Roubo Frame Saw & First Time Working with Ash - oh my

 I took the week off from work and am starting a new project.  I am build a Roubo frame saw using the kit from Blackburn Tools.  For the frame I am making it from rough sawn spalted ash (57" long x 8" wide x 2" thick that Blackburn tools was kind enough to sell to me at the height of the pandemic).

Last week, I didn't mind taking a cherry board down from 1/2" to quarter inch.  This ash is a much harder wood and I wish I had a bandsaw (I am saving for one).  I don't so I am doing it by hand tools.  Needless to say, it is quite the workout.  I've cut out and dimensioned the arm handle pieces.  Now, I need to "just" need rip out and final dimension the two stretchers.  Wish me luck.

Though, I'd prefer not to do this work, I will admit there is some satisfaction from doing it.  Can't wait till I have a bandsaw.

Mongo Work Good

 About a year or two after I started woodworking, I built my first hand plane from a Lee Valley kit.  I decided that I needed a fore plane after reading some of Chris Schwarz's writings on coarse, medium, fine tools.  I made it out of scraps of laminated oak (body) and pine (handle).  It is ugly but beautiful as is light, powerful, and works very well.  I named it Mongo (based on a character from Blazing Saddles movie) as it seemed to fit the brute strength and simplicity of the tool.  Despite a huge wide open mouth, I get very little tear out if I use it for finer work.  The 8"ish radius camber on the blade works exceptionally well at hogging off material and thinning boards. 

Recently, I had a 1/2" thick piece of maple I wanted to use in a frame and panel construction.  I wanted the panel to be 1/4" thick.  I could have done a lot of other things to use the 1/2" thick stock.  But, I wanted what I wanted.  I've often found what matters most to me isn't what I make but rather how I make it.  I wanted it to be 1/4" thick because that is what I wanted.  It took a fair bit of muscle to get it there but I felt great satisfaction.  There was a slight increase in complexity because to get the best grain flow, the two laminated pieces had the grain raising in opposite directions and it required a bit more attention to avoid tear out.

Every time I look at the frame panel, I will smile because I will know what I did.  I even left some of the scallops on the inside non show face face so I could feel it as well.  This seemingly insignificant decisions will bring me joy for the remainder of my life because like Frank said, "I did it my way."

My Little Slice of Happiness

 It's a Sunday evening and it is raining outside.  I've been in the shop all day.  Not always woodworking but in this space.  It's quite except the pitter patter of the rain and sounds of the waste wood being removed from the wanted.  I am in the moment.  I am very happy.  Life is good.  There are grander workshops than mine for sure but this one is mine and it brings me great joy.

So Why Does 1/32nd of an Inch Define my Joy or Sorrow?

 I am preparing a bread box for my wife.  I wanted to do an exemplar job of the front frame and panel.  I did the back panel to practice first.  Learned a lot that helped me.  

So, for the front, I really took my time in layout.  Was really pleased with how everything was going (plough grooves, appropriate thickness of tenon, the haunch fit, etc.  After got everything pared and cleaned up, I was very happy with the tightness of the joint on the show face of the front panel.  Then, I took a look at the back side.  I was annoyed.  With the calipers, it appears to be about 1/32nd of an inch gap.  

I went immediately from joy to frustration.  Then, I got even more angry.  Why should a 1/32nd of an inch bother me.  It's on the inside that will rarely be seen (only when you open it up).  Even then, after it's assembled, finished, and the gap filled with colored wax, it will be hard to notice.  Yet, there it is.  A gap the size of the grand canyon.  Yet, a gap that doesn't impact any functionality.  Sigh.  

I doubt I am alone on this.  Now the big debate is do I pare down the font so that it snugs up the back? I haven't decided.  I will have to see how the other three tenons fit.

Stuff in my pockets

 As a kid, I used to be fascinated with what my father carried in his pockets.  This was long before the term every day carry came about.  The pocketknife post from last week got me thinking of what do I carry and why.  Below is a picture.  I will elaborate a bit on what's in there and why.

Pocketknife - I've been carrying one since I was 7.  I like it to have a blade, slotted and Philip head screwdriver, and a bottle opener.  Handy tools I have used my whole life and am glad its in my pocket.

Flashlight.  LEDs have really increased the brightness over the past 20 years.  I have been carrying one of some kind for a bit over 20 years.  It just comes in handy in all kinds of situations.  Prefer it to run on AAs but the current one (because my young daugher at the time "stole" and lost my other one) uses 123 batteries.  Such is life.  All I want in a flash light is that it turns on and off.  I don't need a bunch of modes.

Zippo lighter with an aftermarket butane lighter insert (something like Thunderbird).  The kerosene original in the Zippos would dry up after two or three weeks.  No point in carrying an unfueled lighter.  The butane easily goes 3 months and probably longer between charges.  I don't smoke.  There is something I like about having the ability to make a fire if I am somehow stranded overnight.  It just feels comforting to know I can do this.

Minimal keys.  I'm not a warden so I really question each and every key I put on there.  In the house I have the big ugly key chain that I have been using for 30+ years and for which I don't know what half of the keys are for anymore.

Minimal wallet.  Small wallet helps me from collecting junk.  This is a good thing.

Cell phone - a handy device I have a love hate relationship with.

USB drive.  Handy to have to put important files on.  Every now and then it really has been helpful transferring files.  Keep lots of photos and woodworking articles on it. 

My Pocketknife

 My dad at a young age (under 10) was climbing out of a tree and somehow got his clothing snagged on a branch was being strangled.  He considers himself fortunate that he has his pocked knife and cut himself free.  As such, I was given a traditional Boy Scout Pocket knife at age 7 and was strongly encouraged to carry it every single day.  This was the 1970s and a pocket knife wasn't considered a weapon of mass destruction.  I still have it but it is in a different location that I can't visit and photograph due to Covid-19 restrictions.

It took me a while to habitually carry it.  Often, I would ask my dad for his knife to cut a string, etc.  He would say, "Joe, there are two things you don't lend out in life - your knife and your wife."  As such, I would often need to go get mine.  As such, from age 7 through age 30 I carried that Boy Scout style pocket knife.  It was a good knife and I used it for all manner of things.  By age 30, I stated to feel sentimentally attached to it.  Since pocket knifes can easily fall out of your pocket, I began to worry that loosing it would really upset me.

At that point, I had to think about what pocket knife did I want to carry.  Firstly, I made it clear to my dad, he couldn't give me one as that would repeat the problem of it being sentimental.  Though I liked all of the features on a Boy Scout pocket knife, the key features I really wanted in my next knife came down to a blade, flat head and Philips head screw drivers, and a bottle opener.  If I had that, I could do just fine.  Yes, I had used the can opener before on my pocket knife.  Mostly it was just because I had it.  Only once did I really need to use it.  Having only needed to use a tool once in 23 years meant it wasn't a must have feature.

I tried initially and a few times since to carry a Leatherman type tool both in pocket and on a holster.  Though nice, it was just too much tool.

For my 30s, I settled on the Swiss Army Knife Tinkerer model.  It had a blade, bottle opener, and both types of screwdriver heads.  I'm glad no one gave it to me.  I did have some slip out of my pocket and disappear.  Then after 9/11, I ended up giving quite a few to TSA because I was so used to keeping one in my pocket I often forgot to put it in my check in luggage.  I was quite happy with this pocketknife and found the tweezers and toothpick to be handy.

In my early 40s, I wanted something with a slightly bigger blade.  I didn't want a Rambo style knife.  Fortunately, at that time, Swiss Army was making the next generation Swiss Army knife that had a slightly bigger blade and all of the tools I needed.  It also had a saw blade which I didn't need but such is life.  I carried that knife for about a decade.  

About a two years ago, I wanted a knife that maybe wasn't as bulky.  It took a few false starts.  Then, I discovered this Milwaukee knife shown below.  It is under $50 (might have been $30) and quite a bargain in my mind.  It was basically the bare bones knife I had wanted.  It had a blade (part of it serrated which I could do without), a bottle opener and a really nice quarter inch bit screwdriver that came stock with a bit that had a flat head and Philips on the other side.  I've been carry it for about a year and have been quite happy with it.  I took off the pocket clip as I don't need it that accessible.  

In terms of blades.  Everything since my original Boy Scout pocket knife, which had a a high carbon steel blade, has been a bit of a disappointment.  All the other knives mentioned have been stainless steel.  I can't get stainless nearly as sharp as I can other blades.  For a pocket knife, the level of sharpness is useable but not exciting.  I use the simple sharpener I bought at Woodcraft to sharpen it.  This is the same sharpener I use for my woodworking marking knives.  It does an "ok" job.  For what my pocketknife needs to do, it is fast enough where I tend to sharpen my pocketknife once a week.

I know a tool such as a pocket knife is such a personal choice that I am sure we all have strong opinions.  For now, I am content.  I am sure I will still keep my eye open.  What do you carry?

mini-anarchist tool chest (ATC) - painting and interior top box

 There were two key operations remaining to finish the mini-ATC.  I needed to make a box for the interior and then paint the outside.

For the top box, I decided to go with a single larger box.  At this point, I don't have all the specific tools and I want to use if for a while (at my dad's who lives an hour away) to see what else may need to be added.  Given some of the unknows, a single larger drawer makes things easy.  For this, half inch poplar I purchased from a big box store fit the bill.  I really lucked out in that I found some with really cool greens and purples.  For a box, this kind of bold color on poplar is really nice.  Sadly, I know if will fade to a nice brown.  Making the box was straight forward.  

I wanted to run grooves in the bottom to hold the bottom but I didn't want to use half blind dovetails.  So, I decided to try something I've seen Ralph B. in the Accidental Woodworker do.  I ran the grooves, made the standard dovetails, and then assembled as normal.  There were rectangular holes on two sides of the box.  I simply cut some plugs and filled in the square holes.  After the finish was applied you can't see this unless you know they are there and are looking very closely for them.  You will easily see one of them.  That is because I dropped a piece of poplar on the floor and used a piece of pine to fill that gap instead.  The other last little thing I did for this upper box, was to put some small handles inside.  That way, I could easily pull it out of the box.  I just glued on some scrap cherry I had  and put a chamfer on the bottom side so that I could easily lift it.

One thing that drives me nuts is that 1/4" plywood isn't truly 1/4" as it is metric.  I didn't like the flop in the box bottom.  As such, I glued some blocks under the box bottom to snug up the rattle.  It solved the problem and provided extra support for the drawer so all is good here.  Before I make my next box, I am going to buy the proper metric plough plane blade.

Now, onto painting up the exterior.  For it, I wanted to use milk paint.  I wanted a red under layer and black on the outside.  I like the look it gives that gets even better with age (or maybe this is a trend I have fallen into).  Elia Bizzarri in Fine Woodworking Mar/Apr 2020 (pgs 24-28) outlines a process to do this.  I followed it and I am happy with the results.  Having said that, using milk paint was stressful the first time through.  I am used to finishes such as shellac which flow nicely.  Milk paint has a different flow (I think draw is the proper word).  Also, the first coat of red looked crappy.  Now, I had heard all of this before I started.  It is true.  This is where I kept Paul Sellers mantra of keep going and don't give up in my mind.  When it was finished, it looked really nice.  I didn't need manually distress it as I didn't get complete coverage with the black.

Only thing left to do was to add the handles (Horton Brasses).  I elected not to put a lock on it as I don't plan to leave it places where it really needs to be locked.  

All in all, it took around 175 hours to make it.  I really enjoyed it.  I am very happy with how it turned out.  Now, I need to start buying tools to fill it.  I have some and in the next post I will share with you what tools I have and my thoughts on what I want to purchase.