Tonight the shop was filled with a lot of expletives. I am an ex-sailor and a lot of my diarrhea of the mouth I had, even made me blush. Why? I am sure all of us have been in a situation where an extra set of hands with arms would have been awfully nice. I think four of them would have done me good tonight.
I was trying to clamp the bookcase square and I was getting nowhere with it. The blue tape holding a part would come off just as I got the clamp in position. The clamps would tighten, slide, and pop off because the clamp was cocked. This was a situation where I couldn't use nails, screws, or glue to hold my battens. Even my go to quick grips failed me miserably too. After what seemed like a week and a half, I gave up. I gave up on the clamping gig and tried something new because I'm brain dead and I refuse to give up.
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| holder ready for glue up - did this before the clamp fiasco |
I got the plywood bottom installed and the puzzle is almost flush with the top of the cherry. I also broke off two more 'tips'. Sylvain left a comment about rounding the corners and I'm going to try that on the first puzzle I made. Picturing it in my mind doesn't look good but seeing it on an actual puzzle will help to decide on whether or not to round all the 'tips'.
Working the puzzle wasn't my main focus tonight. The aim tonight was trying to come up with some way of squaring the bookcase top. After a very frustrating start I think I came up with a viable solution.
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| this is round two |
The first round had me trying to clamp two battens at an angle to the sides and the middle shelf (one at the front and one at the rear). In theory it sounded good but trying to execute it was OTL. I tried this on a lark. I had thought of this yesterday but I wasn't too sure it would work so I passed on it. I was pleasantly surprised to to find out tonight that it did work.
I pulled the right side square with a quick grip at the top. Once Big Red said dead nuts, I clamped the squares in place. I got a slight movement but the side was still square after I checked it again with Big Red.
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| the other side clamped |
I wish I had a bigger clamp like the wooden one to go here but I don't. It's square and it is maintaining that square so I guess it's doing the job.
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| very small gap at the bottom |
The right side is clamped square and the left is a lot closer to be being square than I got it yesterday.
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| left clamped |
I checked the right side still square with Big Red and then the left side again. There was much joy and rejoicing in Mudville. I left this as it is until after dinner when I checked the sides for square with Big Red again. Both sides were square to the middle shelf. I can use this setup to mark for the dadoes in the top and they will hold the sides square. The headaches with fitting an out of square drawer have now disappeared.
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| gauge stick is dead on |
The tick mark on this stick is the width of the middle shelf. It is the same at the front and back there but at the top it wasn't. The front was further out than it was at the back. With the sides clamped square, the tick mark is dead on the mark at the front and back at the top. Did I mention there was much joy and rejoicing?
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| Big Red doesn't lie |
My hand made practice bridle joint is dead nuts square. I was going to buy a few more of the black plastic clamping squares and I changed my mind. Why buy them when I can make what I need? And I can make them in any size/shape I want. The bridle joint worked as a wooden clamping square flawlessly here. I think if I had two of them, I wouldn't have gotten any movement when I removed the quick grip.
I may be practicing making bridle joint slash clamping squares this weekend. I'll have to reinforce the one I have now with a few dowels.
accidental woodworker
trivia corner
Who was the oldest person to win a Nobel Prize?
answer - Professor Leonard Hurwicz at age 90
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