  Seemed straight-forward enough.
  I started to get to thinking that adjusting the mortise gauge to match the mortise chisel I was using was just getting to be too much of a burden, and it occurred to me that if I made a whole mob of mortise gauges purpose-set for my mortise chisels then I wouldn't have that problem again!  Huzzah!   
  So I started cutting up oak and maple scraps to make the gauges.
  That's when I started to really feel the 'rust' in my skill-set, so I decided I would really focus on doing the pieces up properly 'four-square'.  No problem.
  That's when I realized that I do not, in point of fact, have a panel gauge which is a requirement for doing things Properly Four Square when they're more than about 4" wide.
  Now the current project is a panel gauge.
  I have cut the pieces, and cleaned them up 'four-square'.  I finished that yesterday.  Today is the day planned to start shaping the stock of the panel gauge.
  This brings me to my plane till.
  I made this plane till about 5 years ago, and my planes have sat on it without complaint for all that time, and never has even one plane even hinted at a desire to leap off of the till.
  'Til yesterday.
  I used to have my bench against the wall.  It wasn't possible for me to bump against the planes on the till because the bench was in the way.   Now the bench is in the middle of the room and I pass close by the till all the time.
  I knocked my Veritas bevel-up smoother off of the till yesterday, at which point it plummeted down to the (and it makes my marrow quake to admit this) ceramic tile floor below.  It was neither a proud nor a pleasing moment.  I spoke sternly to myself and told me to give the till a wider berth so that it wouldn't happen again.  Apparently I am no better at listening than my wife claims, because I did it again this morning.  To the very same plane.

  My current project changed again, and it became 'harnesses' to keep the planes from plummeting in case I bump them again.
  I have always avoided this method of securing planes in the past, because it requires extra thought and generally an extra limb to extricate the plane from the till.  Today, however, it was a necessity to protect the planes regardless of the damage to my delicate sensibilities.
  A half hour spent spelunking for my old camping gear produced some para-cord, which doesn't look right, but which works fine.
  The job is done, the planes are safe, and I can get back to working on the panel gauge.  I'll come up with a proper way to restrain the planes when I have more time to think.

M.Mike

 
  

Alternative in-use lathe tool storage

I have seen this style of tool rack around here and there. It can be handy for people who don't have much storage space near their lathe, and can't reach the lathe tool storage easily. There is a block under the ways with a tee-nut in it, and the black knob has a threaded stud in it such that when you tighten the knob it pinches everything together to secure it to the ways.
I see two drawbacks to this style of rack, which is why I haven't, personally, made one. The first drawback is that the tools are stored blade-down so you can't easily see what you are grabbing. The second drawback is that it precludes you from easily sliding the tail-stock all the way back to get it out of your way when you're hollowing or working on a face.
Still and all, it's a far better solution than many, so I thought I'd show it.
The example above is owned by Mack, the same guy who made the other rack that I based my rack on.

Lathe tool storage - finished for now

So here is the current state of affairs. It stores both chucks, the jumbo jaws, the various live and dead centers, tool rests, and calipers. The tool rack above has been modified for storage of a knockout bar and extra-thin cutoff tool. I have more tools on the way, so the storage will need to be expanded soon. I'm adding a special place for the drill chuck and a few bits. I also want to make a proper depth drill.

More Storage for Lathe Stuff

Those who have been reading this languid journey for a while will know that one of my favourite solutions to tool storage problems involves a sheet of wood on the wall, and a bijillion shaker pegs all over it. It's the old-timey peg-board.
I've got the sheet of wood set up, and now I'm trying to arrange upon it the things that I want to store. No doubt I will change my mind a bijillion times during this process, but I'll get there eventually.
I haven't had much time to work on this recently, having had many call-ins of late, but I'll get it done soon enough, and then my workshop can be tidied properly and all will be well again.

Experimental Rack is finished. For now.

Yes, this rack is done. Sort of. I mean, I finished cobbling it together, and it works, but it needs some tweaking. The bottom rail needs to be moved up a bit to give the chisels a bit more force inwards, for one thing.

Additionally, the 5/8" bowl gouge (second from the right) actually touches the wall when it's in the rack. This is sub-optimal. Another obvious issue is the little 1/4" spindle gouge, which looks ready to fall right out of the rack, though in actuality it's probably more solidly placed than any of the others. I think I'll make a couple of 'bushings' to adapt individual pockets for the two tools that don't fit right, then it should be golden.

This, of course, is only the first of a series of storage devices that will be required for the lathe. I need to store tool rests, chucks, centers, and all manner of goodies. Can't wait. :)

Turning Tool Rack

It is time to make some racking/storage for my turning tools. My shop is becoming a nightmare with stuff piled everywhere. The general concept of this rack comes from American Woodworking, March 2008 edition, and more particularly I found out about it from a fellow turner on the Canadian Woodworking forum. This is a picture of the rack that he made, based on the aforementioned plans:
This is a very simple rack and yet it appeals to me for several reasons. Firstly, it doesn't really matter how long the tools are, and turning tools can vary a fair bit in length. Secondly, the bottom board being angled is very clever because it not only sheds shavings but it 'pushes' the tool handle into the recesses to hold the chisel in place. I think it's very clever, so I'm trying the idea out.

First, to make the 'corrugated' cross-pieces. I take a board and lay out the hole centers and drill about half way through with a hole saw in a brace and bit.
Now I flip the board over and finish the holes from the other side. By drilling them part way from each side they won't splinter out on the back. After drilling I planed each side to get the worst of the whiskers off, then I re-drew the line through the hole centers and ripped the holes in half. Now with another rip cut I will have two corrugated boards.

All I need now are the sides and the bottom piece. Easy peasey. I'll probably finish making it in the morning and post it then.

A Tale of Two Saw Tills - The Beginning

My old saw till works just fine. It didn't end up as quite the saw till that I had originally planned... I had intended it to hold 6 panel or back saws, but I had forgotten about all of the small saws, so in the end I used it for 2 panel saws and 2 back saws, with the small saws mounted on the back. When my two new Medallion saws arrived the old panel saws were relegated to a nail in the dark closet which has become the Purgatory of Unloved Tools. By the time I have my two new Medallion panel saws I must have a reasonably worthy saw till. The old one is simple but effective. The large back holds the small saws in a very visible manner, where they are reasonably easily removed and replaced. The back-saws are even easier to remove and replace. The bottom of the till is a sort of 'bin' that holds dovetail gauges, saw files, and other saw-related things. However, as the bin fills up I worry that I might accidentally (and the thought makes my marrow quake to think upon) scratch the tote of one of my Medallion saws when grabbing a saw file from the bin. This is unacceptable!

The new saw till will be larger, yes, but it will have a drawer into which to shove the various bits and pieces that now fill the bin. The bin will still have some use, but it will have a vertical divider to keep pointy, scratchy things away from the saw totes. At the right in the picture of the current state of the new till we see that the front wall of the bin has a large cutout. This will allow easier access to the contents of the bin, which will be primarily the saw wax and other things that are used very often. The bin will be smaller than it was before, but more accessible, and not prone to harming the saw totes. The drawer, which will be below the front wall of the bin, will hold the majority of the stuff.
The only things that I have done thus far to try to make this till a bit more visually appealing is to add a shallow rabbet and chamfer to the edges of the back, and chamfer the edges of the sides, etc. The rabbet was wonderfully easy to do with the new skew rabbet planes from the good folks at Veritas... at least until I got to the 'stopped' part. These are stopped rabbets, and it was a pain in the butt to clean up the stopped ends. I tried a few different methods to sort it out, but in the end I just pared them with a chisel.
Some of you might have noticed that the back and sides of the till are all vertical grain, but the front is horizontal grain. This may well come back to haunt me. Particularly with the drawer.
So far so good. OOoops.. 6am already... time to get ready for work.

Overhead Rack

Above the bench I mounted a 12" wide, 5' long piece of laminated pine shelving, which I drill into and mount shaker pegs on. I don't have that much on it yet, but I'd rather have the space and not need it then need it and not have it.
Currently I have my small egg-beater drill, breast drill, three braces, drawknife and pull-knife, and hammers all mounted there, with lots of room to expand.

Saw Till

Now that I have some saws worth having (Medallion Tools... nice...) and more on the way, it was time to build a saw till. My needs are relatively meagre compared to a serious saw aficionado, so I went with a relatively meagre saw till. Still, it stores all of my saws, so far, and also stores all of my saw sharpening gear and other 'saw oriented' stuff.
Right now I'm light on cross-cut saws. I have two on order from Medallion, but it takes a while. I have my saws made with light coloured steamed-beech totes if they're a rip pattern saw, and dark totes (some weird carmelized maple) if they're a crosscut saw. It keeps me from grabbing the wrong saw as easily. At the top left of the rack is a Veritas 'dovetail saw'. It came packaged with a magnetic dovetail guide that I got as a gift. It actually has its moments. Moving clockwise, next comes the legendary Rip Tooth Dozuki from Lee Valley Tools. Great little saw, but after trying them, I'm not so happy with pull-saws, and I'm going back to push-saws. Next is a somewhat generic 'gent's saw' which I rarely use. My big rip saw is a Disston, but not old enough to be particularly good. It works. The cross-cut panel saw is also a Disston. Same comment. It works, but I'm looking forward to replacing it. Next is my Medallion Tenon Saw. Nice... and my custom big-ass Medallion Dovetail Saw with a 12" blade and 2.5" depth of cut below the back. Ooooh baby. Lotsa beef, there. Fab on hardwood. Grabby on pine. It's worth it. Oh, and last but not least is the Kugihiki from Lee Valley tools. It's a flush-cut saw, and a pull-saw is better for that particular application. It's a great saw, particularly for the price. "Woodworking" Magazine did a comparison between several brands of flush-cutting saw and this one won. Colour me smug. :)
Past the saw till is the clamp rack for the gluing clamps. Those are the Lee Valley 30th anniversary aluminum clamps. Not fabulous clamps, but an excellent deal.

Main tool shelf

This shelf was my first storage project for the wood shop. The general idea is cribbed from Robert W. Lang's column in the Autumn 2007 issue of "Woodworking" magazine. When I first built it it was so full of tools that it was virtually unusable. Now that I have the plane till and saw till and overhead storage... it looks a bit bare. :)
This shelf will be used to store my more often used chisels and layout tools. My gimlets and awls are in holes along the left vertical of the shelf. I also store my surface clamp and bench dogs here.

Plane Till

When I built my plane till I first built it much flatter to the wall. I did some experimentation to show that the angle was sufficient for the planes to stay in place. What I didn't calculate in was the 'pucker factor' every time I set a plane on the till and just wondered if this would be the time that it would fall off. After a week I hadn't dropped a single plane, but it was wearing on my nerves so I rebuilt it with almost twice the depth. This causes more 'shadow' over the bench, but it's worth it both for my peace of mind, and for the extra shelf space below.
To the left we see the plane till. From left to right, top to bottom, we have a Veritas Bevel-Up Jointer, which I use as a try plane, not a jointer, and old Stanley #6 which I use as a fore plane, a Veritas Low-Angle Jack plane, which I use as a fitting plane, not as a levelling plane. Next comes the Veritas Bevel-Up Smoother, the Veritas Scrub Plane, a Veritas Low-Angle Block Plane with the extra tote and knob to turn it into a "#3 Smoother", Veritas winding sticks, a Stanley G12 low-angle block plane that I bought, perhaps, 15 years ago, and a Veritas low-angle block plane which normally always has a Veritas Chamfer Guide on it. On the shelf below we have a Veritas Router Plane with all of the trimmings, a Veritas Small Router Plane, a Veritas Jointer Fence for the Low-Angle Jack, a Veritas Small Plow Plane plus the blades, a Stanley #78 Duplex Fillister plane, and a Veritas Small Shoulder Plane.
Attached to the side is the piece of 2x4 that I use as an index for my augers, and that stick hanging on the tie peg is just a piece with different sized holes in it (all bored by my auger bits) which helps me figure out what size hole I need for various applications.