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Well I was assigned the duty of Wedding Cross Maker, our oldest girl is tying the knot with her fiance on October 1st. And being the woodworker of the two clans, of course folks would be expecting me to step up! It's a fun project, basic, simple, I'll sand to 800 then 1200 abralon, and a wipe on finish, the cross will have a base, and they are going to wrap a garland of flowers over half the cross, it'll be beautiful. Thanks for looking!  

I'm making an inside out cat blocking window box for the wife so she can keep things on the window sill without Velcro the cat knocking everything down to the floor. I got to the part about hinges and decided I didn't want store bought hinges. I started scratching my head and making a few mental notes then proceeded to make a prototype to see if I was on the right track or not. The hinges need 90° of travel.   Prototype #2 was a success.   Trying to figure out how to drill the hinge holes without buying some fancy jig I came up with this. A piece of aluminum angle with sharp inside corner and a piece of 1/2" square aluminum with a hole down the center (I cheated and drilled the hole on my lathe).   In position for drilling minus the clamp to hold the jig in place. I drilled this end first to a depth of 3 X the width of the pin then put the two parts together and drilled the center pin.   JT

Something I have wanted to try since I saw it done in Ozark village in Arkansas is coloring copper with torch. I tried propane but not hot enough. Got this acetylene torch from a turners estate the club helped clean up.    found several videos but no substitute for practice. It is not a matter of holding the torch in one spot but kinda like flashing it to get color. Different colors come from various temperatures. A friend got some 28G copper and gave me some. As we are thinking inserts for box tops as another use.    I turned a plate and cut a grove to place the copper. Colored the grove black. Cutting the copper round on outside was easy but used sander to create inside curves. Had to trim each piece as inserted to get close joints. Used drop of CA to hold in place.Now the last thing will be to get casting resin to seal this in  

 

Quote Designed and built especially for Workbench readers, keeping in mind those of you who will receive a portable or "component" stereo set as a Christmas gift (and for those who already have one), this project will transform that unit into a handsome console Home Entertainment Center and  valued piece of furniture. Source: Workbench Magazine Sept-Oct 1967  

I set it to an inch deep and drilled multiple holes in poplar, nice and clean, and the same depth, it just takes a little practice to see when it hits, because you really can't feel it hit.

well here is the shop, daughter #2 showed me how, my my its so simple, lol, hope i don't forget how. pic one is from south side, you can see the re  located chop saw, gonna build base cabinets in length of about 10 ft and a few uppers above. #2 is from in front of lathes, you can see the baker racks we use for parts and drying racks. also above the clean room (8x20) you can see the mezanine where i store a lot of exotic lumber.  #3, is a shot from table saw to rear door, orange cabinet holds a mini mill, and to the left you can hardly see is a grill covering a metal lathe, ( i dable making old, old gun parts) #4 corner where the band saws, drill presses, you can see a groove jig , this one i got right, worked out. #5  shot from by the orange cabinet  jointer, 15 inch planer and table sw in pictures #6 see old router table attached to a mech box, its gonna go away later this week, and general work space,  #7  The new router able, hope to have up and running later this week   now that i know how to post pics, i'll throw some up once in a while rj in az  

On February 16, 23-year-old U.S. Army Lieutenant Cameron Kerr of Stow, Ohio ran to help an Afghan National Army soldier who had just stepped on a small IED (improvised explosive device). On his way, he trod on a larger IED, which exploded on impact.
The Afghan soldier sustained a broken foot, but Kerr was more severely wounded, resulting in amputation of his left foot and lower leg, and severe lacerations and burns to his left arm. Four days later, he was recovering at the U.S. Army's Walter Reed Medical Center near Washington, D.C.
Seen here Lt. Kerr is holding a Patriot Woodworker challenge coin display.

Select hand tools from the archives, current projects, and into the future.

Quote Actually a planter stand for use with tiny clay pots, this miniature table has a rough hewn colonial feeling. if you wish to use larger pots it would not be difficult to enlarge the scale of the drawing. Source: Workbench Magazine Sept-Oct 1967  

I heard awhile back that this staple of America was going to be discontinued as early as last year, but I also read articles that it was an urban myth, and the discontinuation only effects some retailers, but still can be found virtually anywhere in the US. Anyone have any insight on this? Granted, even if it were discontinued, there are many alternatives out there, for specific uses and purposes, but it would be sad if this legendary wax was discontinued, what would our young soldiers, sailor's and airmen use for buffing the barracks floors during those long CQ hours! EDIT: This topic borrowed from a Facebook group, Unplugged Woodworker's.  

Over the past several weeks I have been slowly working on a new workbench for hand tool woodworking. 

Over the past several weeks I have been slowly working on a new workbench for hand tool woodworking.  This is a learning project for me and I am learning a lot.  At the heart of things I am finding that I really enjoy hand tool woodworking. I am also finding out that I am not particularly good at it which doesn’t surprise me much as I have never really dedicated any time to it or learned the proper ways to do things with hand tools.  My saw skills definitely need work as I have never done anything with hand saws but rough carpentry and this is a whole new ball of wax.   That said, progress is being made and I was able to dry fit the left and right leg assemblies today.  They are square and the hand cut mortises and tenons are well fit for the most part.  I discovered that i NEED a shoulder plane to really finish these up properly.  That said, the little gaps from my lousy saw skills won’t impact the functionality of this workbench in the slightest. Especially after everything is drawbored, pinned, and glued in place. As I work my way through this build I will continue to post updates on the overall progress.  

I thought I would share a few progress pics.   Just need to add glue and a few more hundred items to complete.  Thanks for looking.  Danl

I thought I would share a few progress pics.   Just need to add glue and a few more hundred items to complete.  Thanks for looking.  Danl   This is a sample for the final finish schedule.  I will be using a modified Jeff Jewitt receipt.  Stain with TransTint Medium Brown diluted at 1 oz dye to 1 qt. water Apply one coat Zinssar Bulls eye sanding sealer.   Let dry and scuff sand with 320 grit Apply General Finishes Antique Walnut Gel Stain. Wipe clean and let dry overnight. Apply 2 or 3 coats Sherwin Williams Kem Aqua Clear (WB lacquer)      Top of the night stand after it was drum sanded.  Still in rough dimn.   Just a few rails with single and double tenons.  I have (52) mortises and tenons.  Twelve are double tenons.     Floor subassembly - dry fit       Side subassembly   Side subassembly looking inside/outside   Door subassembly      

While teaching I would make samples of joinery I thought up to be a reference set to show my students.  Many complex joint solutions never found a customer, although they were usually inspired by a challenging past project done by students. This is a tale of one sample and one student who appreciated seeing the sample.   Summer shop classes often requested my help for CNC work that was beyond the capability or the instructor. One such day I was in the shop to help one student when I was asked by another (Abby D.) if I could show her how make a form for S shaped laminations.  I asked to see her design drawings to get a better idea of what she needed.   Her intent was to stack three S-shaped laminated curved to make a 3-legged end table. As my personal design process strives for simplicity I could see how a sample joint I made could greatly simplify her project.  Simple curves rather than stacked S shapes joined in the center the formwork was simpler and the result almost identical to her design drawings.  A single bolt through the center holds all 6 curve sections together.  The cables at the top lock the geometry.  I cut the joint end by clamping each curve over the end of the CNC.  The sample I showed her and the final project:

Ol knuckle head sanding on a New Lebanon Shaker Rocking Chair. I built this chair from Curly Maple, it turned out very nice.

Approximately 10" x 7" x 2". Wipe-on Ploy. Turned exclusively with Easy Wood Tools.

Working on a vase for my wife. I started with a piece of cherry 6” by 6” by 12” long. I think I will need to build a steady rest to hollow it.

This is a scanned document of the now defunct Workbench Magazine of this era. Permission was granted by the new Workbench Publication for The Patriot Woodworker community to copy and use the old Workbench Magazine at our pleasure, and for free distribution and re-use.This is a nice little quick project, with a timeless design that still holds today, modernism is seen in these simple candle holders, very cool indeed.

I know I haven't been around much lately.  Family matters and a few shows have realaly kept me busy.  Yes, Pop's Shop is still around and kicking.
That being said, I just wanted to share with y'all my labor of love for my wife to celebrate our 58 years together.

I know I haven't been around much lately.  Family matters and a few shows have realaly kept me busy.  Yes, Pop's Shop is still around and kicking. That being said, I just wanted to share with y'all my labor of love for my wife to celebrate our 58 years together. The project is called a Mandala Flower.  5 layers, over 1560 inside cuts, size is 14" x 14", didn't keep track of time (didn't want to on this tpe of project - it would probably scre the sh** out of me) Anyhow, here it is: Overall picture and a close up of part of it.  

One of the first things I spent money on after high school was a Marlin 57M. Nice walnut stock, but I found it a little too slippery for my likes. Several years later, I decided to do something about it. Nothing fancy, but it greatly improved the grip.