bookshelf #2 done......

All the woodworking on the second bookshelf is done. In a couple of days I'll have the requisite 23 bazillion coats of shellac applied. I want to try the 'Tried and True' finish that is a favorite with a few of the bloggers I read.  I can't find anyone who sells it locally. I can buy it through the internet but I want to avoid that if I can.

The first project of 2016 is 99% done and I've already started the second one of the new year. I have a lot of things on the back burners that I want to get done but this one will help with those. After I get this one done, I'm going to make a list of what is simmering and prioritize them.

worth every penny

This small square is just right for this application and it is why I bought it. It isn't any thicker than either of the bevel gauges and it gives me a precise 90° angle to them. I thought the size might have been too small but it wasn't a problem. I evened used it to make a knife line.

layout done - ready to chop out the waste

brief left turn - my current saw benches

I made these a few years ago and based them on a design by Jim Toplin. I like and don't like them. I find that I use them more for storage and holding a project to work on. I seldom use them to saw on anymore.

Firstly I don't like having to kneel on the wood to saw it. Add to that my knees throw a hissy fit now anytime I kneel for any reason. Thirdly, with my metal hip I find it difficult to kneel and be square to the saw cut. It's time to move on from this and try something new.

the something new

I went to Home Depot this morning and got three 8 foot douglas fir 4x4's. I also got some pine for the shelves and some extra to make braces.

breaking it down

I doodled a bit with some paper trying to maximize my yield on these 4x4's. In the end I threw that into the wind. There were tons of knots and other crappola to work around. I maximized by looking and measuring to get the pieces I needed working around the defects. That involved mostly placing the knots away from the ends and the upcoming joinery.

8 pieces of rough cut stock and 2 left overs

almost square

Richard Maguire is making a workbench on his second video woodworking class. He is using trestles instead of a workbench to do all his saw cuts. I like that idea a lot. No more bending and kneeling. Instead you lean slightly forward and saw away.  All the sawing action will be done a few inches lower than my workbench height. What's not to like?

He gives a couple of ways to saw square and I tried both. Like he said, one is faster than the other. To that I'll add that the faster way does take a little practice to do squarely. I used a 8pt crosscut saw and it wasn't as easy to saw with it like Richard did in the video.

my best one

Not square on all four faces but awfully close. If I do this again I'll try one of my other cross cut saws to see if it will make a difference.

practice squaring

I want to keep the 4x4's as large as I can. I made two saw cuts on adjacent faces and when I checked them they weren't square. I squared up the faces and now I have choice to make. Use the tablesaw to saw the other two faces or run them through my lunch box planer. I'll make that decision tomorrow.

I should have measured this

I changed the position of the shelf and used the measurement from my pattern. I want the bottom shelf to overhang about a 1/2" past the front edge.

I had some wider stock

I didn't want to use this here as I had this earmarked for something else. I didn't want to make another Home Depot run so it is batting next.

bottom shelf dadoes done and dry fitted

back shelf   two 2" wide boards

Trying something new on this bookshelf. Well trying a couple of new things. The first was overhanging the the bottom shelf and the second is using two boards for the back shelf. I wanted this back shelf to be wider than the one I used on the first bookshelf (3") With the two boards I can fit small and large books on it. It will also be a lot less problematic with not having to deal with one wide board expanding and contracting.

the layout

I wanted to put the top board up higher but if I did that it would be too close to the edge. I could have moved it further into the middle and moved it up but that would eat into how large of a book I could fit in here. Optimizing the book size is more important to me than having the back up higher.

first mortise done

I am not doing through mortises on this bookshelf - another new twist for me. This mortise is the same size as the board. I am not doing a shouldered tenon to hide the mortise neither. I think that this looks just as good.

self supporting and I have my happy face on

started with the long grain

I made this long grain cut every so lightly and barely removed a chip. I did this three times, removing and making the wall a little deeper each time. I was very careful doing this because it is incredibly easy for the chisel to catch the grain and you end up with toast. Burnt and black.

I made a bunch of chops end to end next - mortise is 3/4" wide and the chisel is 5/8"

remove the waste and leave the last one

The last one gets a bit of attention. I need this to be square and the corners to be clean and rag free.

split it in half on the first chop

remove the last of it

I knew that I wouldn't move the wall at all - had lots of space for the chisel. My concern was making it square and straight down. I made another row of chops and removed that waste. I finished the mortise to depth with a hand router.

second one done and self supporting too

my first layout lines

second lines

I didn't pick up on this until after I had done my layout. It didn't occur to me at the time that by moving the gauge up/down on the edge and it would also move the gauge further away from the it. I used the first layout line, the bevel gauge, and my small square to do the layout. It would have been so much easy to do it this way.

dry fit is good

not laying flat on all four

I'll have to level this after I get it glued up.

it's square down the length

cleaning up

I nailed a cleat to my bench as a stop so I could plane the ends. I am not a fan of nailing into or screwing into my bench. This is only the second time that I have done this in over 20 years. A planing stop has been added to the list.

planed an angle

The angle on the front of the bottom shelf is the same as the slope on the front edge.

I went 3 for 4

The last tenon I did is loose and is not close to being self supporting. It is also off a wee bit from it's mate on the right end. My layout was off on the top one on each end.

glued and cooking

back to working on the trestle parts

I made two saw cuts and now I am cleaning them up and making those two edges square to each other.

this is toast

I thought of gluing this split but changed my mind. The split continues on down the post stopping about 12" from the end. And there is another split on the other side. This piece had a lot of stress in it.

last one done

stickered until tomorrow

Time to call it a very good day. My fingers are singing songs and my eyelids are sore. It's been quite a while since I've done this much for so long. My pecs are asking for some attention too. Planing two faces on all this stock and then fussing with getting it square was a good workout. I don't think I'll have problems sleeping tonight.

accidental woodworker

trivia corner
What is a shako?
answer - a cylindrical military hat with a brim and a feather or pom-pom

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