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High Desert Saw Mill
While in Bend Oregon I wandered out to the High Desert Museum to see what could be learned. Stumbling across a saw mill I thought about all the work Matt Cremona was doing with his homemade bandsaw. Missed them operating by a few days which would have given me more insight as to the mills operation. Following are a few pictures.
It appears to be a nice set up, complete with wooden idlers to move the wood and a chop saw to cut everything to length.
Saw Bench
Several years ago I built a small saw bench. It’s worked well with a few minor issues along the way. Looking at the added screws and structural repairs I began building a new bench several months ago. It’s been a busy summer and it’s progresses very slowly.
The new design was selected back in May and in the next couple of weeks it will be complete. The two goals for the new bench was integrity and refreshing skills.
The design has allowed me to practice dovetail and mortise/tenon joints. The one complaint I have is my choice of lumber. Using several old boards of SPF was cheap but it certainly isn’t as enjoyable as hardwoods of white pine. However it’s a tool for the shop and all good practice.
Tool Cabinet Supports
Moving the cabinet around to install hinges, shelf supports and doors has become quite a challenge. There isn’t a scale nearby, but even before tools are placed inside it’s quite hefty. Fortunately there are supports to be built that will fit underneath.
The supports consits of a pair of dovetailed boards with a brace. The dovetail is unique and was fun to make. I admit that I did have some trouble getting the angles correct on the brace and the fit is not as snug as I would like, but there are plenty of lessons in mistakes.Unfortuantely I only have the three photographs that I took while making the parts.
Tool Cabinet Shelves
One would think that with the cabinet almost complete a plan would exist for the shelves. I’m not quite there yet and it seems that until the cabinet has been used for a period of time there may be several iterations. Certainly there needs to be a couple of shelves and at least one for hand planes. Then there is the issue with the saws? Where will they go?
Cabinet Shelf Supports
One of the things that I find most fascinating about being a woodworker is the many differing techniques for accomplishing a task. As usual this Cabinet has a method for installing adjustable table shelves that I have not come across.
It consists of four saw toothed supports. You could make the supports from a couple of boards and then rip them to the correct width. I had parts from an old cabinet so I cut each support to the correct height and width than bolted pairs together. This allowed me to lay out saw and chop the saw tooth and end up with an exact pair. Once laid out it was a surprisingly quick process. I then drilled holes for the screws and attached them to the cabinet sides. I did have to remove the handle from my drill to get the hole placed correctly. The next job is to make the crosspieces which hold the shelves. You can see the one in the picture needed a little more care in measurement but it was a quick job and the adjustment works great.
Until I came across Paul Seller’s hanging Tool Cabinet I had not seen his method for installing adjustable shelves. If you have different methods that are unique for shelf installation let me know.
New Apron
A couple of years ago while wandering around Hand Works I had the opportunity to meet Jason and his family from Texas Heritage Woodworks. I know from my instagram and blog friends that many of you have also spent time with Jason. I enjoyed the brief time we talked and was struck with the quality of his workmanship. If you are looking for an apron, tool rolls, stickers or other items you can’t go wrong.
Fortunately when my birthday came around a couple of months ago, Jason took time out of a very busy schedule to add a logo designed by my wife to one of his awesome aprons. I couldn’t be happier. There is something special about knowing the people who make the products you use. Jason, consider yourselves back door neighbors!
Cabinet Door Joinery 2
After a couple of days with intermittent rain I noticed a little twist in a couple of the rails so I did my best to plane them straight. That’s one of the problems of spreading your project out over many weeks. The doors are held together with mortise and tenon joints and thanks to previous practice on the back my process has improved.
For little extra to the doors I added a stile in the center so tehe doors have divided panels.
Ideas – mortise jig
After posting about the mortise jig there were a couple of great comments. In particular the caution about ensuring that the jig is square to the board being mortised. This can be a frequent problem if your vise does not close evenly.
Posting the picture you can quickly see what can happen and imagine the effect.
In the comments Matt quickly pointed out the potential problem. Here’s a solution I tried over the weekend that worked extremely well. The picture shows the clamps used in my moxon vise, but I also put it to work in my regular vise.
Along with this solution I also will take a close look at my bench vise and see if I can make some adjustments.
Thanks for all the comments!
Mortises-Tools Cabinet Back
With my mortise jig complete, the process of measuring and marking begins. I’ve repeated enough steps on this project and take extra care to make sure everything goes right the first time. The first time of course did not include the two additional mortises and tenons I chopped because I put two in the wrong spot. The extra cross member didn’t hurt though and everything went well.
The care certainly paid off and everything fits snugly.
I still have to plane the carcass sides and tidy up before attaching the back. Hope everyone had a good Father’s Day.
Mortise Jig
One of the techniques that I learned a Paul Sellers 9day foundation class was the construction and use of a mortise jig. I don’t always use them these days, but occasionally I find them helpful. After my latest experience with making mortise and tenon joints it seemed prudent to take my time and make a new jig.
ITs really a sinple process and involves selecting a small piece of scrap to act as the back and then planing a seconpiece the correct thickness to act as a guide for the chisel. Once glued together and clamped (I sued my bench clamp) it acts as a great guide. I must have 6 or seven guides now of varying thickness.
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