Carpenter's Tool Chest

This weekend Janel and I followed an estate sale lead from her aunt and uncle that promised a good selection of hand tools.  The sales began Thursday and we didn't find out about it until Sunday, so most of the hand tools worth looking at were already gone by time we got there.  There was, however, a pretty cool chest that caught my eye and I instantly recognized it as a carpenter's tool chest.  The only reason I recognized it was because of my recent interest in hand tools and I have come across many pictures of similar chests on the web.  The sticker on the chest said $350 but since it was the last day of the sale, everything was 50% off, so I picked it up for $175.  I don't really know what it's worth, but it seemed like something I shouldn't pass on.

Every carpenter a 100 years ago would likely have a similar chest to keep their tools in and carry them to and from job sites.  I think that typically the carpenter would have made the chest himself and assume that is the case for mine.  Unfortunately I don't know much about this chest and who used it.  I couldn't find any names or dates in it.  It has three sliding trays in the top half of it and below that is all open space for larger tools.  The corners of the chest and the trays are all joined with hand cut dovetails and you can clearly see the scratch from the marking gauge from when the cuts were laid out.

Here is a photo that I got off the Lost Art Press website that shows several carpenters and their tool chests.  This photo is circa 1910 and I assume that my chest is from around that time as well, possibly a little later.

Workbench - All Done

Well, I finally have a finished Workbench.  Building this thing only using hand tools was a lot of hard work, but definitely satisfying.  I'm looking forward to putting it to work and I've got plenty of things in mind that I want to build.  They will probably have to wait until fall though, because right now I've got plenty of other projects that I need to get caught up on.

As promised in my last blog, here are a couple of shots of the leg vise.  It works by sticking a screwdriver in one of the many holes in the parallel guide at the bottom.  The hole used depends on the thickness of the piece being clamped and it makes sure that the vise applies pressure evenly on the whole piece.  I've tried it out and it's amazing how much holding pressure this vise has.










The last couple steps to finishing this bench, which I did this week, was to replane the surface, because it had bowed quite a bit and to apply a finish.  For the finish, I rubbed the whole thing down with boiled linseed oil to give a little protection and it also makes it look really nice.

Workbench - Leg Vise

Over the last week, I've been working on the chop for the leg vise on my workbench.  I'm making it from a piece of 2" thick hard maple,  which made it a good workout to rip it to size by hand.  To reduce the weight of the chop, the bottom half is trimmed where it isn't used for clamping.  To make it look nice, I added a curved transition, which I cut with my new bow saw that I bought while at the Handworks Tool Show in Amana, IA a month ago.  It basically functions like a coping saw, but on a bigger scale.  I was glad to have this saw, but cutting these curves in the thick stock was a lot of work, even with the most coarse blade.

I used auger bits, chisel, and then a rasp to create the hole for the wooden screw to go through.  Then I cut a through mortise to mount the parallel guide.

The parallel guide is made from 5/8" hard maple.  It will be glued into the mortise in the chop and then it will slide through the mortise that I cut into the bench leg.  The purpose of the parallel guide is to keep the chop from racking.  Also, there is a series of holes drilled into it.  A pin will go through one of the holes to set the distance that the chop is away from the leg.  This distance should match the thickness of the piece being clamped and keep the chop flat against the piece.

Soon I should have some pictures up of the entire bench assembled and will try to include some pictures on how this vise works.

Workbench - Putting It Together

The final step before gluing the entire bench together was to prepare the front left leg to accept the leg vise.  I had purchased a wooden screw kit from Lake Erie Toolworks that I'm using for this vise, which came with a large wooden nut as seen in the picture below.  I first drilled and a 2-1/2" hole through the leg for the vise screw to pass through.  Then I cut the mortise using a miter saw followed by a chisel to clean out the waste.  This is similar to what I did when I cut the dovetails into the bench top.  I also cut a through mortise towards the bottom of this leg for the parallel guide for the vise (more on this in the next blog).

Before assembly I trimmed the joinery for the legs and bench top quite a bit.  The thought of getting everything glued up and then having the glue set before I could get the legs hammered all the way in didn't excite me.  I also drilled 3/8" holes in all the legs to accept dowels to hold the stretcher tenons good and tight.  When it came time for assembly, I made sure I had everything laid out and ready to go.  I also enlisted the help of my wonderful wife, Janel, to help get everything together as quickly as possible.  To be safe, I bought an epoxy with a 60 minute gel time to make sure I could get everything together before it hardened.  As it turned out, everything went together relatively smoothly, although I did have some trouble getting some of the oak dowels in.  Some of the holes didn't line up as well as they should and the quality of the dowels was a bit questionable. To help get the dowels in, I used a ratchet strap to pull the legs nice and tight .  We then flipped the bench on to the ground and I hammered some maple wedges into the tops of the joints to really tighten them up.  I can't tell you what a relief it is to finally have the legs in this thing and move on to another part.

Right now I'm finishing up the leg vise and will hopefully have a post on that soon.

Henry inspecting my work

Workbench - Stretchers

 In my last blog, I mentioned that I would come to regret forcing the legs into place with a sledge hammer.  For one, the joints didn't fit the way they should in spots and by forcing them, I either split part of the bench or the high spot on the joint pushed the leg off the correct angle.  Also, my intention was only to dry fit the legs because I would still have to remove them to install the stretchers.

I initially flipped the bench upside down and tried knocking the legs upward with a 5lb hammer, but they didn't budge.  Since that didn't work, I flipped the bench back over and then put it up on my tall saw horses so that the legs were dangling up off the ground.  This allowed me to hammer downward and use a lot more force.  In this position I was able to use my sledge and after some good solid blows, I was able to get all four legs out.

Before I knocked the legs out, I used the bench to prepare the stretchers, which will connect the legs down by the floor.  Each stretcher will consist of two 2x6's glued together with one being longer than the other to form a tenon that will go into a leg.  I used standard home center fir 2x6's and after drying in my basement for the last few months they had cupped quite a bit.  To be able to glue them together I had to do a good amount of planing to get them flat and straight.

One 2x6 was a little longer than the other, which when glued together created a natural tenon.

Once again I used the process of using the auger drill bit followed by a mortising chisel to create mortises in the lower part of the legs where the stretchers will be located.  These mortises actually intersect on the inside, allowing the tenons to go as deep into the legs as possible.

Once the mortises were cut, I put a 45 degree cut on the end of the tenons and then trimmed them to match the height of the mortise.

I'm starting to see the daylight at the end of the tunnel on this project and I'm looking forward to actually putting this bench to work.

Workbench - Leg Joinery 2

After cutting the joinery into the ends of the bench legs, I then traced the joints onto the bench top.  Tracing is the only way to do this because each leg ended up being a little bit different.  Next, I used an auger bit to remove as much material from the mortise, which I then cleaned up with a mortise chisel.  Then I flipped the bench top over and repeated this from the other side and cleaned the mortise all the way through.

Next, I flipped the slab up on its side and cut out the dovetails.  I used a miter saw to make the angled cuts and one cut down the middle.  Next, I used my mortise chisel to pop out most of the material and then cleaned up the edges with a paring chisel.

After the joints were cut I tried to dry fit the legs into the bench top.  After a lot more cleaning up with the paring chisel I still had trouble fitting the joints.  Finally got out the sledge hammer and gave the legs a little extra encouragement (A decision I would come to regret).

Workbench - Leg Joinery

I've been running a little behind in both working on the workbench and on posting updates of what I have done.  Lately, I've been working the leg joinery that connects them to the bench top.  Since my last post, I planed all four of the legs square.  Then I traced out the joints for the top of the legs.  The joint is made up of a through dovetail joint in the front and a through tenon in the middle that will go through the entire 5" thick bench top.

Once the joints were drawn out, I sawed all the vertical lines going with the grain.  Then I used a mortise chisel to cut out the material between the two joints.

 Next, I made the diagonal cuts for the dovetails and the the crosscuts to remove the remaining material.  Because the legs were so thick it was tough to get the perfectly straight so I had to do quite a bit of cleanup with a chisel to get the joints good and straight.

I have cut the joinery into all four legs and begun cutting the mating joinery into the bench top.  More on that next time.

Workbench - End Vise Complete

Finally! My workbench is starting to do some work for me instead of me just working on it. Today I made the sliding block for the end and drilled a series of holes along the front edge of the bench top, which will be used to hold stop dogs. I made a couple stop dogs out of 3/4" oak dowell. I was able to clamp one of the leg posts in the vise and hold it securely while I planed it. I got one leg completely squared tonight, so just three to go.

Workbench - Tail Vise Installed

Over the last couple weeks, I've been working towards getting the tail vise put on my bench.  After cutting out the cavity in the bench top, I began working on the end cap.  I glued a couple pieces of maple together to make the end cap about 2-1/2" thick.  I chiseled out the dovetail slots to match up with the dovetails that I cut in the front of the workbench.  Next, using a template that I printed from the website for my vise, I marked the holes where the vise would mount.  I had to make several holes with an auger bit and then clean it up with a chisel to make the large hole for the vise screw.

 To install the end cap, I glued the dovetail joint on the front and fastened the rest with lag screws.  I drilled the pilot holes in the end cap extra wide to allow for movement in the wood due to moisture change.  The next step will be to cut a block that will screw into the vise.  This block will hold a dog, which will be the clamping device.

Workbench - Tail Vise Preparation

Now that I have all four sides pretty flat and parallel my next step was to saw the ends square and to length. This was a good workout, but didn't take too long with my recently sharpened crosscut saw.  Fortunately, I had my son Michael there to give me encouragement.

Benchcrafted Tail Vise

The left end of my bench will have a tail vise that will operate parallel to the benchtop.This vise, which is manufactured by Benchcrafted works by sliding a peg, also called a dog, allowing you clamp a board between a stationary dog.  The advantage to this type of end vise is that because it is integral to the bench top, the area around the clamping point is very strong.  The disadvantage to this vise is that it requires a lot of material to be removed from the underneath side of the benchtop.  This is not a big undertaking if you use an electric router, but it my case it has required time than I would have liked to sped installing the vise.

I began the cutout for the vise by using my rip saw to cut the track where the sliding dog will run.  I finished removing this piece by chopping through the remaining section with my 3/8" mortise chisel.

I then drew out the area that I needed to cut out and went at it with a brace and auger bit.  I followed this up with the mortise chisel again, removing the remaining material and getting all the dimensions to where they need to be for the vise to work properly.  By the time I to the point of the picture below, I felt more like Michelangelo whacking at a piece of marble than a carpenter.

Workbench 1

I began work on my workbench by cutting the 6x6 beam into lengths for the legs.  It was pretty easy work since I just sharpened the teeth on vintage crosscut saw.  I cut the legs to 33", which is one inch longer than the finished length.

Next, used my jackplane to roughly plane all four sides of each of the two top slab pieces.   Then I worked one of the edges to get it as straight and flat as possible.  I planed at an angle to the grain to remove as much material as possible.  Then I followed up with my jointer plane to make the edges as straight and flat as possible.

Once I had two flat and straight edges, I stacked the two slabs up to see how they fit together.  I found that there were some gaps, so I took them down and did some more planing.  Once I was satisfied with the way they fit together, I took them back down and put some glue on them.

For such a long and thick slab, I needed every pipe clamp that I could get.  In my case I did't have any, but fortunately I knew someone that had plenty.  I ended up using 12.

After 24 hours, I took the clamps off.  My next step was to make to two long edges flat and parallel. I began working one of the edges the same way that I had worked the inside edges that I had glued together.  However, this it wasn't nearly as easy because the top edge was now 12" higher.  When standing on the floor, the top edge of the slab was about even with my neck.  This made it almost impossible to get good downward pressure on the plane.  Then I had the idea to use the leg posts and boards for the stretchers to stand on.  This helped a little, but I was still not at a good angle for planing.  By time I finished the first edge, I was completely exhausted and my muscles were sore for days.  I realize now that I should have built two shorter saw horses before I even started, which would have made all the planing much easier.

New Tools

While looking at what it will take to build my new workbench, I realized that I didn't have the tools to do it.  Fortunately, this was right before the Christmas season, so I was able to pick up some of what I need as gifts.  Here is what I picked up this year:

A little before Christmas I set out to buy a Stanley No. 5 plane on ebay and I managed to pick this one up for $31.

It came in pieces, which was fine, because I wanted to tune it up since it was likely made in the 1930's.  First I cleaned the body with mineral spirits and then I flattened the frog on my diamond board.  This will make sure that the blade will sit perfectly flat against it, which keeps it from chattering while in use.

Next, I flattened the blade as much as possible on the diamond board and ground a curved edge on it with my bench grinder.  The reason for the curved edge is because I want to use this plane to quickly remove large amounts of material and the curve will really dig in to the wood.

Here are the tools that I got for Christmas.  On the left is my new pride and joy, a Lie-Nielsen No. 7 jointer, which is 22" long.  This was my present to myself and it has been fun to use.

I also go a wooden mallet, 3/8" Sorbey mortise chisel, honing guide, and precision square from my wife and mother-in-law.

My new Lie-Nielsen No 7 and Stanley No 5 Planes

Beginnings of a Workbench

As I mentioned in my last post, I've decided that my next project would be to build a workbench, specifically  one that is based on the 18th century design of Andre Ruobo.  The design will be very similar one built by Chris Schwarz in his book The Workbench Design Book.  It will consist of a thick bench top (up to 6 inches) as well as stout legs.  In the book, Schwarz uses two slabs of cherry for the top and glues them together for a 20" wide bench.  This sounded like a good idea, except no way would I be able to find two slabs of hardwood like that.

The only large pieces of lumber that I was able to find was fir timbers, which I sourced from a local lumber yard.  I ordered two eight feet long 6" x 12" timbers for the workbench top and a 12 feet long 6" x 6" timber to be used for the legs. Usually these timbers are supplied green, but I had them kiln dried so that they wouldn't be shrinking after I built the bench and I didn't have six years for them to dry naturally.

One side effect of the kiln drying is that the two large timbers developed some pretty severe checks, as you can see by the picture at the left.  I think they may have been dried too rapidly and I hope that these checks don't cause me problems down the road because they are pretty deep.  If I had to do it over again, I would probably use four 6x6 timbers instead of the two 6x12's.

I hope to post soon about some of the tools that I've acquired recently in order to build this bench.  And hopefully I can put those tools to work soon and start turning these timbers into something useful.