Crooked Shack

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Tags: tablesaw,

Here are some boxes that I built based on the Gary Rogowski design from Fine Woodworking issue #139. Although the boxes are not big they still take awhile to complete (at least they did for my first time out). I built the first boxes out of cherry but I did not follow the assembly directions so that may have been why they seemed to take a little longer. The second two that I built were out of ash and I followed the assembly directions a little better and the whole project went a lot smoother. I decided to leave the pins out of my boxes and see if they perform well as far as the joints are concerned and so far so good. The finish that I applied is clear shellac by Zinsser. It was the first time that I had ever used shellac and at first I was a little discouraged. I own the Bob Flexner book but I consulted it after I applied the finish and read that I should have thinned the 3-pound cut to a 1-pound cut for my first layer of shellac and a 2-pound for all subsequent layers. The finish turned out alright but the next boxes will be better as I now have a good feel for the project and working with shellac. I still have to complete a couple of business card holders that I will have to give out after the holidays. They are simple little scrap bin projects but people like to receive things no matter how small.
Have a merry Christmas and a happy holidays.

Christmas Chisels

Originally uploaded by crookedshack.

Lie-Nielsen chisels for Christmas.

It has been a long time coming since my first post about the toolbox but I am finally posting photos of the finished toolbox that I started in April. I took a week long course at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking with the instructor Chris Gochnour. When I left at the end of the week I had a completed box that needed some finish scraping, hinges, handles, and a finish. I intended to get on it right away but as life would have it I soon became consumed with the day to day tasks and the toolbox started gathering dust in the shop. At the beginning of the cool weather here I realized that I needed to get this done so that I can start using it. The first hurdle was to mortise the lid stay into the box. This was a daunting task as it involved getting a router to rest on a 5/8″ edge and not tip or tilt and also not take off and tear out the box side. Most nerve-wracking on a piece that you have over 60 hours in. I attached a couple of supports on either side of the box providing a good sized base for the router to rest on and the task went smoothly. Once that was done I was home free as I had already mortised for the hinges and the handles were to be simply screwed to the side once the finish was on. I used Minwax Antique Oil finish and put on two heavy coats using steal wool on the second coat. I am waiting until the end of the month and I will try putting the buffing wheel to it to give it a nice shine. I still need to make the tills that fit inside but I figure I can do that as needed because with my limited shop space this might become a small blanket chest for one of the girls.