What's on the bench.

[wtnhighlander]

I'd switch to a drum sander ic you have one, or sandpaper stuck to a flat surface.

[Chestnut]

I don't know what this is for. I have 3 stages of advice.

Get close with the hand plane doing your best to minimize tear out by attacking at all different directions.

Try and remove as much of the tear out as possible with a card scraper.

Try and remove more tear out with a sander

Come to accept that the product is hand made and 1 or 2 pieces of tear out isn't the end of the world. As Ron Swanson once said "It was too perfect, it looked machine made"

[Mark J]

+1's on the advice above.

If the wood moved overnight to close the kerf, the wood may still be acclimating and moving.  

[h3nry]

On 3/24/2025 at 8:29 PM, Von said:

My hand sawing needs work. I drift right if I don't focus on my form.

From the scratch pattern it looks like you only flipped the board once while cutting. When resawing by hand I find it best to flip the board regularly so that all four corners are facing you.

Saw so that only the teeth on the saw closest to you are actually cutting. This will give you a triangle shaped cut as the back of the saw will not be cutting down. It's much easier to control the front of the saw if the back isn't moving. Then flip the board front-back so that you can work down the opposite face, and keep doing this as you work down the board until you need to flip the board up-down and start again from the other end to finish the cut.

The kerf on your table saw is likely much wider than the hand-saw kerf so won't be that great at helping the hand-saw track down the cut, so it's probably easiest to treat it as if you are resawing the whole board even if it's just the middle third.

The resawn faces will always need planing at the end, so it doesn't have to be absolutely perfect.

[h3nry]

On 3/27/2025 at 7:59 AM, Chestnut said:

Get close with the hand plane doing your best to minimize tear out by attacking at all different directions.

... and don't forget to sharpen the plane immediately before doing this ... you want it as sharp as possible, this si not the time to get lazy with sharpening.

[Von]

Thank you everyone for the suggestions.

 

On 3/27/2025 at 11:34 AM, h3nry said:

Saw so that only the teeth on the saw closest to you are actually cutting. This will give you a triangle shaped cut as the back of the saw will not be cutting down. It's much easier to control the front of the saw if the back isn't moving. Then flip the board front-back so that you can work down the opposite face, and keep doing this as you work down the board until you need to flip the board up-down and start again from the other end to finish the cut.

Thank you! If I'm understanding, you're suggesting clamp my board so that it is at an angle and keep my saw level? So that I'm cutting a slowly growing triangle. And then rotate/flip the board often so I keep sawing different corners?

Yes, the table saw kerf is notably wider than my hand saw blade.

 

On 3/27/2025 at 9:52 AM, wtnhighlander said:

I'd switch to a drum sander ic you have one, or sandpaper stuck to a flat surface.

Yep, this is the first time I've really wished I had a drum sander. But I bet I can find someone who does...

[h3nry]

On 3/27/2025 at 12:51 PM, Von said:

Thank you! If I'm understanding, you're suggesting clamp my board so that it is at an angle and keep my saw level? So that I'm cutting a slowly growing triangle. And then rotate/flip the board often so I keep sawing different corners?.

This is roughly how I resaw a board ... with the board clamped vertically I first make the yellow cuts taking making sure that it is straight across the endgrain and then cutting so that the saw only cuts the edge facing me. Then flip the board round and make the blue cuts, again only cutting down the edge facing me and not the back. Flip the board around again to make the green cuts. flip around again to make the red cuts.

It's probably possible to go once more after this photo was taken before it will be necessary to start again from the bottom and meet up in the middle.The chop on my vice has plenty of little nicks where I have accidentally cut a bit too low before flipping the board upside down.

[Chestnut]

I've been working on a fun project and a boring project lately. Figured I'd share the fun project.

The previous owner of our house approached me with a problem that might be solved by woodworking. Being's that she and her husband built a lovely home which we enjoy a lot the answer was an easy yes. At some point her grandfather had retrofit a 1960s singer into an early 1900s treadle machine.

r

I did not get a chance to see how the previous person implemented the machines together, but it was explained that the lid folded open and the machine would swing up. It looks like there are a pair of knife hinges on the back and they must have failed. I searched for the easy fix of buy a set of hinges and go, but had no luck. I found some knife hinges but not the right size.

My first thought was to cut a piece of wood that fit in the back and use 1/4" brass round stock to fit in the existing hinges. To connect the machine I'd use the existing hinges and do some complicated routing and counter boring to get it to work. These are the hinges that the machine mounted by.

Here is my first attempt.

With pins to go in the hinges.

To make it possible to assemble I bored a hole at the end of one pin, so i can push and pull it with a screw driver.

My first attempt was a failure. The existing hinges would allow the board i made to rotate down and the whole machine would just sag. It'd be really helpful to know how this worked before but again a bunch of parts were missing.

So i then had an idea. The hinges were mounted into the machine on 1/4" posts. I was using 1/4" brass rod already for the hinges. Sure enough that fit like a glove where the hinges were.

So how all i needed to do was create a rabbeted board with holes bored for shafts that the machine would mount onto. Sure enough it worked great. The buckling or sagging was gone cause the hinges were gone and the mechanism appears to work well.

Next is to gring some flat spots for set screws and figure out ways to make sure all of this doesn't just fall apart as most parts are just friction fit at this point. Then I just need to do some finishing touches and try and match the existing finish.

[Chet]

Drew, you might look into this article by Jeff Jewitt on Mission Style furniture finishes.

https://homesteadfinishingproducts.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/mission_oak_12-2021.pdf

[Coop]

Sew cool!!!

[Chestnut]

20 hours ago, Chet said:

Drew, you might look into this article by Jeff Jewitt on Mission Style furniture finishes.

https://homesteadfinishingproducts.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/mission_oak_12-2021.pdf

That is a similar method to what i use but adapted a bit. Instead of the multiple coats layer i garbed some powdered stain in 3 colors that I mix with alcohol and then just adjust the powder bit by bit till i get the color I want. Then it's top with shellac and than wipe on poly. A lot of times I'll just mix the color with shellac, This gives me some good flexibility with multiple thin coats to blend and match colors.

I've just never had luck with gel stain over a sealed surface. Not to mention my results are very similar with a lot less expense. I can't count how many cans of gel stain or sanding sealer I've tossed over the years cause it sat too long and went bad.

[drzaius]

30 minutes ago, Chestnut said:

I've just never had luck with gel stain over a sealed surface.

Same here. It's like trying to wipe off a layer of paint and then get an even result.

[legenddc]

First time using Rubio. Got a coat on the bottom of our bench. Have two coats of primer on the base. Will get another on before I go grab the final paint. 

[fcschoenthal]

On 4/4/2025 at 10:27 AM, legenddc said:

First time using Rubio.

I've used Rubio before, but interested in knowing your thoughts on application and looks.

BTW, I've found that even though it says monocoat, two coats seem to look better.

[Woodworking_Hobby]

Had a few end scraps from an old project; saw a tool holder on line and though hey I can make that and will be perfect next to the tool box.  Turned out ok; I messed up and rounded all of the corners instead of leaving the ones flat that sit flush where the boards meet inside the dado. Sometimes when doing something out of my head it is hard to think five steps ahead but usually I can use it just a learning lesson that gets filed away for the next project when it really counts not just for something fancy in the shop. 

[Jonathan McCully]

The base of my Roubo is on the bench. Literally.
Finally got this glued up and drawbored. Ready to cut the mortises and attach the top. It’s been a fun project and I’ve really enjoyed getting to use the benchtop on the sawhorses for my hand tool work.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[legenddc]

On 4/4/2025 at 9:07 PM, fcschoenthal said:

I've used Rubio before, but interested in knowing your thoughts on application and looks.

BTW, I've found that even though it says monocoat, two coats seem to look better.

It was super easy putting it on. I picked up the maintenance oil and put a coat on earlier because I wanted a little more sheen.
 

The big test will be how it holds up. This is an entry way bench that will get sat on, backpacks and keys dropped daily. 

[Woodworking_Hobby]

Does anyone know what this little tool is?  I think it was from an old drill press that I no longer have and think my current drill press did not come with one. Was not sure if I needed to hold onto this for some unknown reason or it was ok to get rid of this little part. 

[Ron Swanson Jr.]

On 4/6/2025 at 8:08 AM, Woodworking_Hobby said:

Does anyone know what this little tool is?  I think it was from an old drill press that I no longer have and think my current drill press did not come with one. Was not sure if I needed to hold onto this for some unknown reason or it was ok to get rid of this little part. 

That's called a drift key. You're right, it's for your drill press and used for removing the taper. 

Look underneath the table in your new drill press. That's where mine is stored on my Delta and if i didn't know it was there it would be very easy to miss. 

[Von]

On 4/6/2025 at 9:23 AM, Ron Swanson Jr. said:

That's called a drift key. You're right, it's for your drill press and used for removing the taper. 

Look underneath the table in your new drill press. That's where mine is stored on my Delta and if i didn't know it was there it would be very easy to miss. 

Not all drill presses use them. They came up on the forum a while ago and I had never heard of them and figured out because my Delta drill press has, if I recall correctly, a different type of chuck.

[Mark J]

Here's a 1 minute video on how a drift key is used.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://m.youtube.com/shorts/tIc9aL482jk&ved=2ahUKEwjgus71ysOMAxVH3skDHeCfKGgQwqsBegQIExAG&usg=AOvVaw1Fy0IgUfXSF0QFnc8JUMaK

 

[gee-dub]

On 4/6/2025 at 6:44 AM, Von said:

Not all drill presses use them. They came up on the forum a while ago and I had never heard of them and figured out because my Delta drill press has, if I recall correctly, a different type of chuck.

My 1940s Delta DP200 had a fixed shaft screw on  arbor.  Every modern DP I have had uses a drift key but I would imagine things in a machine shop could differ(?).  Just adding input here.

[Mark J]

...and I'm not sure how machine specific the drift keys are?

[Von]

On 4/6/2025 at 11:40 AM, gee-dub said:

My 1940s Delta DP200 had a fixed shaft screw on  arbor.  Every modern DP I have had uses a drift key but I would imagine things in a machine shop could differ(?).  Just adding input here.

Mine is a Delta DP200 circa 2000. A quick web search leads me to believe all DP200s use a screw-on arbor.

[Von]

Finally made some shop time today to work on the lid for the urn. Part of the delay was going to the lumber yard and getting some maple to replace the walnut I had been planning on using for the top. Very happy with that choice looking at the result.

It still needs a little fine-tuning, but I'm very happy with the look and fit at the moment. Full disclosure, one corner slipped during the glue up and the box is a little out of square, but I was able to cover that with a little hand tool work. I think it's to the "if you didn't know, you wouldn't" point, at least if you don't have a square in hand. Hoping to get the final tuning and sanding done tomorrow and the first coat of finish on. Going to try an oil of some sort since this shouldn't be a hard-wear piece.