Workbench: Top Glue Up

Some of you may remember me rambling on about building a workbench a while back. Life got in the way, but I'm back on task. The details of the bench are somewhat up in the air. I think I will build a plain bench with no vices, bench holes, etc. Then I will decide what kind of hardware I will need. The bench should resemble Chris Schwarz's Roubo workbench (below).



I have started milling and gluing up the bench top. I plan on my top finishing on 2'x8'x3". I wish it was going to be a little thicker but I'm working with what I've got. I am using red oak which I hope will give quite a bit of heft to the project. I'm gluing up the top in 5 sections. Each section being about 5 1/2" wide. This way I can still run it through the joiner, if need be. I'm using #20 biscuits between the boards just to hold them in place during glue up. I am also trying Chris's Method of applying glue. It's been messy but effective. I believe the building the top will be the most stressful part of the build. Trying to get 9 foot long pieces of wood perfectly straight on a 6" joiner can wear on a person. Since I only have enough clamps to do one glue up at a time, it may be a week or two before I have something that resembles a workbench top.
I'll try and get some photo's together and post them.

David

REVIEW: Rob Cosman Video Series

Since my first dabbling in hand tools I saw a lot of references to Rob Cosman's video's. I recently had an opportunity to see what all the hub-bub was about. I'm am a connoisseur of sorts when it comes to woodworking video's. I find myself to be a visual learner. So I was quite excited to get started. The videos I have are Dovetails, Advanced Dovetails, Rough To Ready, Hand Planing, and Drawer Making I & II.

Since I have been learning to cut dovetails recently, I got started there. Rob uses a tails first method. I am a pretty avid fan of Frank Klausz's pins first approach but I am always looking for a better way of doing things. Rob also advocates the use of very small pins. This I'm not a fan of. I have a more shaker/utilitarian approach to my work. I don't think you should sacrifice strength for aesthetics. I'm not going through all the trouble to hand cut dovetails to purposely make them weaker. One thing that I did think was great is that he covered Hounds Tooth dovetails. This is something I haven't seen in other videos. Overall I found Rob's dovetailing method to be slow but deliberate. It will give you beautiful dovetails but the extra layout and tools may slow you down.

I would have to say that I wasn't a huge fan of his hand planing video's. His methods here seemed painfully slow. So slow in fact that in places they started playing music to distract you from the fact it was taking forever. I have seen several people true a board from the rough. Rob's method by far took the longest. Rob also failed to adequately explain his philosophy on hand planes. He only discussed the few hand planes that he was using in the video. Shouldn't we have at least discussed other hand planes?

The drawer making videos were not of great interest to me. First off this should have been one video. You can't walk someone halfway though creating and fitting a drawer and call that a video. Anyway, these video's are based on the idea of creating "piston fit" drawers. I feel this video over complicates the drawer making process. Again, I feel Frank Klausz described this process better. Build the drawers to fit the hole tightly. Then when you clean up you clean up your dovetails with the plane you will have a tight fitting drawer. Rob's method will work, but I found it overly complicated and as a result...slower.

Overall, I didn't find that I cared much for the video's. This isn't a reflection on Rob's skill or knowledge. I simply found that Rob overcomplicated some issues and didn't discuss others enough. I just think there are superior woodworking videos out there that cover the topics more clearly. Speed is a big issue for me also. I'm coming from a cabinetmaker's point of view. I have to be able to make money doing this.

My choice video for hand planing is still Chris Schwarz's "Coarse, Medium, Fine." My favorite for dovetails and drawer making is still Frank Klausz's "Dovetail A Drawer."

David B.

Coopering 101

This is a great video I come accross today. While parts of the video come off quite comedic the results are remarkable. After watching this guy build this bucket with minimal tools in what seems to be his mother-in-laws living room, makes me ashamed that I don't do more with the shop full of tools that I have. It reminds me that I need "a little less talk, and a lot more action."

David

Mallet Of Necessity

After coming home with my new Lie-Nielsen chisels I had a problem. I didn't have have an mallet to use with the chisels. I did a little research and found one mallet that I simply loved. It was the Blue Spruce Toolworks Mallet. I had a chance to hold one of these mallets at the Popular Woodworking open house. It felt wonderful in the hand. It had a great balance and beautiful finish. Since Tom Lie-Nielsen had all my cash, I had to come up with a low cost solution.

I built a joiner's mallet a few years ago that was made of the laminated pieces of wood. One day while using it, it broke at the glue seam. I'm not sure why it failed but I didn't want that to happen again. While cruising around the forums I saw a thread on making mallets out of fire wood. Sounded like a great idea. One thing the ice storms left plenty of this year was fire wood. So I went out and picked up a piece of wood that looked like the right size. I would probably qualify for the turning Special Olympics so try not to laugh. I turned out something that looked vaguely like a mallet. It was to big and the handle was to thick. It looked more like something you would hit a froe with rather than a chisel. Round 2...I got another piece of wood and got to work. This mallet shaped up to be very nice. It had about the right weight and handle was comfortable. I decided this one would work fine. I put it in a cup of linseed oil. Letting one end soak for a day or two, then the other end. I tried to keep the whole mallet wet. I ended up with a nice usable mallet. Not exactly a work of art, but it chops out those dovetails all the same. I'm pretty sure the wood was from a fallen limb from a Hackleberry tree in my yard. I was surprised how tough this little mallet is. I have given it some pretty good smacks. The only evidence is some very light flat spots. You can see the flats. They are so light you have to feel for them. Another nice addition to the tool chest.

David B.

REVIEW: Lie-Nielsen Bench Chisels

What can I say about Lie-Nielsen's Bench Chisels that has not been said many times before. Of all the chisels I have used these are by far the best feeling in the hand. The balance is great. When chopping dovetails I would always have a hand that was cramped up. My hands would struggle with the top heaviness of the chisel, not with the Lie-Nielsen's. The handle is designed with a flat top to make it ideal for striking.

Another thing that sets the Lie-Nielsen's apart from other manufactures is finish of the chisel. There are no deep milling marks to have to hone away. This makes the chisels look and feel better. When I started sharpening the chisels I was able to start on a 4000 grit waterstone, even for flattening the backs. There aren't many chisels around like that. On a set of 5 chisels that can save your hours in front of your stones. Each chisel only takes about 10 minutes to set up.

Something else I hope to do in the future is to buy a long paring handle for my chisels. Since these chisels are socket chisels you can switch handles with just a few raps of the handle. So in just a few seconds you could turn your bench chisels in to a paring chisel. Now I'm not sure that geometry of the Lie-Nielsen chisels is idea for paring, but I think it will work just fine for most applications. Most prefer a thinner blade that has a 20-25 degree angle on a dedicated paring chisel.

There are a lot of folks who think thise chisels just aren't worth the money, that all your buying is the name. These are folks who have never used Lie-Nielsen Tools. Though they are pricey, I know I'll never have to replace them. I'll get to enjoy more woodworking and less sharpening and maintenance. I don't think you can go wrong with this set of chisels.

David B.

PS. Tom, if your out there...I would sure love to try one of those new fishtail chisels. :-)

Camellia Oil Dispenser

A lot of woodworkers keep an oily rag around to wipe down their tools when they are done. I have never really cared for this idea. I would probably toss the rag down on a piece of wood that is ready to finish and cause myself all kinds of finishing issues. Not to mention that this gets your hands as oily as it does the tool. I have always wanted to try one of the Camellia oil applicators that you can get from a lot of Japanese tool merchants. This one is from Japan Woodworker. For whatever reason I have never been to a store or making a online order from someone that carries them.

My mother has operated a upholstery shop now for almost 40 years. While at her shop the other day I noticed a she had this thick felt (probably 1/4" thick or so). It looked similar to the wick they use in the Camellia oil applicators in the magazines. Light bulbs started coming on. I grabbed a small piece and began to hunt for some type of bottle that would work as a container. My first thought was baby jar. The thought of broken glass everywhere wiped that from my mind. I went to my medicine cabinet and saw something that would work great. It was a old bottle of dog worming medicine. Seemed like the perfect size.

I took a small piece of felt and rolled it up like a into a tight roll. I got it to the right size so that the roll would go into the opening with a little coaxing. I then pulled the wick out and put oil in the container, leaving plenty of room for wick. I put the wick in place leaving maybe 3/8" above the lip. I turned the bottle over and nothing come out...so far so good. I left the bottle upside down for a 15 minutes or so it would have time to soak the felt. After 15 minutes the felt still felt dry, no yellow Camellia oil tint to it. I had to scratch my head for a minute. I wondered if the felt might be too tight in the neck of the bottle? I took a ice pick and pushed into the middle of the wick. I pulled the ice pick out and you could see I had made it to the oil. I turned it back over and instantly you could see the Camellia oil soaking the felt.
I took a chisel and gave the makeshift applicator a shot. Works like a charm. Leaves a nice even coat of oil like a Lie-Nielsen tool right out of the box. I don't think it would be necessary to have any kind of cap on it. This will make it much easier to keep my tools protected. The only downside to this solution is that to refill the bottle you would have to pull the wick out. Now I know that all of this seems like a lot of trouble to go though over a $10 dollar Camellia oil applicator. Your right, If I ever come across one of those applicators I will probably buy one. But for now, this works great.

David B.

DVD Review: Unlocking The Secrets of Traditional Design with George Walker

While at the Popular Woodworking open house I was buying some Lie-Nielsen tools and the lady ringing me up said that if you spent over $300 you got a free DVD. I already have video's that cover sharpening and using hand planes and I wanted something different. This one seemed to call out to me. Design is something I have always struggled with. I was expecting a lecture on the Golden Ratio, I was wrong.

I have heard that furniture construction was based on architecture principles, but never give it that much thought. I guess we have all heard that a piece is in a "classical style." I thought "classical style" was synonymous with old or antique. This apparently isn't the case. It refers to being in the styles of Greek and Roman architecture.

I have always struggled with how big components in a piece of furniture should be. How tall should the feet be on a dresser? How big of a top molding should I have on this bookshelf? How wide should my face frames be? How big should my drawers be? These questions can be answered by following the classical architectural orders. The orders dictate the proportions of a piece. This was all new to me and if your scratching your head at this point, its new to you also.

This video opened my eyes to a whole new way of thinking about furniture design. Mr. Walker does a great job of explaining these, for me, foreign principles. Again and Again, Tom Lie-Nielsen seems to come though with great products. This video is professionally done, not one of those gritty basement workshop videos. I would highly recommend this video to any woodworker. Be sure and pick up your copy here.

David B.