Drilling « Full Chisel Blog

May 3, 2013

The Complete Cabinet Maker And Upholsterer’s Guide – J. Stokes 1829

Filed under: Alchemy,Clamping,Dovetails,Drilling,Finishing,Furniture,Hand Planing,Hardware,Hide Glue,Historical Material,Instruments,Layout Tools,Mortice & Tenon,Of Interest,Proper Tools,Publications,Reviews,Sawing,Scrapers,Sharpening,Techniques,The Trade,Uncategorized,Veneer,Wood,Workbench — Stephen Shepherd @ 10:24 am

Gary Roberts over at Toolemera has done it again and reproduced a fine tome from the nineteenth century. The book has many full color plates, hand colored engravings and Mr. Roberts has reproduced the entire book in color, so the pages appear as they would in an original edition.

Mr. Stokes has done an excellent job at assembling material from his peers and predecessors, which I won’t call plagiarism as it was common practice. Some of the engravings have the long f for the s, indicating an earlier time.

The book is however full of very useful information about lay out, perspective, drawing, design and construction of furniture, with an emphasis on finishing, which I found fascinating. This is a great hardbound edition of an historical work that is a pleasure to hold in ones hand and read about the past and the ways of old. Add this one to your bibliotheque.

Stephen

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January 11, 2013

Shepherds’ Compleat Early Nineteenth Century Woodworker – First Review

This is the first book review of my first book that was originally published in hardbound in 1981. This review appeared in Smithsonian Magazine April 1982.

I found this while doing research at the University of Nevada, Reno at their excellent library.

Now I need to find the reviews in Workbench Magazine, Soldier of Fortune Magazine and Museum of the Fur Trade Quarterly.

Available at Tools for Working Wood

and The Full Chisel Store or from Amazon. Amazon also has original hardbound editions for sale.

Stephen

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December 3, 2012

High School Wood Shop Project ca 1941-1944 – Restoration

Filed under: Clamping,Drilling,Finishing,Furniture,Hide Glue,Historical Material,Of Interest,Proper Tools,Restoration,Scrapers,Techniques,Uncategorized — Stephen Shepherd @ 4:47 pm

A small restoration project came through a referral from a friend. The table was built by the clients father in High School sometime between 1941 and 1944, it is built from birch, stained walnut, hide glue, iron screws and a shellac finish.

One of the tripod legs had come loose and one of the dowels broke, I first drilled out the broken dowel parts using a gimblet bit, a small carving gouge and a duck bill spoon bit. The gimblet bit drills roughly down the center, then with the carving gouge remove most of the remaining wood, then using the spoon bit to clean out and prepare the hole for a new dowel. The replacement dowel is also made of birch.

I will replace this label with one on acid free paper with all of the information.

I used a couple of hook scrapers I made from saw blade fragments from making cabinet scrapers. I heated them up in order to get a sharp bend then heated and quenched to harden it again. Sharpened to a 45 degree angle with no burr.

I also roughened the surfaces prior to re-gluing the leg and new dowel in place. I used a knife to cross hatch score the glue surfaces.

I used hot hide glue, 1 teaspoon glue : 2 teaspoons distilled water in my small glue pot, turned on the heat and 10 minutes later glued the leg into place. I held the leg against the post for about 5 minutes, then applied blue painters tape to hold in place.

I will treat it with Moses T’s Reviver tomorrow, after I wash off any glue residue. The surface has some alligator texture, which I will leave as part of its history. This table is not an antique but it is older than me.

Stephen

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October 9, 2012

Preparing a Holdfast to hold fast

Filed under: Clamping,Drilling,Historical Material,Of Interest,Proper Tools,Techniques,Uncategorized — Stephen Shepherd @ 7:46 am

During a Hand Tool Chat over at WoodCentral a few weeks ago the topic of clamping was discussed and holdfasts came up in the conversation. We were talking about a proper sized hole and the desired thickness of the workbench for using holdfasts. A 1 ½” thick top is minimum for a holdfast, although I have used mine on 1” thick apron of my bench; and 1/16” larger hole than the diameter of the shank of the holdfast seems to be optimum. Slightly larger holes will work as long as the holdfast can jamb from the top of one side of the hole to the bottom of the other side of the hole.

The holes for holdfasts should be straight up and down and as smooth as possible on the inside. This smooth surface on the inside of the hole gives greater friction than a rough hole. Then someone mentioned that a Celebrity Woodworker had said that to improve the ‘workings’ of the holdfast to roughen the shank with sandpaper.

At that point I remembered one of my three holdfasts had rough scale from the forging process covering the shank and I don’t use that particular one because it is rough and will destroy a hole after some use. I did use it in a pinch but was careful not to drive it too deep. I had just been too lazy to smooth off the shank and my other two have very smooth shanks and I use them all of the time.

I told the participants of the chat that that was probably not a good idea, because that would turn the shaft of the holdfast into a file that would abrade the hole every time it was used. I argued that the smoother the shaft the greater the friction, same as the hole in the bench. You don’t want a rough shank you want a very smooth shank.

So I set about rectifying the situation with my third holdfast. I clamped it in the vise and using a mill bastard file dressed the shank by ‘draw filing’ the surface. The scale came off leaving the shaft bright. I also collected the iron filings for making iron buff and as an ingredient in ‘cultler’s cement’.

Now all of my shanks are smooth and ready for use.

Stephen

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October 1, 2012

Hand Saw Season

Filed under: Drilling,Finishing,Moses T's,Of Interest,Proper Tools,Sawing,Scrapers,Techniques — Stephen Shepherd @ 3:46 pm

It must be hand saw season as two handsaws have occupied my time recently. I made a small unbacked handsaw for a luthier friend as a prop to replace his plastic handle version that ruins otherwise nice photographs. I don’t care if he uses it, but it must be in his photographs.

Simple version like my others I have made with square tapered octagonal curly maple handle; the nib on the end is for starting saw kerfs and is somewhat shaped like a violin scroll. The tooth guard is aspen.

I shape the curly maple to rough shape with spokeshaves and hand planes but there is usually a bunch of tear out, so I go over the surfaces with a toothing plane, then using a card scraper removed all of the toothing marks leaving a smooth surface. I then cut the kerf for the saw blade with a smaller saw for a tight fit. I drilled two holes for the rivets through the handle, then marking the position of the holes on the saw plate, I drilled two holes through the metal.

That took some time, I had to use a punch to get a deep enough hole for the small drill bit to catch and start cutting. I also drilled a hole for the nib/scroll, then used a jeweler’s saw and files to finish the shape of the pierced hole. The outside shape of the nib was filed with a triangular file. The saw is 13 tpi sharpened rip. I had to sharpen it three times to get rid of the factory sharpening into decent shape. Did have to set a few teeth, it was from an offset reversible dovetail saw, I sheared off the blade and cut it to length.

The handle was then soaked in water to raise the grain, after it dried, I scraped again and gave it a coat of Moses T’s Reviver [lean oil], after 24 hours a coat of Moses T’s Gunstocker’s Finish [fat oil], available here. The handle is riveted on with brass rivets.

The other saw is one I traded from a friend, I had a long piece of curly maple suitable for a walking stick and he just got this at the local swap meet. I am not sure of its use or whether it is a saw or an agricultural tool, but it sure looks oriental.

The blade is a uniform .057″ or 15 gauge in thickness, about 11 teeth per inch and all filed from one side, the other being a bevel. It has a gutter forged along its curved length and held in the handle with two pins and a metal ferrule. The wood is like ash, very light in weight and obviously hand shaped. Interesting tool.

Stephen

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September 29, 2012

Traditional Tanged Spokeshave Workshop – Reno, NV Sept. 2012

Filed under: Carving,Drilling,Finishing,For Sale or Trade,Historical Material,Of Interest,Proper Tools,Scrapers,Sharpening,Techniques — Stephen Shepherd @ 11:00 am

The workshop for the Nevada WoodChucks was a success, at the end all of the people had a usable traditional spokeshave with a tanged blade. When I teach workshops, I build one to show the various steps, but in this case I didn’t have an opportunity to finish the one I was working on as I had to help a couple of new students with their project.

I did manage to finish mine when I returned home. It is fancier than most I have made, I usually go for an earlier style like here.

Joe has taken my class before and here he is concentrating on his task of smoothing the throat.

Ed, a vetern of several workshops I have taught in Reno goes about forming the throat of the spokeshave, good two handed technique.

Rod [on the right], another repeat offender brought a friend to audit the class.

Jim is a first time participant in one of my workshops. I spent additional time with him and Skip another first timer.

Charlie, my youngest student ever [6 years old] had an impressive set of tools, his dad Chuck a turner said his son owned all the bench tools. Photo below shows a trusting father, with a bit of concern in his look.

Chuck and Charlie watching Rod at work on his spokeshave.

I demonstrated how to use a burn auger and a video was made so here it is. We turned the fan on after the first one to prevent the smoke alarm from calling the local fire department.

burn auger video

The spokeshave blades required sharpening, which was done with a file. Two of the blades proved to soft and needed to be heated cherry red, quenched in water, polished bright and heated to temper with a straw color, then quenched. The spokeshaves were all finished with Moses T’s Gunstocker’s Finish.

Stephen

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September 9, 2012

I made a spokeshave to make a spokeshave

Filed under: Drilling,Finishing,Hand Planing,Historical Material,Moses T's,Of Interest,Proper Tools,Sawing,Techniques,Uncategorized — Stephen Shepherd @ 9:07 am

At the risk of repeating myself, that is exactly what happened. I only noticed it after I was finished making the large spokeshave. I used a small spokeshave that I made to make the large spokeshave. I also made the saw to cut the throat and Mark Schramm made the burn auger to make the square holes for the tangs of the spokeshave blade[s] he also made.

While I was at it, I used a piece of horn from the horn spoons to add a wear plate to the small spokeshave. It is dovetailed into the body and held in with Fish Glue.

I will be teaching a class to the Nevada WoodChucks next week in Reno and we will be making this traditional tanged spokeshave. Always a fun trip.

Stephen

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August 29, 2012

Lamb’s Tallow and Beeswax

Filed under: Alchemy,Drilling,Historical Material,Of Interest,Techniques,Uncategorized — Stephen Shepherd @ 10:40 am

I received a small can of pure lamb’s tallow from a friend at WoodCentral and finally got around to mixing up some tallow/beeswax mix for candles and my grease cup. It is very high quality lamb’s tallow, very white in color. I have talked of it before here.

I mixed it up with some beeswax to my secret formula [20% tallow/80% beeswax] for candles and I use the same stuff in my grease cup to lubricate nails and screws. This small candle has been burning for an hour, should get 8 or 9 hours out of this one, my slightly larger ones burn for 12 to 14 hours. I will make up some larger candles from my 12 gang mold when the weather cools. I also have a secret formula for candle wicks [soaked in super saturated solution of borax to make them fireproof].

I also topped off my grease cup with the new mix.

A friend owns this original tallow box, made of Cuban Mahogany and stamped with the makers name.

The tallow is old, but has no odor, has yellowed in places but is still usable.

Tallow is great stuff and mixes well with beeswax for grease cups and other lubrication.

Stephen

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August 21, 2012

Traditional Tanged Spokeshave Blades & Burn Augers

Filed under: Drilling,Historical Material,Of Interest,Proper Tools,Uncategorized — Stephen Shepherd @ 4:43 pm

These are 10 blades plus one and two burn augers or more properly burn broaches as the holes will already be drilled. The burn auger is heated up cherry red and thrust through the hole broaching a square tapered hole by burning.

These are for a class I will be teaching next month in Reno, Nevada for the Nevada WoodChucks. I just found out I need two more blades for the class. I also have them for sale in the Full Chisel Store.

Great blades, all uniform in size and hand forged by Mark Schramm, master blacksmith.

Looking forward to the trip to Nevada, met up with old friends and enjoy the local libation. These workshops are a lot of fun, this one should be as well.

Stephen

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June 28, 2012

Double Flax Spinning Wheel Flyer – done

Filed under: Documentation,Drilling,Hardware,Hide Glue,Historical Material,Of Interest,Proper Tools,Restoration,Spinning Wheel,Techniques,Uncategorized — Stephen Shepherd @ 12:24 pm

I started this documentation of the restoration of this flyer here. And continued here and here. The flyer was broken in two around the mandrel, which I repaired with Hot Hide Glue, I also served linen thread around the base to strengthen, secured with a couple coats of shellac.

I could not bend the hooks the way I normally do as they are too small. So I had to bend them in the reverse order than normal. I used the thickness of the needle nose pliers to determine the length of the hook shank, then bent it over and hit it with a hammer to create a sharp corner.

I then bent the hook end and nipped them off. I had to be careful as I only had a short length of old iron wire the correct size to match the other flyer.

After making 20 iron wire hooks I had plenty left over, see the 1/2″ piece on the gnomon? I was sweating the last five, but when I got down to 3 I knew I had it made.

I then had to file all of the ends of the hooks to remove any sharp edges and flatten out the shank of the hook.

The lower hook is flattened on an anvil with a hammer and has not been sharpened to a triangular point on the end.

And here it is completed, I did use Fish Glue to secure the hooks, I also etched the iron wire with garlic prior to gluing. I used the little clamp from Lee Valley to push down a couple of difficult hooks, most went in by gently pushing with pliers while very gently twisting.

Stephen

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