A Gift to Myself

Last weekend was my birthday, and as in terms of tools I think that self served is well served, I bought myself a gift that I received yesterday.

My gift to myself.

Ok the pleasure is limited, there is no surprise here so lets move on.

Package content

This is a ECE frame saw with two replacement blades. I bought the two extra blades as I want to make a Roubo frame saw one of these days, when time will permit so they will be readily available.
It took me 5 minutes to assemble the ECE saw.

The assembled saw.

The saw looks of good quality and well built. Uprights and handles looks like to be made with beech wood while the middle beam is made of a more lightweight wood, not sure what type.
At first sight I thought the top tensioner was something cheap (a simple threaded rod) but after assembly this is working fine and doing the job.
The blade does not look to have been so much sharpened, teeth look more like being stamped steel. You can feel it when letting your finger go along the side of the blade teeth. The teeth feel smooth on one side and rougher on the other one.
I guess that this blade would benefit of some sharpening but as I did not try it yet I cannot say.
Not sure when I will use it but for sure I will need some practice to be able to handle it properly.

After having contemplated my new toy for so long, I switched back to my TV stand top. I cut the last board and glued it to the two first.

All boards clamped.

Next step will be to plane this clean and flat and to cut it to shape.

A Good workout

When people ask me what kind of sporty activities I have, my answer is: planing boards! This is the best activity in my sense. Planing puts all your body muscles to work, from arms to legs.

Following my last post, I have to plane boards to thickness to make the drawer bottom. These ten boards were resawed by hand, are quite rough and are more or less 5/8" to 3/4" thick. I need to get them flat and 1/2" thick.

Before starting that heavy action session I turned to the drawer rails that I made last time. I needed to glue them to the drawer side. I clamped them in place so the glue has time to set while I am planing the bottom boards.

Gluing the rails to the sides.

It took me around 30 minutes to flatten and size each board... and a lot of sweat!

Half of the bottom board are done.

Two hours later I planed the rail assembly.

Planing the side and rail assembly

Ralph do you recognize that plane?

I got a pair of sides ready to be grooved. 

The drawer sides before rabbeting the rails.

I used my Record 50 here again to make the grooves in the rails where will fit the bottom boards.

Grooving the rails.

I ended up with the finished drawer sides ready for final assembly.

Drawer sides ready for assembly.

Now, as clock is ticking, it is time for me to move on to my "real" project, the TV stand for my sister in law. Thinking about it I changed the design a bit. I also made full size plans.

Top view, pencil mark are not very visible on the picture.

Front view.

I found very useful to make these full size plans. First this allows to get a clear picture of the size and if it will fit. Second it allows to take direct measurements.

I started by working on the table top. It will be made by assembling 2" thick boards. I started to plane the boards to the right thickness. It was a real workout again and gave me a whole bag of nice shavings.

I need to clean that mess!

I then assembled the two first boards.

Two first boards clamped.

When glue was set later in the day I cleaned the assembly.

Cleaning the two first board assembly.

Next will be to add the third and last board then to mark and cut the table top to size.

Some progress and fun

First of all, to answer a question from Ralph ("The Accidental Woodworker") about the way the knob is attached on a Millers Falls #709 or #714, here is a picture, as a picture worth a thousand words:

Knob and pin on the Millers Falls #709.

The pin slides in the plane body and the knob screw in the pin to lock it.

As a side track, I needed a flat screen wall mount so instead of buying some cheap metal plate made in China, I decided to make one with few wood scraps. It is very easy and 3 wood pieces are enough.
First I needed a plate that goes on the screen back with VESA mount:

A scrap piece with hole drilled to the VESA
specification for my screen.

To mount the TV on the wall I made a French cleat with two pieces of 2"x3" pine that I planed at 45 degrees.

Two side of a French cleat.

One part will be fixed on the wall the other will be fixed on the screen back plate, done.
This took me less than 30 minutes to do, the longest was to plane the cleat parts what could have been made with a saw to go faster.

This done I was able to continue working on my drawer and I made the two side rails where the bottom will slide in. I am using two small boards that I planed to 1"1/4 x 3/4". I used my Record 050 to plane a bead at the top.

Beaded drawer side rails.

I really like that Record plane, it is lighter than a Stanley 45 and is making nice shavings.

Nice looking shavings.

Last step is to make a small tenon at each end of the rails so they fit in the front and end grove. I marked the pieces and cut the waste using a Japanese flush-cut saw.

Using the Japanese flush-cut saw for tiny tenons.

This saw is cutting like a razor and make very clean cut for tiny tenons with it very thin blade.
I ended with two rails that I will first glue on each side of the drawer then plane a grove for the bottom boards.

Tiny tenons at the rails end.

I will first glue the rails as this will make easier to hold them while planing the groves.
Now I need to plane all bottom boards to thickness, some sport and sweat coming up.

From outer space...

In my previous post I asked what plane was making the thick shavings shown on picture. Most would have answered a Jack plane but it was more than that. It is a jack plane from outer space!

A jack plane from a sci-fi comics, the Millers Falls #714.

I am the lucky owner of that Millers Falls #714 type 1 from the so called "Buck Rogers" era.
Some says that this plane is a collector for its exceptional design but an awful plane to use. While I must admit that its design makes it a piece of exception in the plane world, I disagree about its quality as a plane. This plane is a beast of jack plane!

What a shape!

First it is heavy and I like that. Second its massive tote makes it really enjoyable to handle for someone with big fat hands like me. Last, using a plane looking like this one is like driving a convertible Chevy Corvette  from the 50's on a sunny Sunday.
This plane cuts thick large shavings and eats wood like nothing else and I really love to use it.

But this is only the beginning of the story, there is more about it.
This massive big boy has a little bro, and I am lucky enough to own a #709 type 1 too.

The little brother, the Millers Falls #709

Again, comments about that plane are the same, a collector but not a user and as a smoother it is terrible as the mouth cannot be closed... well only blabla.
Like any other plane the mouth opening can be set the way you want, just that it is not really convenient as the third screw is under the tote that needs to be removed.

The tote removed reveal the third screw for mouth setting.

So to  set mouth opening you need to remove blade assembly and the tote to reveal the screws. I must admit it is not very convenient. But how often do you change your frog settings? I do not know for you but for me it is near to never.

When properly sharpened and set, that plane is as capable as any other smoother.

Some quite thin shaving.

I tried it onto some scrap wood and it gaves me a silky smooth surface, same as my other smoothers if not better,  but in a stylish way!

Elbow grease and sweat: resawing by hand

For the bottom of the drawer I currently build, I will use some 1/2 ship lapped pine boards like for my previous one. For my last drawer I used my table saw to resaw 1"1/2 board that I planed to get two 1/2" thick boards. At that time I tried to resaw by hand but got disappointed by the result so I turned to the table saw. This time I wanted to make everything by hand, even resawing, and I will not turn back to the table saw.

You may wondering why not to take a 3/4 board and plan it as it would be simpler. Well it would be simpler for sure but where would be the fun? Moreover it would cost me near to nothing to make these boards by hand and it will be a good training exercise to improve my resawing skills.

So here we go, I took my lumber, cut it in five 14" long pieces as at the end I need 10 boards, I marked the center line all around the boards and the fun began.

I used the usual well documented and explained process of sawing from one corner then turn the board etc, no need to explain this here as you can find all this in numerous blog posts and article on the web.

I tried to make use of two different saws, both well sharpened, to find out which one would be the best. The first one is a Canadian Disston D8, 10 tpi.

My Canadian D8...

...10 tpi.

The second one is a Disston D8, 5 1/2 tpi.

The D8 beast...

... with monster teeth.

After having saw the 4 first boards it is obvious that the two saws are very different.

First the Canadian D8. The blade is shorter and a bit less flexible, however it requires more effort to be pushed through the wood. 

On the other hand with the 5 1/2 D8, the blade is longer and more flexible what makes it, for me, harder to keep it on a straight line, but the cut is far more aggressive and requires less effort to be pushed through the wood what is helping down the line. That saw is going through like in butter!

The result I got while resawing were mixed, the best I could do is this:

Best result I could get...

...not bad but not a perfect saw line.

I guess I need more practice! Anyway after resawing the board I have to plan them flat and to the right thickness. This is what the end result looks, not bad.

A flat board, flat enough for a drawer bottom.

Now a little challenge... what is the plane that gives these nice thick shavings?

A bunch of nice thick shavings...

The answer will come in a future post!

Record 50 combination plane

Working on my shop drawer I needed a plough plane for the drawer bottom.
For my previous drawer I used a vintage Stanley #45 back from end of 1800's. Since then I got a Record #50 that came from England and was brought to me by my father but did not try it yet... well until today!

I am lucky enough that the plane is complete, all and every pieces are there. Even the user manual is there.

Record #50 Manual

Looks like this one was sold by M Howard Kirby.

This is the original manual showing plane usage and parts.

How to use that combination plane.

Cutters and parts description.

This plane comes with a set of 15 cutters.

The Record #50 set of cutters.

It also comes with short and long rods and with a cam and 2 cutters used for narrow size cutter.

Cam and narrow cutters set.

That plane is in very good condition. It was full of wood dust so I guess it was really used, but the cutters are sharp and do not show much wear.

Dusty plane body.

I took it apart and cleaned it. I used my weapon of choice to clean it, an high tech brush that benefited years of improvement.

A highly evolved brush. The red handle could be
unbreakable tenite but is just... plain ordinary plastic

After brushing it to remove dust I oiled and  waxed all parts and put it back to work.

All pieces back together ready for some shaving.

After a short honing session I tried it with s 1/4" cutter, the one I need for my drawer.

The Record #50 in action.

Some more shaving porn.

I really like the handle on that plane, it fits my hand perfectly. Also it has a more compact form factor than my Stanley #45.
Some says that the metal handle is uncomfortable during cold months in winter. Well I must say that up here if you don't heat your shop in winter you will certainly find everything uncomfortable!

Another drawer and a real project

After having built my supports for drills and braces I am back to my backlog of work, and the first item that came was to make a drawer like my first one.

But before coming to this, some great news! I received a command from my wife. She asked me to build a new TV stand for her sister new TV. I have a month and a half to complete this as we want to give it to her during Christmas time. After having thought about that for the last few days and changed my mind multiple times, my sick brain came up with this plan:

The TV stand first draft.

I still need to set my ideas things like legs shape and how I will attach them to the apron but this is the design I have in mind. It will be triangular as the stand will go in a corner of her living room. There will be a shelf mid height so she can put her cable receiver and dvd player there.

More to come about this later but now back to the drawer. I like to work on drawers, I feel restful when I work on a drawer, don't ask me why, as I said I have a sick brain.

As usually I started by cutting all pieces to length then marked the face and side to cut the box joins I will use for the assembly. This time I directly saw the waste without making any kerf, in fact I now find this easier and faster. Also for my first drawer I did some cut side by side and chopped out the waste but this time I have something better, now I have a coping saw!

Using the coping saw to cut out the waste.

Using that saw is far quicker than chopping the waste using a chisel. However I need to practice to be able to cut as close as possible to the bottom line to make the cleanup even faster.
I was first using the blade that came with the saw when I got it but soon...

Broken saw blade. That blade did not seem
to be of high quality anyway.

But as I am often planning ahead, I got a set of replacement blades along with the saw.

The replacement blades I got

I have no knowledge about coping saw blades but these look much better than the original blade and cutting far better too.

Waste cleaned

I have been very surprise this time by the density of that poplar board. The previous I used was pretty soft but this one is the total opposite and is quite hard. I was not expecting such a difference.

Nevertheless, after a while I was done with the face joinery.

Joinery for the drawer face done.

Next I will do the same for the rear and I will turn to the drawer bottom but now it is time for a cold one.