Or it can be used for ironing sleeves on clothing. I got an opportunity to use my new ax. An old style American pattern belt ax, it worked well to rough shape the board. It is a reproduction of the Ft. Meigs artifact from the Second War with England.
I used the Moxon smoother and a spokeshave to finish off the shape. I sanded with 80 grit sandpaper, then got the piece wet to raise the grain. I sanded with 180 grit then 220 and I will burnish the surface. It will have a cloth cover of some sort and probably tacked to the board.
I picked up a dozen of those little cast iron clamps a couple of years ago, they were cheap, I used one to make a sewing bird but this is a much better application.
I also got an opportunity to start the tenon vise and chopped one of the open mortises. I had noticed that Roy Underhill chopped mortises without reversing his chisel, so I gave it a try. When I first saw it, I was a bit confused. I saw the episode again and realized that the bevel could be used to an advantage.
As it were, the mortise happened to perfectly match the width of the bench chisel I had was just fine and in poplar it was a bit of work but produced an excellent cut. By not reversing the chisel, I saved a fair amount of time. I will continue to do this practice as it is much quicker.
Learn something new every day.
Stephen