Splinters and Dust

There have been quite a few times that the long list of Wood Working Celebrities have commented on what it takes to become a good wood worker. The one common quote usually goes a little something like this.

Stop (watching / reading, ) my (show / blog), getup and get into your shop and get woodworking

This type of quote has been issued time and time again, and I realized that I have been sitting in my living room and watching these shows and reading these blogs more than I had gotten into my shop. This was partly due to my continued journey in higher education which has recently come to its wonderful conclusion resulting in what will no doubt be another project on my woodworking list. (Build a frame suitable for holding and protecting that very expensive piece of paper)

Recently I have completed several projects including quite a few pens, a bottle stopper, a small bowl and a pencil holder. The pencil holder project, although simplistic in nature, included my first miter joints, and my first rabbit joint. These previously had been quite intimidating. (Seasoned woodworkers, you can stop laughing now.)

Having spent the last couple of years working on the lathe, I had not had to perform a task like this. I soon found out that the only intimidating part of these joints is that I had never attempted them because they took some time to consider, setup and execute. Granted, they were not perfect, but it was nothing a little clamp pressure and a little sanding couldn’t easily remedy.

Lessons Learned: Due to a little more time in the shop and a willingness to attempt something I had not done previously, and a lot of videos, I now understand what it takes to setup and perform a miter joint as well as a rabbit joint.  

Final Words: Stop reading this blog, getup and get into your shop and get woodworking!
Special Thanks for Project ideas, Woodworking Education and motivation:
Marc Spagnuolo – TheWoodWhisperer & Episode 31 – Pencil Holders
Matt Vanderlist & MattsBasementWorkshop

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Close to the final step!
The cutting board was sanded down to about 220 grit using an orbital sander.
After sanding the board was cleaned off with mineral spirits.Finish (50/50 salad bowl finish and mineral spirits) was applied in three coats.
1. Applied a heavy coat till cutting board pulled the finish through to the bottom.

• Waited 24 hours
  2. Applied a second lighter coat.
• Waited 24 hours
• Light sanding with 400 grit.
  3. Applied the third coat

This picture was taken just after the third coat was applied.
**The process was of course TheWoodWhisperer process. Cutting board Video can be found at the link below.
7 – How to Make a Butcher Block End Grain Cutting Board


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The cutting board as seen in the picture below is just about complete. Just needs a little more sanding and finish.
Since the last post, here are the steps completed:
Using my dewalt random orbit sander I went through both 60 and 100 grit. After that I used what I believe to be a half inch round over in several passes. I left one side a much lighter pass then the other so that the cutting board can be used either way depending on the taste of its new owner.
After routing, I went through two more grits: 150 and 220, stopping between them to hand sand the round overs.
Picture was taken just after cleaning up the board and table with the shop vac. No finish applied yet.


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After the last glue-up, and flattening the panel, I cross cut the panel in strips 1.25” wide. Taking those strips I turned them so the end grain was showing and flipped every other one end for end to create the checkerboard pattern. I am sure we have all seen Marc Spag's (aka: TheWoodWhisperer) video. (7 – How to Make a Butcher Block End Grain Cutting Board)
I am sure Marc loves all of the extra attention on the subject of cutting boards.
Glue up was somewhat frustrating because I can never get everything flat. When I watched the video above again for the 100th time I realized that the calls he used were actually smaller then the board so they could be clamped between the main clamps. Well that makes more sense. THANKS MARC!
Once the glue up was complete, the final step is now to finish flattening the board which will be accomplished with my low angle block plane. Started last night and it was tough work at first, but got better. I did find that I was getting quite a bit of chipping on the edges. To fix this I took lighter passes and ended up skewing the plane. When The top if flat I will end up trimming the edges square on the TS before rounding over the edges with my router.
Challenges:
The biggest challenge here was keeping the board tight against the fence. Since I am relativity new to the whole table saw thing, I found that when I used the push stick that game with my TS, the board would pull away from the fence just a bit on the back edge. This of course was human error quickly corrected by paying extra attention where the push stick was located in relation to the fence.
Issues: I am not sure why yet but my saw seemed to bog down while cross cutting the panel. I am wondering if it has something to do with my new zero clearance insert Possibly putting extra resistance on the blade. I will have to take it out and try some similar cuts to see if there is a difference.
What I learned: Glue-up is a critical step and needs extra time and attention. No matter how straight your cuts are, if you glue a panel up and the joints are off, then the panel will need quite a bit of extra work to flatten it out.
FYI: I am not a skilled wood worker, and I have a lot to learn. This blog is hopefully to help other wood workers realize that most projects don’t magically go together. Some of us are not as good as the pros we see in videos and on TV. If you are experienced and you see some dumb mistakes that could easily be avoided, then by all means, let me know! If you are new… well take heart, each project gets easier as we learn the important skills needed to craft things out of wood.


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Each of the strips is milled cut and ripped to the following dimensions:
Thickness: Little less than 1”
Width: 1.5”
Length: 21”
There are Five strips each of maple and cherry. I glued up the panel in two sections using an extra maple strip to separate them. Two strips on the end are glued together, but are not glued to the adjacent maple spacer strip or the other 8 strips. I did this primarily because I only have so many clamps at this point and my planner is only 10” wide.
In retrospect I could have clued up the entire panel because I used my Stanley #4 and my low angle block plane to smooth things out instead of the planner. This was a manual process, but it allowed me to take less material off in the end since the wood is thinner then I really wanted it to be.
Next Steps: Glue the two panels together and then flatten with the hand planes, then we cross cut strips 1.25 inches for the final glue up.


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Started the milling process on the cherry boards tonight. The biggest problem in my shop right now is that it is in the basement of the townhouse I rent. Living room is right up stairs and the noise / smell really carries. So I used my jointer to quickly flatten one face then I cleaned them up with the my new handplanes which I tuned up this past weekend.
This comming weekend I am really hoping get get enough time to finish the milling process on all the boards and begin ripping them down to their final thickness. Maybe even start the initial glue-up.


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This is the start of two cutting boards that I am making for some friends of mine. Two boards were rough cut and is ready for milling. One board was Cherry (8×42 x 1), and the other Maple (8×42 x 1.25)
These will make two cutting boards approximately 11.25×15 x 1.5
Tonight I am hoping to get the milling done so that the parts can be cut down to their final dimensions and the first glue-up can be started.


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In 2008 My Grandfathers health took a turn for the worse and the doctors told him he was no longer able to spend time in the shop. He had a well-stocked wood shop with over 50 years of collecting tools and building projects. We also found out that he had collected some tools from his grandfather who happened to own a furniture factory in Eastern Pa. (Still trying to track that information down)
I was fortunate enough to collect a good deal of his tools and start my own basement workshop in the townhouse we rent. I wish I had more knowledge at the time or could have taken more of the tools, but with very little knowledge and even less space, I didn’t know what I would need or want. My main focus at the time was to pick up his lathe. (Craftsmen 1948 103.23070 with a 9” swing and 30” between centers) Grandpa was not much of a turner, but towards his later years I hung out with him and made some oak drum sticks. Not the best wood to make the sticks out of, but they worked!
Some time passed and I turned a pen and pencil set for him for Christmas. Even though they were terrible, I believe that was the only time I had ever seen the old man tear up that didn’t involve whiskey and a John Wayne movie.
Grandpa passed away on Sunday, June 21, 2009. One of the greatest men I ever knew. He was an Army vet, wood worker, steamfitter, John Wayne aficionado, and all around an awesome grandfather. I am convinced that his passing had a good deal to do with not being able to work in the woodshop anymore.
To any wood worker, I would say the greatest thing any of you can do is to share your hobby / craft with any of your children, grandchildren or great grandchildren. Grandpa had a huge impact on my life and the fondest memories of him that I have of him always involved him teaching me something or sharing the things he loved. From fishing trips on his boat, John Wayne marathons that grandma was none too fond of, to woodworking, and even trips to the hospital usually related to mishaps in his shop.
Let’s Get Woodworking and I would encourage you to bring along someone who you think might enjoy the hobby, or someone that might just want to spend a little time with you. It is never too early to start some woodworking memories. If they are not old enough to work the machines, you can always hand them a sanding block.

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