A Textbook Example for Hollows and Rounds

I was recently contacted by a man, Bill, who is reproducing a tall case clock that his great great grandfather made in the mid 19th century and his great grandfather refinished around 1890. The clock is currently in his brother's possession.

Bill has made the case for the clock and was looking for a way to address the moulding. Custom knives were an expensive option.

(the original)

Bill had seen Don McConnells' dvd regarding the use of moulding planes and called me to see if this was a viable option for him.

Bill came down to my shop Saturday morning. We completed the four mouldings for his case before 12:30.

I'm often asked how these tools are relevant in today's shop. "My router is much quicker" is a line I hear quite a bit.

Bill and I beat custom knives for a shaper by approximately 2 weeks 6 days and 20 hours. The total cost of making 4 completely custom shapes: $0.00 to the craftsman with these tools.

The first moulding we made (which was also the first time Bill used any moulding plane) was the crown/support for the hood. (Back row in above picture.)

Bandsaw followed by table saw (or rabbet plane).

#18 Round

Rabbet plane for the chamfer followed by #4 hollow.

Stay tuned...

Barn Raising in Haddam Neck

Led by Brendan Matthews and The Barn Raisers, another barn was raised in Haddam Neck, CT yesterday. At over 4,000 square feet, this one was much larger than the last.

The group started arriving at 8am. Due to the size of the building, three bents were assembled on Friday and work started quickly a little after 8:30.

Brendan is up top in the tie dye.  

Take a look at the long beams across the length. Each is two pieces held together with a scarf joint. The larger portion of the beam was 28' and went up two stories with the help of 30-40 sets of hands. The smaller portion was only 20'. The last tenons are set before lunch.

I Have a Confession to Make

I cut the mouth for this plane on my table saw with a thin kerf blade.

It is 1 1/2" wide skewed rabbet bedded at 45 degrees.

I recently saw a thread on some woodworking forum regarding iron skew angles versus, due to complex angles, the angle at which the teeth of a float should be sharpened.

The float I use for the bed of the plane is skewed at 10(ish) degrees. For the front I use a float at a light 12. This resulted in a bed angle of a heavy 15 degrees, with 15 being the original goal.

Next...

A few specialty planes that are part of a larger order are sharpened and ready to go.

2/16 and 3/16" side beads

3/16, 4/16, 6/16 and 8/16" drawer lip/thumbnail planes. These planes are sprung, the profiles ovular and the irons are skewed.

I often get asked if multiple pairs of side rounds and snipes bills are warranted like hollows and rounds. Definitely not. I have, however, often craved a smaller pair of side rounds.

Two pairs of side rounds. The larger pair, my standard size, has a radius of 5/8". The smaller pair is 3/8" radius.  

I have never desired a different size of snipes bills

FedEx comes tomorrow.

(They will be packed much better than this, of course.)

I have another barn raising this weekend, so stay tuned.

NWA Woodworking Showcase 2012

I got back from Saratoga Springs and the NWA show last night. Saturday was the busiest woodworking show I've ever been to. Any given aisle reminded me of video footage from Walmart in the early morning dawn of Black Friday. I wasn't able to leave my booth and be back within 20 minutes. The crowd was great.

My entire woodworking guild makes the trip to this show. Our goal is to each enter a piece every year. It was a full van with three big pieces and a bench for my booth.

Don, who made this tea table last year,

entered a high chest of drawers.

Chris, Don's son, entered a 2/3 sized highboy last year.

He continued with his style this year as he entered a 2/3 sized chest of drawers this year.

Just wait until you see what Chris has for 2013...

And, of course, there is mine. (This will be the last time I bother you with a picture.) 

After each leaving with ribbons in 2011 we got shutout this year. That means bigger and better for next. We each have the projects chosen, as guild night only misses one week. Two have them started. (I won't say which two.)

Now I'll go back to Turbotax.