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I get Tom Fidgen's Newsletter in my inbox and I always look forward to it. Tom is a hand made by hand tool guy, long story short, great stuff, beautiful work, I have been following him for along time. In the most recent newsletter he is advertising his new Two Handled Rasps, these are beautiful tools, I want them, I gotta have them, don't know how yet, but some day I'll have them in my shop. These tools just make sense, with their two handles, stitched rasp, these are made for accurate stock removal. I have no horse in the game here, I just love beautiful tools is all. Here they are. Just thought I'd share them.

Yesterday I managed to extract myself from the busy life of Honey Do's and kids daily events and get a little time in the shop with our Claro Rocker. A week ago when I started laying out the arms ontop of the arm pads that are basically the top of the front legs, I realized I made a major mistake in my calculations for the arm rests to meet up at the proper height to the joint at the rear leg/backrest area. I was a full 1/4" too low, the joinery was not going to meet up where it was supposed to by my previously laid out joints. After much thinking and tinkering with ideas and layouts, I finally came to the conclusion that I'll simply increase the height of the arm rest by adding a 1/4" block to raise up the arm rest. Since this is walnut, the newly added pad will be un-noticeable. In some regards these rockers are un-forgiving in errors, but in many regards these rockers are also very forgiving in the sense that this is in essence a sculpted work, so errors and mis-steps often times can be carved, shaped, and filed away or to blend, and in this case, it is a forgiving error/ Images below are not exciting, they simply show my modified pad glued up to the top of the front leg pad to increase the height of the arm rest. First image shows my pad glued up and secured with my quick grips just to get them in place. One thing I like to do is save sawn cut-outs from a piece I shape so we can use them as clamping cauls, you'll notice the blocks at the bottom of the shaped arm pad, they were initially cut out for the the preliminary shaping of the arm rest block, I held on to them to use as I clamp up the arm rest to the block, but I was also able to use them in this fix for clamping cauls. Next images show the clamps all in place on both arm rests pads. Unrelated to the arm rest FUBAR, are more images showing the preliminary shaping of the front leg seat joints. I rough and blend the joints in with a 4.5" right angle grinder. But first I need to secure the chair to my bench. Next I take to grinding the general shape of the joint. As it takes shape I'll then finish it up with a combination of my ROS and some files. Image below shows the joint blended and formed, no gaps in the glue joint either, this is a successful chair joint. To reach the other side of the joint, I need to position the chair on the floor, and brace it with my legs and feet, and work on the joint from a comfortable height as I sit. The joint is not finished, but it's coming along. I use the same technique as I did with the other side of the joint in images above. Thanks for following along, now contrary to popular propositions and laws being formed and voted on, I feel these are some "joints" we can all get behind!

Good morning, When you make those gorgeous Malloof rockers do you use Microplanes and/or Japanese Shinto Rasps? If so, do you have a favorite supplier?