Mini Saw Bent

Hello All,

     Sorry this is so late I finished this mini saw bent about a month ago. This project was for Semester 1 Lesson 6 Project of the Hand Tool School. I have no need for a saw bent but needed to practice the joints (which are mortise and tenons). So, I just made it small so I didn't have to use up the wood and doesn't take the shop space.

Thanks for reading

Layout Square

Hello all,
    Sorry I've been neglecting this blog. A few weeks ago I finished my layout square it's not perfect, it is a shop tool after all but I'm still proud of it.

 Thanks for reading

Shooting Boards

Hello All,

   The Project for Semester 1 Lesson 4.1 of The Hand Tool school is a miter Shooting board. I made a few changes like having plane slides and I used a wedge for the board stops that I saw at Close Grain.

While I was at it I made a normal shooting board also.

Thanks for reading

Miter Box

Hello All,
  Part of the 4th lesson in the Hand Tool School is groves. Groves are basically dados with the grain of the wood. The project that goes with this lesson is a miter box. I was really dreading this this project because of the accuracy involved in making sure the the saw guide cuts are square and true also I didn't have a good square with a 45 degree edge. So, I made one out of a scrap wood. The box was put together in a day and let the glue dry over night. The next day I flushed up all the edges and cross beams made the guide cuts the it work out great. Width and depth are a bit small for the saw I plan to use it for. The project was a great confidence builder. I am really happy with it and I'm sure it will see some use.

Thanks for Reading

Back from the the lumber dealer

Hello All,
     Well yesterday I went to the lumber dealer here in Yakima, WA. There are a couple here in town I have been to all but one. I went the the new shop attached to American Cabinet Door (they really have no web presents). I like them for two reasons 1. they are very close to where I live 2. they are trying to be the high end dealer in town. They are carrying Festool power tools and carry quite possibly the biggest collection of router bits in the area. As far as their selection of wood it's great with a good verity but not a huge quantity of each.
What I got:
9BF of 4/4 6" wide poplar at $2.15 a BF
2BF of 8/4 10" wide poplar at $2.48 a BF
1 1/2BF of 2 1/2" wide walnut at $9.05 a BF
4/4 3" wide by 10' long piece of figured maple for $20.
If you know if these prices are out of line please let me know I'am new to all this Hard Wood.
    The reason for the hard wood is to complete the next 3 projects in the Hand Tool School. A Miter box, a miter shooting board (also a square shooting board that I'm adding to the projects), and a English Square. I have rough cut the lumber and stickered it to acclimate to the shop. In two weeks Ill start on the miter box which I'm dreading cuse of the high degree of accuracy I want to get out of it.

Small Tool Storage

Hello All,
    Well here is my 4th project from the Hand Tool School it is just a small tool storage item. The objective of this project was to get you some practice at cutting dados. I'm not happy with this project at all I think construction grade lumber in this was a very poor choice. The hard parts of the Pine took my dado plane a lot to slice through and usually crumble the soft wood behind it often going below the depth of the plane. But, the plane would slice wonderfully through the soft stuff. Regardless the project will work nicely for the shop if it where for the house it would be fire wood now.

Thanks for reading

Pairing Hook

Hello All,
last week I finally finished the 3rd project in Semester 1 of the Hand Tool School. Which is a Pairing Hook/Chopping Hook basically used to help hold your work and to protect your bench.

Thanks for reading

Saw Bench

Hello all,
Well I've been a bit slow in postings again. So here it is my saw bench built for the Hand Tool School. Iam very happy with it I made the ripping notch wider than usual so that I can pick it up with one hand and not rake my knuckles.

Thanks for reading

Port Townsend is a no go

Well sorry for the long delay in posting. It turns out that work has inventory one of the weekends. But that gives me the opportunity to join Shannon Rodgers's Hand Tool School. Let me tell you that it is great very informative. He is also very responsive to questions usually replys to e-mail within 12 hours. I was lucky to get in before price changes and also got the holiday discount. I'm also participating in a sawing diagnostic which will most likely go into a lesson. With all the money I saved I ordered some new tools.
I shouldn't say this but I plan on publishing articles on each of tools or groups of tool.
Thanks for visiting