1000 Methods of Work - Tips From Readers, Stolarstwo, STOLARSTWO
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Finish Samples
Every woodworker and wood finisher has experienced the
frustration of trying to describe the peculiar merits of a par-
ticular finish to his customers or to his fellow craftsmen.
Words fail because the essence of a fine finish is sensory—one
appreciates it through the fingertips and the eyes. My answer
is a collection of finish samples, which I have been developing
and refining for the past three years. Constant questions from
my refinishing students and patrons forced me to develop it
as a tangible answer; my system should work equally well for
the amateur craftsman or the professional.
Start with 40 or more pieces of wood about 1/2 by 4-1/2 by
9 inches, a convenient size for handling and storage, yet large
enough to display the finish. Mahogany is a suitable wood
because it is so often encountered in old furniture that needs
refinishing. My collection includes both plain-sawed and
quarter-sawed wood, and I keep a piece of raw wood as a
control. It's a good idea to bleach a couple of pieces too; they
will come in handy later on.
All the pieces should be carefully sanded at the same time,
following your usual techniques, to ensure uniformity. I use
garnet paper and start with 100 grit until all the milling
marks are gone, then I sand with 150 grit before filling. I
apply paste wood filler to one face, edge and end of the
sample to illustrate the contrasts that will appear in the
finished piece, and then sand to 280 grit. When all the wood
is prepared, it is ready to receive the finishes you most often
work with. The samples can be set aside and worked up one at
a time, or you can do intensive work to build up a nucleus of
the more common finishes and add more, or play with
variables, later on.
The possible variables include finishes on raw woods,
finishes over various sealers, stains, fillers and finishes over
other finishes. Additives in finish materials, such as driers and
stains, produce interesting results. Several blocks of wood, all
finished with the same material and then rubbed out with
abrasive flours to show the development of a polished surface,
say more than words ever could. Finally, finish samples can be
subjected to stresses such as alcohol, chemicals, water and
burns to test your efforts.
It takes many hours to produce a fine set of finished
specimens, but the extended exercise is worth the effort. It
leads to conformity in each finished product and makes the
finisher familiar with a wide range of materials and their
application. The result is a unique educational tool that can
be shared with others and always expanded. It will last
forever, and it saves a lot of talking.
—
David Adamusko, Alexandria, Va.
Sliding Dovetail Saw
English Plane
There are thousands of old Stanley wood-bottom planes to
be had at antique shows, flea markets and garage
sales—usually for under $10. With a little work, most of these
can be put back into service. I usually cut 1/4 in. from the
bottom of the plane, then epoxy a new sole of lignum vitae or
rosewood in place, and then recut the mouth.
To make a sliding dovetail saw you will need a piece of
hardwood (maple, beech or fruitwood) 1 x 5-1/2 x 13 in. and
two flat-head 3/16 x 1-in. bolts with tee-nuts. The blade can
be an old band saw or bow saw blade. It should have 10
points to the inch, although 8 will do. I use a ripsaw blade,
which I find cuts better and faster than a crosscut. The slots
allow the blade to be set to the desired depth.
Last year I saw a beautiful English plane that was not
available here, so I made one like it. The heart of the plane is
a modified Bailey frog mechanism, which provides the
standard metal plane adjusting features. The frog could be
removed from an old metal plane or purchased as a
replacement part. It was modified by filing away the two
—
Tage Frid
tongues at the base, then mounted in
the wooden body
(Fine Woodworking,
Winter 1975) by setting two threaded
inserts for bolts.
accommodate lengths of 3/4-in. pipe,
standing vertically, each fitted with
extension clamps of the Sears variety.
Two or more clamps may thus be
mounted in conjunction with cross
members for clamping frames, boxes,
chests or chairs in gluing position. Four
or more clamps form a light-duty
veneer press against the bench top.
on the tail vise, thereby holding long
pieces of wood on the bench.
—
Harold F. Lathrop, Milan, Ill.
Vee-Block for Resawing
I have had only mixed results using a
rip fence on a band saw for resawing
wood. Unless the blade teeth are
perfectly set and sharpened, the blade
tends to drift even though the board is
firmly held against the fence. This
Depending on the thickness of the
sole, it might be necessary to modify
the cap iron by retapping the screw hole
and adding a second square hole for the
depth-adjusting lever. I wanted the
plane to be as colorful as possible so I
used lignum vitae and walnut for the
sole, purple heart for the sides, rose-
wood for the front and beech for the
handle.
The advantage of this gluing method
is that the work is always held true and
square because the bench is a flat
reference surface.
The holes for the pipe clamps are
spaced about 8 in. apart. A crosspiece
between two clamps may be used as a
bench stop in conjunction with the stop
—Allen Weiss, Queens, N. Y.
Bench-Top Clamps
drifting can cause the wood to bind and
will leave a wavy surface.
The blade's tendency to drift can be
sidestepped by using a vee-edged block
My bench has two rows of holes along
the front and back edges. These
attached to the band saw table, as in
the drawing. The block is located so
that its rounded point is even with the
toothed edge of the blade, and at the
desired thickness of board from the
blade. The block must be carefully
made so that the radius at the vee is
square to the face of the blade.
To use this approach the board to be
resawed is scribed along its edge at the
desired thickness. The vee-block pro-
vides a guide to hold the side of the
board parallel to the blade. The board
is fed into the blade with the operator
free to swing the unsawed end to
counter the drift. The surface will still
need to be planed before it is of
furniture quality, but this setup is
much easier, faster and more accurate
than using a rip fence.
—
M. G. Rekoff Jr., Minneapolis, Minn.
Clamping Splined Miters
scrap into strips and glue it directly to
the carcase on the outside of each joint.
Spread glue lightly on the scrap strips,
not on the carcase itself. Try to use
scrap with the grain running crosswise
as it will be easier to remove.
This creates two parallel surfaces to
apply clamping pressure directly across
Ball Plane
I was recently asked to make a
double-curved "ball plane" with
which to smooth a laminated cherry
sphere five feet in diameter.
The wooden sole of the plane is
curved throughout its length and
width, combining the traditional sole
design of the wheelwright's compass
plane and the joiner's hollow molding
plane. I followed the plane-making
methods set out in your first issue to
make the basic plane, which is 10 in.
long, by 2-7/8 in. wide and high. The
blade angle is 47 degrees and the iron is
a 51-mm (2-in.) "Record" tungsten-
vanadium iron and cap set.
After making the block, a template
was used to trace a section of a five-foot
diameter circle on the sole. The sole was
then chiseled to within 1/16 in. of true,
and a flat scraper was used to finally
reach the true line. This operation
formed the curve throughout the sole's
length. The plane bottom was scraped
slightly hollow so it would function like
a Japanese smoothing plane, hitting
the work at three points only: front,
the joint. No large bar clamps, which
usually bow the carcase and distort the
joint, will be needed. The joints may
be assembled one at a time or all at
once, depending on the size and
geometry of the work.
After assembly the scrap can be
chiseled and planed away and any glue
residue scraped and sanded off. Most
plies are so weak when cut into narrow
strips that a sharp hammer blow will
break the waste, leaving only a few
shreds of face veneer to clean away from
the work.
The splined miter, an excellent joint
for plywood carcases, can be difficult to
glue up. One way is to save the scrap
when the miters are sawed, and use it
for clamping blocks. Cut the mitered
—John Kelsey
back and cutting iron. This helped level
the ball in every direction. A spoke-
shave and another scraper, ground and
shaped to the same 5-ft. arc, were used
to curve the sole across its width.
The iron was then roughly ground to
the same curved line and finally
brought to the exact curve with a
sequence of increasingly fine sharpen-
ing slips.
I used white beech for the sole and
the main part of the block, oak for the
top plate and wedge, walnut for the
front horn and cherry for the rear palm
handle. The handles were shaped to fit
the hand whether pulling or pushing.
The entire plane weighs only two
pounds, an important consideration
since many days were spent bringing
the sphere to within 1/4 in. of a five-
foot diameter.
Eduardo A. Rumayor, Bronx, N. Y.
ADDENDA, ERRATA, ETC.
O n th e
workbench drawings
i n th e fal l
issue, in Piece 11 (p. 45) the hole for
the benc h screw shoul d be 1-3/ 4 inche s
up from the bottom , not the 2 inche s
indicated . And the missin g type on
Piece 10 (p. 43) shoul d read 1-3/ 4
inches... . The reversin g third drum for
th e
strok e sande r
in th e summe r issu e is
no longe r availabl e as a stoc k item .
Georg e Mooradia n say s he'l l mak e
some up if he gets enoug h orders .
Otherwise , he recommend s his off-the -
shelf Mode l 1000 specia l extende d shaft
mandre l a s a substitute... .
W
e
invite
our readers to submit item s
fo r ou r ne w
Method s of Wor k section , as well as
article s and book reviews . But on the
articles , try the idea out on us first. Our
paymen t upon publicatio n is $100 per
magazin e page , prorated , wit h a
minimu m o f $2 5 pe r item . . . .
Art
Credits:
Drawing s by Imag e Area... .
Picture credits:
28 , 29 , Bruc e Mervine ;
60, 61 Charle s Hall, Rodne y Vowell .
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