The Renaissance Woodworker: Recent Episodes
Shannon Rogers
I'm a woodworker who uses only hand tools to build furniture and other projects. Come along and watch me embrace my woodworking A-D-D and build without harming any electrons.
This time I make some panel clamps to make glue up easier. I use the hardware from Lee Valley to make one them devise my own homemade hardware and built 2 more.
Yep you read it right. I needed a flyswatter at the lumber yard so I went the typical woodworker route and split out some Hickory then shaved it for the perfect thing and flexible handle then cross laminated Maple, Oak, and Walnut veneers then finally created a fretwork rose pattern on the face. Y'know like you do.
Shannon is back now that his site update and product launch at the Hand Tool School are behind him. He is working on a Sapele inlaid plaque, a newly restored Jack rabbet plane, and preparing his classes for Woodworking in America.
If you have followed any of my blogs or podcasts for long you will know of my aversion to jigs and guides of any sort. But I wanted to be fair in my assessment and make sure that I put in some time with these dovetail guides by David Barron before jumping to a conclusion. I hope you will gain some insight from this review and find it to be a fair and balanced review.
This little stool is taken from the pages of Christopher Schwarz' book "Campaign Furniture". It is make from riven Teak with a Shellac and Beeswax finish. The hardware is from Lee Valley and the gorgeous leather seat is from TX Heritage Woodworks.
These simple to make pencil boxes are great to use up some scrap wood and use simple half lap joinery and a sliding lid. I add a few other things to spice them up but mostly they should be simple and unadorned to match the aesthetic.
When your project throws unusual angles at you don't panic. Creating a custom angle shooting board is as simple as keeping your off cuts.
In this video I drawbored the breadboard ends into place, smooth planed the entire table, then applied a varnish finish using EnduroVar by General Finishes.
If you are going to join a cooperative farm club and get fresh produce each week, you might as well pick it up in style with a hand made crate and vintage peach crate labels.
Preparing the project for the finishin then adding Enduro Var with my Earlex HVLP sprayer.
I finish the construction of the display shelf in this episode by making shelf panels, adding back slats and gluing it all up.
In this episode I start the build of a simple display shelf made in Maple and designed for a customer.
Driving 1" of chisel into the wood to make a mortise is a bit too much like work. When the mortises get big or in odd locations, boring it out is the better choice. With a center line, it just got faster and easier.
Don't have a clamp big enough? Don't spend major cash on a new clamp but grab some rope and a stick.
These clocks have definite wow factor but are actually quite easy to make and are an excellent introduction to bent lamination techniques.
Using the grain of the wood to tell your story will turn your good piece into a masterpiece.
A straight blade to make curved profiles??? Madness! Not so much, just a quick way to make round overs with a block plane
This video discussed what I have found to be the single most effective adjustment you can make to dramatically improve your sawing accuracy
I'm sure you have seen these done at Woodworking Shows where the guy bangs out a tiny reindeer in like 20 seconds. Here is how I tackled it entirely by hand.
I present my Barnes No 3 Velocipede lathe. It took me 5 years of searching to find one and I couldn't be happier with this lovely piece of late 19th century engineering.
Hold the lime juice and the vodka on this Gimlet! These are handy little boring implements perfect for getting into tight corners where no drill would ever fit. The perfect companion to cut nails as well.
The question of which saw to get first comes up a lot and while a strong case can be made for many different saws, I firmly believe the carcass saw should be the first saw you get.
When you get tired your technique suffers and a good cut can go back very quickly leading to a lot more work later one with a hand plane. I have come up with a simple tip to pace myself but also add a little more accuracy over a long rip when my technique can break down due to fatigue. I hope you enjoy this tip.
In this episode I finish the top and add breadboard ends, completing the construction of this dining table
This episode I chop through mortises in the legs and a cut tenons on the trestle. Then I create a tusk wedge and fit it to complete the construction of the base of the dining table.
This time I hand cut the half laps and angled bridle joints to join together the 2 crossed leg assemblies.
Can you believe it? Another Chips 'n Tips this week. Go check out some adjustment tips for my favorite tool.
When visual inspection fails, use your fingers to determin the grain direction of a board.
This should be a 4 or 5 part series on a dining table I was commissioned to make. This part is all about the milling of the 10/4 and 12/4 Walnut and gluing up the top panels.
Chips 'N Tips is my short form woodworking tip show. This first episode details how I locate my strop to make using it much easier and more convenient.
Make sure to visit the Chips 'N Tips page on my site to register for free stuff that I'll be giving away each episode.
This time I walk through how I prepare several large boards for the power planer by using my hand places to create a reference face first.
I'm adding new switch plates to my boring white ones in my newly remodelled shop and though it would be a good opportunity to use up some scrap wood. Here is how I made them using just a few hand tools.
This is the final part of the shop remodel where I set up the new 20" Grizzly planer and move the big piece into place. I'm excited to start working in my new space!
This time I hang the last plywood sheet on the feature wall then hang the tool cabinet.
This time I hang 3/4" plywood on my stud framework as then wrap my gas line soffit with plywood by capturing an unknown miter angle and cutting the compound angle by hand to match it.
My long anticipated and planned for shop remodel is underway. In this short video I frame out the wall on top of cinder block, do some painting, and demolish some cabinetry. Plus I turn an in the way gas line into an opportunity for a clamp rack. Next time I'll hang plywood sheathing.
This is the first of my more casual, quick tip show. Filmed entirely on my iphone and in real time I hope to capture more of the little tips and tricks that happen every day in the work shop that don't get much attention. Today I'm showing a quick way to expand a mortise wall with great accuracy.
The process for working in thin stock is not much different but you need to be more delicate and most of the time use fewer tools and take smaller bites. Here I chop out a 3/16" deep mortise that is kinda half dado too. Using a chisel bevel down is a great technique to master and this video shows some pointers.
This video is part a how to use several rasps to sculpt and refine curves to a finish ready surface and part a review of Liogier rasps who were kind enough to send me a few rasps to test out.
I'm adding permanent handles to all my files and rasps and thought I would do them on the pole lathe. This is a great way to use up some scrap and the positive registration of a fixe handle actually makes a rasp easier to use. I used brass ferrules I bought at Lee Valley for a few pennies and a piece of Teak that was 1.5" round and 7" long. If using a pole lathe the piece needs to be a bit longer so you have a place to run the drive cord.
The music in todays episode is thanks to Underhill Rose and is called "Helpless Wanderer". If you like it please go support these talented ladies in their new Kickstarter campaign for their new album. It should be another hit.
http://kck.st/1gdwwrD
or
http://underhillrose.com
I'm teaching a hand tool boot camp at the Wortheffort Woodworking school in San Marcos, TX (http://wortheffort.com/school/ShannonRogers) this June 13-15, 2014 and as of this recording spots are still available. This video covers what we will discuss and why these fundamental skills are so important. Even if you can't make the class I hope you will consider how these skills can make you a better woodworker.
Woodworking with hand tools requires all your senses. When you can embrace the sights and sounds of your saws, planes, and chisels you will work more accurately and efficiently. This video shows just a few examples where tuning in to your hand tool sense is useful.
I mentioned making a chip clip on Wood Talk a few weeks ago and I was stunned by how many emails I got asking for details and pictures. So I sacrificed another plastic chip clip and made another one but filmed it this time. This is one of those stupid woodworking projects that doesn't test a lot of skills but is dang fun to produce. Who else can claim to have such a sexy chip clip eh?
Sharpening free hand is a skill that I hear characterized as an advanced skill all the time when in reality it is no harder to master than cutting a joint by hand. It just take a little practice to build up some muscle memory and I hope to show you some techniques and tips to give you a headstart in your own practice. With these tips I think anyone can get consistent results in minutes or hours, not years like the common misconception.
This episode goes into depth about center bits and why I think these should be the number 1 drill bit in your arsenal
Joiners saddles are really useful for securing odd shaped objects like turned or tapered legs while working on them. This episode shows me making 3 of them and some great tips on watching the reflection in the saw plate to determine your sawing accuracy.
Anybody who has seen The Woodwright's Shop has thought about making one of these handy tool totes. In this episode I do just that and do a little compound angle joinery along the way.
Here is a demonstration of the treadle lathe in action. There is some fine tuning still to be done, but I am creating round objects with it so I can't be too picky right?
I was laying out a bunch of tenons while building my treadle lathe and thought of a few tips that I employ on each project that might be useful in your shop.
In this episode I show how simple it is to take a beat up old hand plane and turn it into a great performing scrub plane or fore plane.
There are a couple of designs for portable shave horse designs out there so what I build here is nothing new. The shave pony has been on my list for a while to build and I have been making do without it for years. Finally I stopped everything and built one and am so glad I did. It is small enough to be set up off the end of my bench and not get in the way at all or I can fold it up and stick it up against the wall. Sure a shave horse can be more functional for the ocassional drawknife user this is a great solution.
In this episode I finish construction of my backyard bungee lathe then take it for a test turn.
Here is the quick and dirty on how I sharpen my edge tools these days. My sharpening process has changed and evolved a lot over the last few years and I think I have it down to the quickest possibly way to refresh and edge and get back to work.
Next time you are planing a surface, turn the lights off and use the shadows to your advantage.
Its woodworker's safety day again and here are some more tips to keep you from doing dumb stuff around all those sharp and pointy things.
Cutting dovetails that look like they grew that way can be done, but the true mark of a woodworker is being able to make every joint they cut look that way. We all have bad days and end up with gappy joints. This episode shows how I fix the swiss cheese joint.
The dado saw or staircase saw is an interesting tool. Admittedly it is not my favorite way of making dados but it does have its merits and deserves a spot in my tool box for when those arise.
Saw filing guides are really helpful for the average woodworker who is not sharpening his saws every day. It takes time to build the skill to sharpen a saw and if you are only doing it once every few months a little jig like this is great to ease the pain. Additionally you can play around with the saw tooth geometry and dial in the perfect saw for your specific application.
This is easily the coolest tool I have ever made. It has changed the way I work wood and changed what wood I buy at the lumber yard. After using this saw for more than a year I decided to sell my bandsaw because this frame saw outperforms my 14" bandsaw when it comes to resawing. Here is a look at the saw in action.
I have a great saw vise made by Gramery Tools that I use for just about all my saw sharpening. I have often thought about making a larger one for my 26" hand saws but frankly I just haven't been forced to do so. Once I made my resawing frame saw I had to have a bigger vise to support my 36 and 48" long blades so I made this new saw vise specifically to accommodate it. Now I also have a very fast way of sharpening my typica 26" saws too.
This episode takes a look at a trip to the lumber yard and understanding board feet and grading.
For Get Woodworking Week 2013 I'm building a dining table that was designed by a beginning woodworker whom I have befriended. This project is all about tackling that first project. This time I talk about the design, the wood needed, and the tools to build it.
It seems that every year, my wife comes to me at the last minute looking for a gift she can give to a co-worker that she forgot to include in her initial list. Usually "last minute" means 9 PM the night before. I can only blame myself because for the last 5 years I have been able to produce small lathe projects at the 11th hour. Let's be honest, when you wife asks you to spend time in the shop, who is going to be upset with that?
This year I made some of the usual suspect projects, but now I'm going 100% the Easy Wood Tool route. If you aren't familiar with these turning tools and you own a lathe, I highly recommend you check them out. I have built almost a complete set of them in the last few years and they have taken a lot of the guess work out of turning for this wood turning hack.
Anyway, here is a sped up version of my latest lathe session (I had to get the video to fit the song)
Had to make a moulding for a cabinet I'm working on and I thought to myself.
"Self, people might enjoy watching this process"
This will be carved in the next step for a cabinet I just installed at a local Episcopal church. I wanted a larger ovolo profile than I usually go for so I had to finally restore a pair of vintage #14 hollow and rounds. Actually there wasn't much to the restoration other than regrinding the profile and honing it. The plane body was in good shape already.
So, I present the simple step by step on how to make an Ovolo using rabbet and hollow planes. Enjoy!
Hurricane Sandy knocked out my power for a week and this was the perfect opportunity to do some woodworking since I'm always boasting about the merits of hand tool woodworking. Of course it gets pretty dark in my shop without lights so I built a candle reflector.
All you need is some scrap wood, a candle, a couple mirrors, and a few tools. You would be surprised just how much light a candle can put out when it is multiplied and focused with a reflector
I hear from a lot of people who are concerned about getting started without a workbench and concerned they must have a workbench before doing anything. Now as the owner of 2 very nice workbenches I'm a bit spoiled but it wasn't always that way. I worked for many years without a Roubo workbench and it is very easy to do with just a few helpful bench appliances. In this video I demonstrate how these appliances can turn any horizontal surface into a workbench.
This time I'm visiting a blacksmith friend who is making some cool hardware for my upcoming frame saw build. I take a quick look around his shop and watch as he makes some of the saw parts. Thanks to Vince of Artisan Iron Designs for this peek into the blacksmith's world.
Here is a look at a vintage pocket hole bit from the 18th century. In reality this is a gimlet bit with a built in counterbore, but the ability to use the bit at almost any angle means we can created low angle pocket holes to join a table top to it's rails.
The bandsaw is often called the neanderthals apprentice. It is a great tool to have around even when you do all the rest of your woodworking using only hand tools.
There are lots of ways to cut a rabbet by hand, but let's look at the most fundamental way to do it. Using only a chisel. You never know when it will come in handy and you will learn some great chisel handling skills along the way.
This episode shows how I incorporate my hand cranked grinder into my sharpening routine. I close with a quick look at my own free hand honing technique.
This time I show a quick and easy trick to fine tune the fit and angle of a long bevel for a case side.
Sometimes the best vise is an invisible one. Here is a little trick to use when you have to hand plane really thin stock.
In this video I show how I use SketchUp to help me determine how much wood I need and what parts I can get from my existing boards.