Making Another Walnut and Vertical Grain Doug Fir Box

 I had left over wood from my summer Port Townsend School of Woodworking class to make another walnut and VGDF box in same dimensions as the other one.  Since the construction was basically the same as the post in late Sep, I want to mostly focus on the differences.  Here is a quick snapshot of photos of making it and below will be the differences I want to talk about.

For the captured bottom, the first box used a machine router with stopped grooves.  I don't have a machine router.  Though I do want a few machines to help with donkey work, I'm not sure if I will get a machine router.  Making through grooves by hand is easy with a plough plane.  The only decision I had to make for this box was for the material to use for the plugs.  Either use walnut (blend away the plugs) or use a different wood (to highlight this as a feature).  For this box, I decided to use walnut and blend it.  The next walnut box I make, I will use ebony plugs to make it a feature.  I'm not embarrassed or ashamed of using through grooves or plugs - with the tools I have available this is a tell tale mark of how it was made.  If I really wanted to not have grooves, I could use a 1/8th inch chisel to make stopped grooves.

I wanted to do things a bit differently on the top.  The last one slide out on one side.  For this one, I wanted the ability for it to slide out in two directions.  Just wanted to see what that would be like in a box and only way to know for sure is to do it.  As for the lid, I didn't want to put bevels on it.  Simply took my plough and shoulder plane to thin if from 1/4" to 1/8" thick to go into the sides.  As for the bottom, I had some 1/8" walnut and just used that for a bottom.

When I did the angles on the first box, I really liked the bevel near the bottom and how it made the box float a bit off the counter top.  For this box, I just put a bevel near the bottom and left the remaining portions of the box rectilinear.  I also used a different height for the bevel just to see how that impacted the overall look.  It does change the look.  Of the two, I think I prefer the bevel closer to the bottom.  Again, not a big deal, just a preference.  

As for the finish.  The first box used Liberon Finish oil.  Though I like the look and the fast drying time of this oil (due to metal driers added to it), I don't like the smell of the volatiles or the fact their safety data sheet is vague.  As a chemist, I'm a bit fussy when it comes to smells and vaguness of chemicals.  I prefer the smell of benzene to toluene, diethyl either over tetrahydrofuran, pentanes over hexanes, etc.  I wanted to try a different oil.  Christian Becksvoort in Fine Woodworking Issue 152 (Nov/Dec 2001), he wrote an article about Tried and True oils, specifically about their varnish oil which is partially polymerized linseed (flax seed) oil and pine resin.  No driers, etc.  As such, I used it.  I really liked and and found the smell to be on the pleasant side of things.  It does take longer to dry and less coats can be applied per unit time.  Since I'm a hobby woodworker, this is fine.  I did 4 coats and really liked the way it looked on walnut (darker) and felt (smooth enough where I didn't feel the need to wax the box).  This will likely be the oil finish I use more often.  I will use up the Liberon Finish oil on some other projects as well since it would feel wrong to waste/discard it.

And that's it.  Another box in the books.  I will likely use this box as a Christmas gift.  I have almost enough walnut for another box and will get to that in Nov.  Right now I'm working on a huge box for the my nephew's SUV to house his subwoofer.  It's being made from Baltic Birch and dovetailed together.  Still in progress but below are some sneak peaks.  It's pushing my skills due to its size.  A good problem to have.

From small to large.  Keeping me busy for sure.

My First Used Handtool Woodworking Show

 The local Northern CA hand tool club had their annual collectable tool show in Sonoma, CA.  Sonoma is a bucolic wine town so I brought the family along.  I figured while I was at the show, they could wander the town and I would then join them a few hours later.

Lots of cool used tools.  I was hoping to find Craftsman brand woodworking tools as I'm building a collection of them but there weren't any - such is life - the chase is part of the fun for getting this collection.  I could easily get all the Craftsman brand woodworking tools on eBay but I don't want to make it quite that easy.

There were quite a few user tools that just needed some rust removal.  If one were starting out, I saw at least a dozen hand planes in the $25 to $30 dollar range.  There were a lot of premium collectible tools as well.  I ended up getting a Stanley scrub plane for $60 - just need to take the bend out of the rear handle screw so that the rear handle doesn't have a minor wobble in it (which I could live with in a scrub plane).  Out of curiosity, does anyone know where I could purchase that rear screw?

All in all a good day.  Also met the individual who runs the Woodworking in  Tiny Shop (Woodworking in a Tiny Shop (tinyshopww.blogspot.com)).  Not that long ago, I found out he was also in the Bay Area and I had been a big fan of his blog for a few years.  Cool connecting the virtual and real world.

There is a collectible tool show in Monterey CA in March and this show again next year.  I will go to both for sure.  I would like to get a No 2 hand plane and see how it performs as a small smoother (I currently use a No 3 as my primary smoother).  Infill planes tempt me as well.   Hard to resist getting some of the transitional planes.  Better start saving.  Oh, I also might bring some of my excess tools to sell.  All good problems to think about for the next 5 months.

Port Townsend School of Woodworking with Laura Mays (Krenov School) Teaching Small Dovetailed Boxes Part 2

 In the last post on 10Sep2022, I outlined how I got up to the design.  In this post, I will talk about making the box itself.  Spoiler alert, I didn't finish the box at the class (but got quite far) and ended up finishing it at home (which was fine).

With the design established, we milled up wood.  Walnut for the box and vertical grain Douglas fir (VGDF) for top and bottom.  Since I don't have machine tools (yet, I'm saving for some) at home, it was mostly Laura milling and explaining to me what/how she was doing it.  I very much like how safety conscious she is around the machine tools.  As a chemist, I've worked around and done many hazardous things going so far as to earn the nickname Captain Caution.  What really impressed me was that Laura was able to go from rough sawn wood to S4S'd wood for the small box in 15 minutes.  I know from having done it by hand that this would have taken me the better part of a weekend (working 3 to 4 hours each day pace) to get the same thing done.  I can really see how having the ability to dimension wood with machine tools makes sense. I've been saving for about a year and a half for a bandsaw, planer/jointer combo, and dust collection.  From there, I will evaluate what else I may or may not want.  Mostly want those tools to do the donkey work that I now do by hand that I'd prefer not to do.

Before we made the actual piece, Laura wanted us to make a practice side.  This allows confirmation of dovetails, grooves, etc.  I did it and all come out fine.  One of the perks to having a life size drawing is that it was super easy to lay out the dovetails.  I didn't actually measure.  Rather, I used my dividers from the drawing measuring up from the bottom.  The side looked nice and it was onto the actual box.  This practice side wouldn't go to waste; I planned to use it plus some spare walnut and VGDF to make a second box.

For the actual box, the dovetail layout was even easier.  I just used the practice side.  I was starting to feel some pressure in that it was late Wed or early Thur before I started on the actual box and the class ended on Friday.  My goal was to get the dovetails cut in the class at minimum and a stretch goal was to get the grooves run for the bottom and top.  Since I don't have a machine router at home, running stopped grooves by hand takes longer since I can't use my plough plane on two of the four sides.  If I end up not getting to the routed step at class, I will likely use the plough plane at home and then fill the gaps with ebony and make it a feature.

I took my time cutting tails first and really spent time make sure I was square.  Time spent here would make things easier.  I used a fret saw to remove the bulk of the waste and then used the block on the baseline and then chiseled down.  It worked very nicely.  This will likely be my go to way to make dovetails moving forward.  To transfer for where to cut the pins, I used my marking knife and the alignment jig which I borrowed.  It's a handy little jig and I will make one when I get home.  

With the transfer knife lines in place, I then used a trick from Paul Sellers, I used my chisel to remove some of the end grain and provide a knife wall for the saw.  That way, the key angle across the end grain would be accurate.  Cutting and waste removal went well and I got a very nice snug dovetails.  The best I think I have every made.  Not trying to have too much hyperbole in this but they were really nice dovetails and my wife later remarked she could see a difference in them from this class compared to what I have done in the past.  My past dovetails were decent but it was obvious the class has elevated my skill and bit and this makes me happy.  Undoubtedly the more I make, the better they will get.

There was just enough time in the class to use the 1/8" router bit to cut the stopped and through grooves.  I did the practice piece first.  Glad I did.  Since I had never used a machine router before, I screwed up the first stopped housing and it became a cut through housing.  I have never used a machine router before and misunderstood where to start and stop.  Part of why I did the practice piece first.  The actual pieces went fine.  The weight of the world was off my shoulders at this point.  This was about as far as I got.

When I got back home, I continued working on the box.  Having unfinished projects really bothers me.  It's a Myers Briggs personality type thing.  I like finishing projects.  For the top and bottom, I am using VGDF which I think is a really handsome wood.  The big challenge for this is that it is 1/8" thick and I want to put a bevel on both the top and bottom.  I call a bevel but really it makes it look more like facets on a gem stone.  It took me a while to visualize how to do this.  I finally realized that it really is the same as making a raised panel except all four intersections are right next to each other.  The bottom one has this gemming underneath and you will only see it if you flip the piece over.  I really like having hidden beauty/features on things.  There is a good chance as I develop my own woodworking style hidden features will be something I do.  Many of my projects already have it.  

So, I started with the bottom to make this gem/bevel feature with a freshly sharpened plane blade.  It came out ok but I learned a lot in doing it and thought I could do it a second way for the top.  The real challenge is how thin the wood is.  The second method provided a better looking gem on top.  If I had to do it a third time, I would likely use another technique in which I use double sided tape underneath the VGDF so there is more rigidity and clamping options.  

I made the cork backed cauls and then glued up the piece.  It went well and after I let it dry, I flushed the dovetails.  The next step was the one I was most anxious about.  I wanted the box to have angular sides.  I was inspired by some of the boxes Laura Mays has made and I wanted to get out of my comfort zone on this.  I was careful on the layout.  Still, hogging off wood on an already nice looking box had me anxious.  I was careful to avoid spelching (an awesome work; probably my second most favorite woodworking term after arris).  It came out nice.  

With this done, it was time to move onto finishing.  One of the finishes Laura Mays likes is made by Liberon so I bought some from Tools for Working Wood and followed the instructions for this oil finish.  I put on three or four coats, then some clear shellac (I pre-finished the inside before assembly) and waxed the outside of the box and the grooves for the top.

Finished!  All in all, it took about 20-25 hours to make this box.  I'm happy with it.  It now resides in my kitchen and holds packets of sweetener and sits next to the box I made to hold tea bags.  I have enough left over spare wood plus the practice corner to make almost another two boxes so I will do so.  I want to spend a lot of time over the next six months working on small dovetail boxes to further develop the skill I learned in the class.

All in all, very happy right now.  Every morning when I open the lid and hear that wood on wood slide, it puts a smile on my face.  Thank you Laura to teaching me.