Master Bedroom French Door

Finally finished the French Door that I built for the master bedroom. The rails, stiles and panels are all from select pine.

Finished Cabinet Drawers

Finally finished the drawers for my tool cabinet. The drawer fronts are cherry - no stain - just tung oil. The drawer runners are cherry as well. the drawer sides are poplar.

Sheet Goods Rack

Freshly stocked with plywood and african mahogany boards ready for projects. A 200 psi 17 gal compressor is in the background along with a wall mounted back.

Left Back Corner

The left corner has the planer - a Ridgid 4330, A Delta US made bandsaw - yes US made. Towards the back is rolling clamp rack (home made) and it contains a lot of clamps. To the right is a 1.5 hp dust collector. Against the wall are shelves for screws, router bits and power hand tools.

Assembly Table

A simple assembly table has three sections. Two sections are MDF. The middle section removes to allow through cuts on sheet goods and lumber. The third section a double stack of baltic birch with the edges outfitted with Kreg Klamp tracks for lining up face frames for pocket screw installation.

Workbench

This bench is very well worn but it has done it somewhat gracefully. The whole bench weighs about 300 pounds with plenty of storage. Construction is hard maple.

The Centerpiece of the Shop

The table saw has a home made splitter. Still waiting for the ones made by Shark Guard. The fence has attached to it a sacrificial wood fence attached via a couple of special clamps from Rockler. It can't really be seen well but the router table forms the right hand extension. The miter gage is an Incra V27. I also use an Incra sled but the V27 is the handier of the two.

Shop's Right Back Corner

On the wall are a few shelves built for table saw supplies (has a variety of zero clearance inserts, spare saw blades, dado blade stack, and a variety of push blocks). There is a box just for sandpaper. The drill press station has an upgraded drill press table with its own fence. Next to it is the mortising jig. The mini lathe is in the corner next to the lumber rack. The jointer is in the foreground.

Inside the Tool Cabinet

There is room for more tools, a lot more tools. I just don't have that many hand tools. The jack plane is in the top shelf. The cubbies contain my most used stuff. A Bailey smoothing plane, Bailey block plane and a Lie Nielsen rabbet block plane, a couple of rosewood marking gages. The squares are on the left inside door. I still have a set of engineers squares left to hang. On the right outside door is a set of Marples and a set of Two Cherries western style chisels. On the left outside door is a small set of Sorby turning chisels. The bottom shelves are supposed to have a set of six dovetail drawers but those are still under construction.

New Hand Tool Cabinet

I just finished this tool cabinet (well almost) for my hand tools. It is patterned after the article in Fine Woodworking. This photo shows the tool storage in the back of the cabinet between the french cleats. The other side contains two more carpenter's squares plus a hook for my leather apron. The joinery for the main case uses box joints with full length piano hinges for the doors.

Mudroom Clothes Hanger

I made a clothes hanger above the washer and dryer. The ends are mahogany. The shelf is birch plywood with mahogany strips. This matches the mahogany vanity I put in a few weeks ago.

Jim Thompsons Cabinet Doors

These are cabinet doors I made for James Thompson. Rails and stiles are made from poplar. It is a shaker style.

Mud Room Sink Cabinet

This is the final product - mahogany sink cabinet

Mud Room Sink Cabinet

Highlighting some of the joinery in this cabinet. The fronts are mahogany and the drawer sides are maple. Makes for a nice contrast.

Fine Woodworking Chisel Review

The folks at Fine Woodworking Magazine have done tests to evaluate the merits of 17 high end chisel sets. The URL for the review is:

http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/ToolGuide/ToolGuidePDF.aspx?id=2616

Quoting the summary published in the above URL: "The range of chisel prices prompted Rex Alexander to review 17 high-end and low-end models, including Japanese chisels. He limited his evaluation to 1/2-in bench chisels, also called bevel chisels or cabinetmaker’s chisels, and did controlled and uncontrolled testing at his bench and at a lab to gauge how well they held an edge with repeated pounding. He talks about how they are made, discusses different types of handle fittings (such as socket and tang chisels), and explains differences between hand- and machine-forged steel. Alexander tested the chisels on white oak, curly maple, and cedar, and he reports on which tools performed best. The results may surprise you."

What I found from this review is that the most expensive chisel does not necessarily yield the best results as shown by the test. The expensive laminated steel Japanese chisels did well but the English steel chisels did not rate as highly on the toughness test. The two that stood out in my opinion were Two Cherries and Hirsch, a pair of German chisels made in Remscheid since 1858 which held its edge and were ranked 4th and 5th, I believe, just below the Japanese chisels at about half the price as the Japanese counterparts. Interestingly, also, Lie Nielsen's chisels and its cryogenically treated steel was not part of the test.

New Doors Hung

Chess Board for my Dad

This is a combination of Spanish cedar and maple

Maple Pull Out Shelf

This was made for Mother's Day 2008. It features half blind dovetail joinery.

Shop Built Clamp Stand

This is a clamp stand I constructed out of 2x4's. It has a top tray that holds small clamps.

Improved Table Saw Arrangement

The table saw now has a router table extension that doubles as a table saw extension. Also I can use the table saw fence on the router.

Lathe Stand

Finally got a stand for my lathe.

Jon's 2008 Recital

Pantry Door - Finally Hung

The first swinging door to be hung is the pantry door for a perfect fit.

Pantry construction

Shoe-horning all those cabinets into the walk in pantry ended up being a real chore. Jonathan was able to squeeze his head through the gap that goes between the timbers in order to staple the back panel on.

New Additions - Mortiser and Drill Press

I call these new additions although they were purchased some time last year. That is a shop built drill press table .

Pantry finally finished

The walk in pantry is now finally complete. The frame and drawers are made from maple.

Jonathan Jacala Recital

Jonathan plays Military Polonaise by Frederic Chopin. This is the recital of Lori McLellan's class of 2008 - Taylors SC

Logo Design

Stairwork

Here is the stairwork completed so far. The balusters are painted poplar. The treads, rails and newell posts are from oak. The newell posts are ebony inlaid in the traditional "Craftsman" style.

My Shop

My shop as it exists right now is in my basement which later will be converted to living space. This means that my shop will have to relocate someplace else.

Door Project

This is a door that I constructed for a customer in Simpsonville SC. The arch doors are made from poplar and the arched jambs are made of pine. The finish is cherry gel stain by Minwax and the clearcoat is water borne polyurethane sprayed with an HVLP conversion gun. It has three coats of clear. The room was converted to an office and that is why she needed a set of doors.