"Fingered"

As for the shop...

"Abandon all hope, ye who enter here"    So, I crosscut a few chunks of cherry this morning.  The longer sides were stacked together and jointed

When a board is this short, you don't need a #7 jointer plane....then the got trimmed on the end..grain..

Stanley #60-1/2 Cordovan, no less.  Ok, I also had the end pieces trimmed up this same way, stacked the mess togther, for now

And that should do it for the planes, for now.   Laid out the fingers, with a high tech gauge

This is also the chisel I will be chopping with.   Start at one end, and walk to the over end.    Here, I am laying out both pieces at one end,  I'll saw and chop this end, then repeat for the other ends. Saw?

Just a backsaw....helps to wax the blade every now and then, too.    Got all the ends of these sides sawn..

I took the time now, to mark not only the "Top" but marked out the ends as #1 through #4 on the insides.    Time to get to chopping..

I chop about halfway through..

Flip the board over and complete the fingers.  Repeat until I have both sides done (take note of that time stamp)

And a look at the toys in use.   I set one side aside for now, need to mark and chop the end piece, and get a test fit..

Needs some fine tuning.   Lunch break going on right now.   Later I wander back down and chop the other end....

But, I think this will do for one morning's work?   Need to haul the Stanley #45 down to the shop later.    Need to glue up a panel or two, cherry panel for the top...pine for a bottom.   Lid details are still being worked out...

Stay tuned, this might get complicated......

Very nice work - I will be waiting for further updates

And the excitement continues to build!!

 

Nice work!

Awe shucks, "fingered", so you went with my suggestion? I know Steve, others suggested it too, but I feel special if just for a second.

I love your motivation Steve, you have a small space, you have mostly hand tools, you wing it, you don't look for plans, you do what you know, it's rustic much of the time, or a better description is hand made, and you keep on it till it's finished. You are a woodworker my friend!

Warning:  those little squares I pop out when chopping the waste?   They tend to fly right back at me.....had a few bounce off my glasses.

 

Trying to get the "Motivator" working.....so I can return to the shop.   Need to haul a couple Mountain Dews, and the Stanley #45 down those stairs.  And anything else I might have forgot....senior moments?

 

Might be a bit early to haul the brand new glue bottle along?

 Nice work Steve. I have to say, not to take away from you project but I really like your workbench. It shows a lot of character .

Not too bad for just over 2 years old?

 

Ok, before all the Tornado warnings and such......now have a creek running through the shop.

Got a little more done..

Corner #3 .    Got #4 done soon after, and clamped the entire mess together, for now..

Just a dry fit, for now.   Laid out for a glue up, and got it into the clamps...

Mainly concerned about the left end being good.  The right end has a split.  Will let this sit over night.   Time to set up a fancy tool..

Yeah, yeah, wrong label, this plane came from Roxton Pond Que. Canada.    Laid out the parts, and retracted the spurs

1/4" cutter on-board.  Added a sliding section..

Which also needed it's spur retracted.  Next a fence..

Set so a 1/4" wide groove is 1/4" from the edge of a board.  Gave the plane a test drive in some poplar scrap..

Took a few tries, the fence on these has to be TIGHT!   Or it will slide around.   Next, I needed a "jig" to hold those thin boards in place, while I run the 45 along..

Three bits of scrap, and a few screws.   Tested it with a cut-off from the sides..

I can set a board in under the top piece, and add a wedge to the other end.  Black & white scrap was a bit long, backsaw trimmed it flush with the side of the bench. 

That will do for today.    Have a creek running across the floor of the shop right now.   Tornado warnings have stopped.   I guess this will wait until tomorrow.   Suppertime, anyway...

KUDOS!!

I got a 45 on ebay and had to get the long rods and a nother box of cutters. Tell me why do they have the round knob which is threaded and not a thru screw. Nice tool otherwise.

 

Good looking project. your speed shows you do a lot of this.

Depends on what year the 45 was made.   Mine has the through bolt, and has that  SW inside a heart.....with Made in Can.  

 

 

Made a bit of use of the 45 today..

Had to keep an eye on where the skate starts.    Rubbbed things down with a candle to make it slide a bit better...

IF you don't keep the fence tight to the work, plane will wander off to the side.   About like pushing a Stanley #78.   Light cuts seem to do fine....

That looks a bit better.   Got all four sides grooved today.. and stacked the pieces together..

Which means I need a pine floor for the box..

Millers Falls No.14 to joint the glue joint's edges.....then some glue and clamps..

Will need some clean up, tomorrow, when it comes out of the clamps.   Trimmed and planed flat, cut to size, and a rebate cut all around.   Now, about a lid for this box?

Couple of crosscuts produce this mess.  Needed thing s get skinny, so some resaw work

Before I went too far, I wanted one good straight edge on each piece.  I marked from the straight edge in about 1-1/2", much easier to resaw smaller parts.

 

Then I could saw off the waste.   Turn the piece up on the jointed edge, and resaw these things to almost 1/2"   Still had a wave to them...

Soo, how to get rid of the nasty stuff?  And get it all the same thickness....I don't have a power planer, so

I do have a cambered Jack plane.  Stanley #5c.   Set each part so just a 1/2" is below the jaws, and scrub away until almost flat, then work on the flat part...

Stanley #4, Type 13 seemed to do alright.   On one of the parts, tried a different scrub plane...

Hungry little beasty.  Windsor #33 converted to a scrub plane.  No messing around.  Finally got all four the same thickness, and took a nice long break, made a mess, too...

Maybe these will soak up that wet floor?   Hmm, smells like a fresh baked Cherry pie...And, yes, that is the way my leg vise works.    Maybe tomorrow, I can get something done?

Very nice work! Thanks for sharing

Being Monday and all this nice weather outside..I played hookie from the shop today...one of the joys of being Retired?

 

This will only be the third box I have have done with finger joints.     Before that, I seemed to be on a dovetail kick...

For either a Stanley No. 888 clone of a tool box, and a tool tote...

Maybe a side view?

A little fancier than Underhill carries around....I don't like corners that are nailed together....This one does have a few nails, though.  

Dovetails might be a bit much for the simpler boxes, so finger joints were tried out.   Handcut dovetails..or handcut finger joints.....been awhile since I even needed the electric router. 

Great work, Steve. I enjoyed the pictorial essay a lot. Thanks for posting them.

Any truth to the rumor that Igor found a job above ground?

You made those angled dovetails look so easy!

Igor  more or less told what I could do with that mop.....

 

That Brown Bat has also left.......related?  Even Shop Cat won't go down there.....

 

Dovetails just take a bit of practice, is all.     And, IF you don't do them for awhile, you have to practice all over again.   

you do some awesome work Steve...

Beautiful...has the warmth of "labor of love"...

 

...love that Stanley 45...looks alien a bit...one of these days...(sigh)

That is "tote" is the sign of a craftsman. Great Job