The Benchmaker's Apprentice: Preparing the Parallel Guide

Here we are again, The Benchmaker's Apprentice. This time, I have my parallel guide ready to be drilled. I found the best way to do this is with a divider. Once I had drawn a nice square line across the board in the appropriate place, I simply take my divider and walk down the board, marking each interval for a place to drill. Then I just repeat the process on each 3 layers of holes. It's a flawless technique, and I can't claim it's my idea, unfortunately.

And here we have a complete set of marks for drilling. Now off to the drill press.

I'm not going to drill through on these because I don't want any blow-out on the other side.

I set my depth stop so that the brad-point bit just pokes through the other side. From here I can flip the board over and finish the drilling with blow-out being minimal.



Now I counter-sink the holes so that the guide will look nicer, but this also helps the pin insert easier; so when you're really tired and have to finish a project really fast, you won't have to deal with all that aiming to get the pin in the hole.


Now I am lining up the parallel for the mortise and tenon.

And routing...

After I clean that up, we'll have a nice mortise.

Now just to get that tenon done.

A nice fit is always...nice.


Just finishing up the end of the guide.

Finish.

Benchcrafted Barrel Nuts---You Won't Beleive This

When we first introduced our Barrel Nuts, we had some hesitation about offering such a fastener at the price point of $40 per set. We've sold a lot of Barrel Nuts-aside from those packaged in our Benchmaker's packages-but we've always wanted to make these great knock-down fasteners more affordable, so you can use them to build all sorts of shop projects, not just bench bases. They are quite versatile, if you let your mind expand beyond the leg-and-rail joint.

Just this week we've discovered a new use for our Barrel Nuts. John is using them to join his end cap to the front top section of his Split-Top Roubo. Normally this wouldn't work with the Barrel Nuts, as they aren't long enough to reach the middle of a 4" thick top. But this top is only 3" thick, so they work perfectly. And it's really easy to install them. Just drill a couple 1" holes. Watch for more details about this in an upcoming The Benchmaker's Apprentice.

Another way we're using Barrel Nuts is to assemble and strengthen a large press we're building. It will basically join a leg to a rail in this configuration. It's just another example of a different way to use this quick fastener.

So now's your chance to come up with an interesting use for Barrel Nuts, or just pick up a set or two for some good old-fashioned knock-down leg-and-rail joints.

That's because we're lowering the price from $40 per set to, get ready, $29! This is not a sale. $29 is the new regular price.

In case you're wondering if we're having these made overseas, the answer is no. And will always be no. They are the same steel nuts, zinc-plated and threaded for 8" long 1/2-13 bolts (included!). And still made right here in the Midwest, U.S. of  A.

To order, visit our ordering page.

Daed Toolworks--Big Updates

We've mentioned Daed Toolworks before. But just today Raney Nelson has posted a big update to his website. Click on the tabs at the top of the page to get lots of info on his offerings, including prices.

I'm a big fan of Raney's work. His planes at WIA last fall were simply amazing performers. Normally I'd say I'd love to have one, but as it turns out, I actually do! And I love it. If fact, I used my Daed Miter to build a backgammon board recently as part of an article I wrote for Popular Woodworking Magazine. The article is about geometric parquetry and inlay, and it should make for at least some good bathroom reading. Here's the outside of the backgammon board with my Daed Miter perched on top. No inlay you say? Well, its on the inside. You'll have to pony up for the magazine to see more. It comes out in the next issue, April.

Tail Vise vs. Planing Stop Redux

A few weeks ago I was building a couple small totes for our dining room table. I picked up some really nice vertical grain Douglas fir and thought it would be a nice change from the typical hardwoods I use. As usual I prepped the boards with machinery, then refined them with hand planes. I find this to be the most efficient and accurate way of working.

The wood was planing nicely, so I didn't bother with holding the work in the tail vise. I just used a planing stop for speed and efficiency. Here's another reason you should plane faces of, especially smaller boards using a tail vise and not just a planing stop. As I reached dead flat on the board face, the flatness of my plane's sole, along with the flatness of the wood surface created a vacuum. When I picked up the plane for the return stroke, the workpiece stuck to the plane's sole, held on for a moment, then fell off with the pull of gravity. It bounced off the edge of the bench and onto the floor, making a nice dent in the face of the relatively soft fir.

Score one for the tail vise.

The Benchmaker's Apprentice: Vise Prep & Harware Installation

Now we are getting into the real important stuff, vises! I marked out the through mortise for my parallel guide on Glide Leg Vise.

Then, I just went over to the mortiser and cut it out.

With the mortiser already set up with some guides and tape marks, I simply flipped the piece over and finished the mortise from the other side.


Then I simply marked out a hole for the bench screw to go. If you can see in the top left corner of this photo, I marked out where my tenon on the leg would go before measuring and drilling this hole. You can also see the repercussions of not marking and measuring first from the odd looking top part of the mortise there... some filling had to be done...maybe?

Now I moved on to get ready to install some bench hardware.


Now I take a square and transfer the center of the bolt all the way to the surface of the board.
Marking the hole for the barrel nut can be tricky. If the hole was just a little bit off, the barrel nut hole can be off by a lot.

I line up my ruler and eyed it so that the ruler was as close to parallel as possible. Looking at the light between the ruler and the bolt, I try to move it so the light is distributed perfectly, that tells me that it is perfectly parallel. Then just mark all the way down the ruler.

Then I marked where the end of my bolt would be.


And, finally, the center of the nut.

Now just to drill that hole.

And we have a perfect fit!

Jeff Miller's New Chairmaking Blog

For those who follow the Benchcrafted blog, you know that usually attend the Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Event at Jeff Miller's shop in Chicago. Sadly, due to some scheduling conflicts we won't be able to make it this year.

Jeff has become a good friend over that past few years, and each time we visit we look forward to trying out Jeff's latest creation.

I personally have been thinking about building some chairs since I finished a large dining table last year. So checking Jeff's new blog (http://furnituremaking.com/wordpress/) will be right at the top of my routine.

Thanks, Jeff for going to the effort in providing this great resource.

If you've never been to Jeff's shop, here's a little video we shot last year.

Garage sale time!

Well, this isn't exactly the purpose of this blog.....but watcha gonna does?

We've got a couple tech items that need to go and we know some of you are chompin' at the bit to get them :-)

Selling our minty HFS100 Video camera. Complete in the original box. $899+ new.

Extras: includes additional extended genuine Canon BP-827 battery. This is about double the capacity of the stock battery. Easily gets 3 hrs, and often close to 4 hrs of additional record time. These are a ridiculous $116+ new. This one has had very little use.

So that's a total retail $1015.00 on the low end

Will take $725.00 shipped free in CONUS via PayPal personal/gift. Add 3% for regular PayPal.

This is the same camera we've used for all our most recent videos.

The Benchmaker's Apprentice: Drawbore Pins!

Well, here we are again, drilling more holes in wood. Right here I was marking the holes for where the pins go, the drawbore pins that hold the tenons in and reinforce the hold...A LOT.



Of course, the long rails use knock-down vice hardware, so I marked a hole here for the hole where the bolt inserts.



When drilling these holes, it is a good idea to throw a piece of wood in the mortise space to reduce the chance of blow-out.




So, all of our holes are done. Now all we need are some pins to fill those holes with.



Now here's something really fun! Making pins. I took a piece of ash with the straightest grain I could find and cut it up into pieces that are about 3" long and just over 3/8" square.



Using this simple jig, I took 4-5 passes with a plane on each side.



When done, the result is this octagon shape. If it a hexagon, something's wrong.



Then it's just over to the sander to get one end sanded down to a blunt point.



I just pound it straight through the pin making tool. This is a Lie-Nielsen dowel plate.



I use the next pin to push the other pin through as to not pound the hammer into the dowel plate and ruin it.



After pounding through the plate.



The final count should be sixteen for this bench. I made one or two extra for good measure, and to be politically correct.