Vacation in Moab, or Why you haven't seen any woodworking posts

In case you're wondering why I haven't been in the shop lately I'm on vacation in Moab, Utah with Pam and my brother and his family.

One of the beauties of Moab is Arches National Park, Delicate Arch that you see here is on the Utah lisence plates.

Sunday we hiked (climbed) up to Delicate Arch, its listed as a strenuous hike, no kidding. It was 100 degrees here in the valley but up on the LaSal Mountains you can still see the snow covered peaks.

My family early on in the hike when we still weren't beaten down by the sun, the nice part for us coming from the coastal south is that there is only 7% humidity here, at home its more like 100 degrees and 90% humidity.

Monday was the great Moab Jeep Adventure for my brother, his daughter and me. We rented a modified Jeep and took it through Kane Creek Canyon, a trip of 13 miles and 5 hours. You can see why here. Our journey started on a dirt road and digressed from there. We went down into the canyon and followed Kane Creek crossing it 67 times according to the guide book, I didn't count, but I'd say they were close.

This was our view from the start of the trail, we went all the way through that canyon. Following a very narrow trail that was at times well marked and at times confusing. It was sand trails, creek beds, and crossings punctuated by rocky trails strewn with boulders.

This is the view up on of the "trails" we had to climb, it was like this all the way out of the canyon.

My brother and I both used to have Jeeps and have experience off road driving, but this part of the trail tested up both. I don't think my neice was too excited about the ride after the first couple of hours but she was a good sport about it.





The guy that rented up the Jeep told us that the company sells them after a few seasons, ours was a 2006 with only 20,000 miles, thats 20,000 HARD miles. I don't think I'd buy one after the rattling they go through.

After making it out of the canyon and back to Moab for a little rest and to spray the mud off the Jeep we went to the other side of town and tried out some slickrock jeeping on sandstone fins. Here we are on a trail called "Fins and Things", this is the easiest of three descents we had to choose from on this fin. Stay tuned for another update later in the week.

Arts and Crafts Details: Corbels

This is the first in a series of posts on details of Arts and Crafts Furniture. Today I'm going to focus on the Corbel, its a curved wooden support that goes between the leg and the arm of a chair of sofa.

According to Wikipedia the word "corbel" comes from Old French and derives from the Latin corbellus, a diminutive of corvus (a raven) which refers to the beak-like appearance. Corbel is defined as a piece of stone jutting out of a wall to carry any superincumbent weight. For us, its a decorative addition that ties the arm to the leg.

Gustav Stickley used a small corbel on his morris chairs while his brother's designs used a more elongated corbel as seen here in my reproduction of their Prairie Style Sofa and also below in my L&JG Stickley Paddle arm Morris chair.

There are several ways that you could attach the corbels to your chair/sofa. You could drill through the corbel and screw it into the leg and plug the holes. You could use dowels to attach it. You could glue it directly to the leg/arm like I did on the Morris chair, since its a long grain to long grain match, careful aligning and clamping works well. My favorite method, which I used on the sofa, is to cut a dado down the leg with a router and a guide, and cut a long tongue on the back of the corbel. This method aligns the corbel correctly every time and provides for plenty of glue surfaces.

Once you decide on the size and shape of your corbel make a pattern out of plywood or MDF, trace the shape out on some nicely figured quartersawn white oak, cut on the band saw proud of the line. Attach the pattern to the stock using double sided tape and using a pattern routing bit run them on your router table. A little finish sanding and carefully glue the corbel in place. Nicely shaped and proportioned corbels will add a nice detail to your project.

"It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see." - Henry David Thoreau

Workshop clean up and stuff

Friday I took the Stickley #913 dresser to the shipper to be crated and shipped up to Charlottesville so I spent some time this weekend cleaning up the shop. Its amazing how things get cluttered and the shavings pile up on the floor while working on a project.

I don't have a new arts and crafts project waiting right away so I'm going to spend some time making some shop aids that I've wanted. I want to make a shop stool, resurface my assembly table and try my hand at making some wooden hand planes.

I have been talking to a friend that wants me to help him make a coffee table with an interesting modern design, its going to be made out of MDF and I'll probably break out my Brad nailer for it too, so I don't want to get any grief from you Woodwhisperer regulars. It does feel a little "HGTV" but its going to look cool when its done.

Stickley #913 Harvey Ellis Dresser, Part Last

Well today was the day, this project if finally done. I have to say that this has been the most complex build I've even done. It was my first dresser and I learned some important lessons about making drawers. I had done my research on drawers and dressers and most of the experts said to cut the drawer faces to fit the carcass, then cut the dovetails, and plane them to fit. I think next time I am going to cut them to the size I want which would be the opening minus 1/16th of an inch all the way around for clearance. I ended up having to plane the sides of each drawer, spending about 6 hours fitting the drawers. They do fit nicely now, but while cutting them smaller to start won't give you that "piston fit" described in the literature it would save quite a bit of time and inches of plane shavings from the shop floor.

I ended up not needing center drawer guides with the snug fit of the drawers but I did install stops on the rear drawer rails to keep the drawers closing flush to the frame.

One more coat of Danish oil tomorrow and let it dry for a few days, finish with a coat of clear wax and its ready to be crated and shipped off.

The contrast between the dark, rich cherry and the light highly figured curly maple make this a very pretty piece. The cherry knobs bring it all together, tying the drawers to the carcass nicely. The knobs on the bottom drawers will darken to match the top ones that have been getting sunlight for a few weeks while the bottom knobs sat on my countertop in the back of the shop.

This piece was originally designed by Harvey Ellis in his short but fruitful tenure with Gustav Stickley and has been produced by the Stickley company in its various itterations since then. The original was made in Quartersawn White Oak with a back splash on the top. This version is closer to the modern product produced by the Stickley Company.

I hope it finds many years of use in its new home, it was fun to make and quite the learning experience. Now for something less complex and a little easier......

"Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product." Eleanor Roosevelt

A Quick Little Push Block

What do you do with a nice piece of hard maple that's only 12 inches long but its 8 inches wide and a full inch thick? Not enough to make a cabinet, certainly not enough to build a bridge out of.

I need another push block, maybe I could make one out of this. I like the feel of an enclosed handle that pushes down on the stock so instead of reinventing the wheel I used this push block as a guide.

After tracing the hand hole in its proper position I freehanded the shape I had in mind and added some ears to make the handle more like a saw handle.

A trip to the bandsaw cut out the shape. I cleaned up the saw blade marks with the disc sander for the convex part and the oscillating spindle sander for the concave parts. I used a 1 1/4 inch forstner bit to bore out the hand hole.

Some clean up with a chisel and a trip over to the oscillating spindle sander leaves a nice smooth finger hole, just the right size for a safe grip.

Using a 1/2 inch roundover bit I eased the inside of the handle and the palm side, I was careful not to go past the ears with the bit.

Who says that even totally utilitarian things you use in your shop shouldn't be beautiful, and I had a cabinet full of router bits, so I put a decorative beading on the edge of the push block. You'll also notice the foot I cut into the push block, at first I was going to glue on a block like I did on my other pushblock. But once the beaded detail was in place I decided to keep it simple and cut the foot on the band saw. If the foot becomes chewed up cutting thin strips I'll just slice it off and cut another one the same way, there is enough material on this push block to do that a few times before I have to replace it.

A few coats of Danish oil and its done, all in all I spent 45 minutes on this pushblock. It will keep my fingers away from the tablesaw blade and look good while its doing it.

"The smell of wood in my shop is more pleasing than a desk in an office." Sam Maloof

Stickley #913 Harvey Ellis Dresser, Part 6

Its funny how life sometimes interferes with the things we want to do. I was really hoping that this weekend would see the final touches for the Harvey Ellis Dresser but as I said, life has a way of getting in the way. I won't laundry list the things that kept me out of the shop last weekend and today but I wanted to tell you about a good friend of mine that left us last weekend.

Griffon was my 15 year old Australian Sheppard and he had been suffering from an inner ear infection for two weeks, his vet did everything that they could but he just didn't recover from it. Finally last Saturday he started refusing all food and water. He had lost 15 lbs in two weeks and couldn't keep up on his feet. Griffon was a very kind soul that was loved by everyone that met him. I have never had a more gentle dog. He loved cats and little kids, and anytime he met a dog he would pull to go over and say hi. His very favorite thing was to get his belly rubbed, and amazingly enough he would go out on the screened in porch through the cat door. I'm sure that right now he's rolling in the grass up in doggie heaven.

I did get some woodworking done since my last post, I planed the maple for the drawer sides to 5/8 inches thick and cut the sides and back for the two smallest of the large drawers. I had to glue up the sides for the 9 1/2 inch drawer. I cut the dovetails for the 8 drawer and today I sanded the inside and glued it up. Maybe tomorrow I'll get the other two drawers glued up but then I'm off to San Francisco for a week for work, so that shoots next weekend all to heck too. But I promise you that this thing will be done, oiled and waxed, and shipped off before Memorial Day. I wonder what I'm going to make next. I haven't really given it much thought yet, but I think its time for something small. This has been the longest, most complex build yet, but its coming out great.

God will not look you over for medals degrees or diplomas, but for scars. Elbert Hubbard

Safety Week Post Safety Glasses for us that wear Glasses

"Be sure to read, understand, and follow all the safety rules that come with your power tools. Knowing how to use your power tools properly will greatly reduce the risk of personal injury. And remember this: there is no more important safety rule than to wear these-- safety glasses."

Well if you wear glasses anyway do you need safety glasses? Well.... yes, your glasses may help you see better but are they designed to protect your eyes? Here's something you should consider when thinking about eye safety.

• Consider frames with side shields, which protect against objects coming at the eyes from an angle, as well as from the front.


• The frames should be made of impact-resistant plastic or polycarbonate.


• For cold weather wear, look for frames made of nylon, rubber or propionate, which do not become brittle in the cold, hold their shape, and are less likely to injure the face in a fall or when something strikes them.


• Titanium is an unusually tough metal used in some sports eyeglasses.


• Wrap-around temples keep the frame more firmly in place.


• Spring hinges allow the frame to flex without breaking
  
  

When considering which safety glasses to purchase keep the ANSI Z87.1 standard in mind. The ANSI Z87.1 standard sets forth requirements for the design, construction, testing, and use of eye protection devices, including standards for impact and penetration resistance. All safety glasses, goggles, and face shields used by employees under OSHA jurisdiction must meet the ANSI Z87.1 standard. The eyewear standard includes the following minimum requirements:

• Provide adequate protection against the hazards for which they are designed


• Be reasonably comfortable


• Fit securely, without interfering with movement or vision


• Be capable of being disinfected if necessary, and be easy to clean


• Be durable


• Fit over, or incorporate, prescription eyewear

Now your safety glasses no longer have to look like the ones that your shop teacher wore along with his short sleeved plaid shirt and bad tie probably including pocket protector that he never seemed to take off even when you saw him outside of school. They can look just as cool as the ones sported by your normally sighted friends. You can even order them online, all you need is your prescription and pupil distance from your last eye exam. I would highly recommend getting some comfortable, cool looking safety glasses because you'll wear them, I tried all kinds of "over glasses" type of safety glasses before I got my prescription and none of them were comfortable so I ended up not wearing them.

My regular everyday glasses do have plastic lenses but they are small and there is no side protection. They offer more protection than wearing nothing but they are not safety glasses. Many woodworkers would spend thousands on a Sawstop and you have ten fingers, loose a few and you can still build nice furniture, but you only have two eyes... Safety Glasses are cheap.

"It is not fair to ask of others what you are not willing to do yourself." Eleanor Roosevelt

Stickley #913 Harvey Ellis Dresser, Quick update

Sunday I didn't have alot of time in the shop but there was something I wanted to do. I finish sanded each of the small drawers inside and out. I hand sanded the drawer fronts to 220 grit. I marked the center of the drawers and drilled a hole for the 2 inch cherry pulls.

Once the pulls were installed I applied a coat of Danish oil on the drawer fronts. The oil turned the cherry knobs the same tone as the carcass and really brought out the curl in the maple. I liked the look so much that I had to take some pictures and make a quick update. So click on the pictures on the left for a larger version.

Hope you have a nice week.

"Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible."

Dalai Lama

Stickley #913 Harvey Ellis Dresser, Part 5

This week's post covers a few days, my mother is visiting and I took the week off from work to spend some time with her but there was some time for playing in the shop.

The first thing I did was to make the back panel for the dresser, I could have used one piece of plywood or I could have made it out of ship lapped boards but keeping with the two tone look of the piece I decided to go with a frame and panel. I cut the rails and stiles to length and ran a 1/4 inch x 1/2 inch groove one one side of each and a groove on each side of the center stile. I cut 1/2 inch long tenons on the sides of the stiles to fit in the grooves of the rails. A little glue and some clamps and Bob's your uncle.

Once dry and sanded I couple of coats of Danish oil to match the carcass were applied. I need access to the inside to install and adjust the drawer guides so I drilled a few countersunk screw holes in the sides and screwed the back to the carcass.

These are the fronts for the drawers cut and trimmed to size layed out and marked for position. I was lucky enough to find a wide board of curly maple long enough to get all three of the bottom drawers from. The top 6 drawers also came from one board. I used maple for the drawer sides and for the smaller drawers I went with 3/8 inch thick stock that I had resawn from 4/4 stock.

I set up the half blind dovetails on my Leigh Dovetail Jig, what you see here is the new Leigh Vacuum Router Support that attaches to the shopvac and captures most of the shavings from the router. Before when I routed dovetails with the jig I would end up standing in a pile of sawdust, I have to say that this is a very useful addition to the Leigh system.

Once all the dovetails were routed, half blind for the front and through dovetails for the rear, I cut a 1/4 inch groove around the bottom inside of the pieces. I then sized 1/4 inch birch plywood to fit inside the grooves. Once everything was sanded I glued up the drawers using blocks to distribute the force of the clamps.

Here we have all six drawers, sanded, glued and clamped standing in line like good little drawers.
The nice thing was that the dovetail jig only had to be set up once and I was able to route all six drawers, with the larger drawers each one is a different height so the jig has to be set up for each one.

Today I unclamped the drawers and planed and sanded the dovetails flush. The large benchtop belt sander made quick work of flushing the back through dovetails. I then planed each the sides of each drawer to fit.

I wanted a tight fit on the drawers so I made the front and sides full height of the openings and planed each one to fit. Once all six drawers had been fit I was left with a nice pile of very thin maple shavings. Thank goodness for sharp tools.

The end product all fit and sliding nicely, a little finish sanding and a couple of coats of natural Danish Oil and this is going to look fantastic. The drawers are all going to receive 2 inch round cherry pulls. Three more drawers and a little bit of finish and this one is done.

"It is not how much one makes but to what purpose one spends."

John Ruskin

Stickley #913 Harvey Ellis Dresser, Part 4

There aren't a lot of pictures for this post because most of the time was spent sanding, to be specific, hand blocking all the sides of the carcass and the top to prepare for the first coat of Watco Danish Oil. I went over everything with a quarter sheet palm sander with 180 grit sand paper after last week sanding to 150 grit with a random orbit sander. I followed the palm sander with 220 grit hand sanding.

I started Oiling the piece by coating the top by itself and setting it out in the sun to soak up some UV. I then used a foam brush to flood a generous coating of oil over the surface of the carcass, a few minutes later I looked for dry spots and recoated them. After an hour I took an old t-shirt and wiped off the excess oil. I love this part, when you rub each inch of the wood, seeing the grain highlighted by soaking up the oil, feeling the smoothness of the panels and the sharp angles of the edge.

Once the oil was wiped off and is dry to the touch I attached the top to the sides using three pocket screws on each side. I had elongated the screw holes prior to finishing the piece, this will allow the top to move with expansion and contraction of the wood.

Once the top was attached I flooded on another coat of oil and this time left it for 15 minutes before wiping off as per the instructions on the can. You can really tell that the amount of oil needed to cover the surface is significantly less. One reason I really like this finish is the way it leaves the piece feeling, smooth and silky but not overcoated and plastic. When everything is finished and I have the final coats of oil on and dried I will rub on a coat of clear liquid wax to give it a really smooth "hand".
I covered the dresser with a soft flannel sheet and cut the dadoes for the back panel. I also cut the tenons for the rails for the back panel. I trimmed the tenons with a small shoulder plane until I got a perfect slip fit. I glued it up and set it aside to dry. The back panel will be screwed in place and later will be glued in place to add a lot of rigidity to the carcass but for now I need access to the back of the drawer supports to fit the center drawer guides once the drawers are completed.

I also took the time today to rough cut the curly maple for the drawer fronts and began some of the milling. Hopefully this week I'll be able to finish milling the stock for the drawers, did I mention that there were nine drawers, and start on the dovetails.

"He has achieved success who has worked well, laughed often, and loved much."

Elbert Hubbard