Gerstner inspired tool chest, a planing stop that will smash your hand.

After yesterday's hard work re sawing the boards, I was looking forward to getting in the shop today because I expected that planing the boards would be a piece of cake.

The first board did indeed live up to those expectations, no tear out and a nice looking surface emerged after a little bit of planing.

The following boards didn't cooperate to the same extent to say the least. One of the re sawn boards had grain that came from all directions and I couldn't make a nice looking surface. Most of them, were OK though, they would change direction on one third of the board which meant that I had to rotate the work a bit to get a decent surface.

The wood was pretty hard to plane, and it was a joy when I finally decided to tackle the spruce for the bottoms of the drawers.
Two of the spruce pieces were a walk in the park, but the other two had so large knots that I couldn't deal with them. I actually expected that, but I had tried to tell myself that it would be OK. I guess I lied.
This means that at some point I need to re saw another piece of a pallet side, to make two more bottoms, but I'll leave that for now.

After making the boards almost the same thickness I ripped them to the correct width. I was just able to make fronts and sides of the wood I had prepared. Once I start plowing grooves for the bottoms, I can determine what the size of the back should be.
Some of the boars I made today were only planed on one side. Partly because I didn't want to spend more time than necessary, and partly because the plan is to line all the drawers with some green felt once they are all done. I feel like it would be a wast of my energy to try to produce a perfect surface for something that will be hidden away.

My biggest problem concerning planing is that I smash my hand into the wall quite often. This is not because I get angry or trips or anything like that.
No, the problem is that my planing stop is a small piece of wood that rests against the wall in the workshop. The workbench is pretty small, so there is a limit to how long I can make the planing stop. If it is too long, I can't stand behind the plane which isn't good either. The best compromise is a board of approximately 8" length, This means that at the end of my planing stroke, when the blade leaves the board I have 4" left to stop my hand before hitting the wall.
It is especially hard when I am using the scrub plane and need to put some weight behind the plane.
I have tried to pack a bunch of shavings against the wall to act as a cushion for my hand, but sometimes the shavings fall down, and I am back where it hurts.
This all make me long for my workbench at home..

The position of the plane when the blade stops cutting.

The graduated height of the drawer stock.

Gerstner inspired tool chest, re sawing and the fall front

I have been busy re sawing stock the last couple of days, so I could have some appropriate boards for the drawers of the tool chest.
My original plan was to use some oak for the drawer fronts, and spruce for the sides,

In the meantime a golden opportunity presented itself.
One of the ships pilot ladders (a rope ladder) had broken one of the long steps, and was subsequently thrown out. These ladder steps are made out of some nice straight grained exotic wood, so I decided to see if I could reclaim them. Therefore I went dumpster diving in the common garbage dumpster that is on the ship, and below some heavy mooring lines and some old metal pails I got hold of the pilot ladder.
There were 4 narrow steps and one long step. The long step was the one that had been damaged.

So now the plan has changed from oak front / spruce sides to exotic front + sides and spruce bottoms.

I first re sawed the long step which was really easy. The smell of the wood is kind of like cheap plywood, and it is rather soft. It reminds me of the same type of wood that was used for making cigar boxes of (I have no idea what the species is). This long board will not be used for the tool chest, but for another project that will be revealed when we head back to sea.

The next task I carried out was to re saw some of the pallet sides to make material for the bottoms of the drawers. Re sawing something that is 7.5" wide is not a walk in the park when you have a cheap all round saw, but I managed to produce some thin boards that I can use after I have dressed them with a plane.

The short steps of the ladder were heavier than the long step, and they are definitely made out of some other species of wood. It doesn't smell like teak, but it seems like there is a lot of natural oil in the wood. Re sawing those boards were a lot harder than what I have tried before.
Each board measured 4.5" x  16" and it took me half an hour to re saw each one of them.

The good thing about all this hard work is that I get some exercise and I really appreciate my band saw and table saw at home.

The fall front of the chest was made last time I was on the ship, so I haven't done that one in between the re sawing.
It is made using tongue and groove construction for the rails and stiles, and the panel is inserted in a groove. I haven't attached the pins for sliding yet, nor have I made a mortise for the lock. I wan't to make the drawers first and then I can move back to the lid. Anyway, my idea for installing the lid requires it to be done pretty much when the chest has received some kind of finish, so I am not in a hurry.

Re sawing set up. This wood is hard!

The fruits of hard labour.

The front lid.

The front lid inserted in the chest.

The prize from dumpster diving.

Gerstner inspired tool chest

Last time I was on the ship I started a Gerstner inspired tool chest. I never made any blog entries about it due to our Internet connection which was incredibly bad to say the least.

The idea was to make a pallet wood build of something that would feature a Gerstner like front. I managed to restrain myself from planning too many drawers, so it is just a rather small chest with 4 drawers. Nothing too fancy.

I used some stack-able pallet sides for material. It is spruce and has a nice width to it. It also isn't too thick, so I could dress the thickness just using my scrub plane. It is a huge advantage not having to re-saw wide stock.

The frame is assembled with through dovetails in the corners, and the back is inserted in a groove.

I made the front dovetails mitered because I think it looks better that way on a piece like this. Already now I think the sides look a little clumsy, so I should probably have made the stock thinner.

The drawers will be graduated in height, and they are intended to slide on oak runners. I had made some oak ready for the runners, and tonight I planed them so they would fit in the grooves. Each runner is 10 mm high and approximately 11 mm wide (I didn't measure them). I still need to make 2 before being finished with them.
My idea is to simply nail them in place, to avoid any wood movement issues. They fit snugly in their grooves, so the nails wont take any load from the drawers.

I have actually made the front as well, but it seems that I have forgotten to take any pictures of it. The front was a bit of an experiment. Previously I have used mitered bridle joints for the frame, and then added a floating panel inside. I decided that this front would never see the same amount of beating that a lid on a normal tool chest, so a bit more delicate construction would be OK.
Consequently I made the front as a purely tongue and groove construction but still with a floating panel inside. I'll try to take some pictures tomorrow.

I still have a little bit of oak out here, so I'll see if I can mange to make the drawer fronts out of it as well. Regardless of what type of finish I will use, it should give a nice contrast to the ligher coloured spruce.

Layout lined for drawer runners. groove for the front is done.

Sides complete with all the grooves.

Dovetailing setup.

The finished case. 

The painted door in the stable.

Today it wasn't raining, so I decided to move swiftly and paint the door.

I normally like to use oil base paint, since I haven't got much faith in latex /acrylic paints.
The colour is called Swedish red. It is a Danish produced paint from Esbjerg Paints. The label of this paint is called Arsinol, it is intended for outdoor use.

The paint has got some added thickener (I think it is called thixotropic), so it doesn't drip very much. It covers really well, so all in all I find it an OK paint.

The handle is placed high up on the door, but since the holding arrangement for the latch is also embedded in the brick work, I had to stay with that position.

The outside.

The inside.

A door for the stable

Before leaving to sea last time, I started making a new door for the North side of the stable.
But I never got around to make an entry about it.
Now I am back ashore again, and I have worked on finishing the project.

Before starting the project I read up on the door making theory in "window and door making " from Lost Art Press. The descriptions were pretty close to what I figured, but the book caters a little bit more for front doors than stable doors.
I also checked "Das Zimmermannsbuch", and there were some gems too.

The door leads from the stable to the paddock, and it is very rarely seen from the outside by anyone except for the horses. And I actually doubt that they are much interested what the door looks like, as long as it is opened to let them in in the afternoon.

Ideally a door of this type is made out of tongue and groove boards, but I didn't want to buy any, so I decided that shiplapped boards would be sufficient. These I am able to make myself on the shaper.

The frame was drawbored together, and the first layer of boards were nailed to the Z shape. TO make room for a little wood movement, I placed a small piece of sheet metal between each board as I nailed them on. After nailing I removed the sheet metal again. This gives room for the boards to move a bit with each season.

The door is mounted directly onto one side of the wall, so there is no frame that it should fit into. This also means that the door won't close fully unless the wall is completely level and flat (which it isn't).
I wanted to use the old hinges, so I had to stick to the basic design of the old door. I think it is the original door, and it has held up OK since 1918, so the design can't be that bad.

After marking the outline of the door opening to the first layer of boards, I sawed out the curve and marked where I wanted my next layer to be.
A board was placed on the centre of the door, and the top layer boards were given a small moulding on the shaper. These boards are also shiplapped by the way.

I nailed on the second layer so the outside of the boards were flush with the line I had marked. Most of them were flush to the centre board as well, but a few of them had a little gap there.
My idea is that it is a lot easier to cover the centre with a moulded board, and thereby cover up any irregularities than it would be to make the centre perfect, and having to make a nice looking outside by sawing and planing etc.

After fitting all the boards, I chamfered the edges of the frame assembly. My crappy router managed to shift the bit while I was chamfering, so I had to plane all of them with a block plane to make them look almost the same.

I installed the door and finished by chiselling 2014 in Roman numerals.
Tomorrow I hope to paint it. It will be red on the outside, but I haven't really decided if it should be painted on the inside or if I should leave it natural. I am considering painting it white because it will help lighten up the stable.

First side of the front is nailed on.

The front of the door showing the small gaps next to the centre board.

The old door.

The old door form the outside.

Sideburns and Roman numerals never go out of style.

Das Zimmermannsbuch.

I purchased this book from Dictum about 2 years ago upon a recommendation from Peter Lanz.
The book is written in German which makes it a bit harder (for me at least) to read compared to an English text.
The illustrations of the book are spectacular, and there is a wealth of information regarding how buildings were made around the turn of the 19th century.
It is not you typical timberframing book, since the architecture which is covered is more Jugend or Art Noveau style than most other books I have seen.
Sadly a lot of the information in the book is obsolete, based not on how things are supposed to be done, but based more on how we choose not to decorate most buildings of today. There are several suggestions and instructions for towers to be placed on roofs for decoration purposes. I don't think a house with that kind of decoration have been built in Denmark for the last 75 years.

The book covers projects from both ends of the scale, e.g. construction of a small stand for a market and in the "slightly" larger end an example of a circus building made out of wood.

There are a lot of tables in the book concerning e.g. dimensioning of rafters and joists.

Every time I have read in the book, I am kind of saddened by the loss of decorative elements on most architecture today. But I am afraid the costs would be very high if something similar was to be made today.

The book is not one that is read cover to cover, but more used like a handbook or for inspiration. It can also be read as a document of an architectural period which is still visible in many old towns in central Europe.
I would recommend it just for the fantastic illustrations alone, but I have used it as a handbook as well during a project of constructing some stairs.


Dies ist meine erste Versuch um ein Bisschen Deutsch zu schreiben, Wenn es nicht ganz korrekt Hochdeutsch ist, dann möchte ich gern entschuldigen, aber meine letzte Lektion in Deutsch in die Schule war 1989.

Ich habe dieser Buch vor Zwei Jahren von Dictum gekauft. Es wurde mir empfohlen bei Peter Lanz

Die Abbildungen in der Buch sind ganz spektakulär und es gibt eine riese Menge von Information über wie Gebäude konstruiert war rund Jahr 1900.
Es ist nicht eine typische moderner Buch über Holzkonstruktionen weil das beschriebene Architektur mehr Jugend Stil ist, im Vergleichung mit andere Bücher die ich gelesen habe.

Leider ist ein große Teil von die Information in das Buch überflüssig, basiert auf wie man Heute wählt Gebäude nicht zu dekorieren. Es gibt mehrere Vorschlage und Instruktionen über wie man zum Beispiel Dachreiter und Türme gemacht und installiert.
Ich zweifeln darauf das es solche dekorative Elementen in die letzte 75  Jahre in Dänemark gebaut ist.

Das Buch umhandelt Projekte von der ganze Scala. Von Sodawasserhäuschen bis Zirkusgebäude, alles aus Holz gemacht.

Jede mal ich diese Buch gelesen habe wird ich ein Bisschen traurig wegen der Mangel auf dekorative Elementen auf Gebäude heute. Aber ich glaube das die Kosten für solch ähnliches Arbeiten heute wurde sehr hoch.

Dieses Buch ist nicht ein die man von Anfang bis Schluss lest, sondern mehr als ein Handbuch für Inspiration benützen.
Es kann auch wie ein Dokument über ein Architektonisches Periode, heute noch in viele Städte in Central Europa deutlich sichtbar gelesen werden.

Ich möchte das Buch allein auf Basis die phantastische Illustrationen empfehlen, aber ich habe es auch als Handbuch benützt, bei Konstruktion einen Treppe.

Stanley Bedrock 604, part 3

After the glue had dried I sawed of the majority of the excess of the small piece of oak.
I then used a file for further shaping of the damaged piece of the handle. When I was satisfied with the rough shape, I found some sand paper and spent a long time sanding the tote. I didn't want it to be possible to feel any transition between the two species of wood.
I ended up sanding to grit 280 which is the finest grit of emery cloth we have out here.
The contrast between the oak and the rosewood looks OK to me. It is an honest repair job that I haven't done anything to hide.

For some strange reason we have some varnish on board that is actual wood varnish. Sadly the lid doesn't fit very well, so most of the thinner has evaporated. The consistence is a bit like maple syrup.
I decided hat it was probably still better than electrical insulation varnish, so I added some to the knob and the tote using a small piece of soft foam that I took from a spare piece that once protected some electronic prints.
The varnish being so thick resulted in a very fast drying time and subsequent less than ideal flowing of the surface.
3 coats looks nice, and I don't mind that I can see the "brush" lines from my small piece of foam.
There are a few nibs on the front knob, but I guess they'll wear off when I start using the plane.
Otherwise I'll rub it a little using a scotch brite pad or some steel wool.

I made a new screw for the front knob using the old stud. I didn't have any taps and dies so I could make one from scratch, so I just turned a new brass head on the lathe and silver soldered it to the stud. Later when it had cooled down I sawed a slot using a hack saw.

The rear tote moved slightly even after I had tightened it. I remembered seeing a trick by Paul Sellers, where he is adding a small patch of anti skid mat (probably not the correct name) between the bottom and the tote.
Anti skid mat is something that we have plenty of out here. In Danish it is called "slingredug" meaning a tablecloth for when there is rolling and pitching.
Anyway, I cut out a small piece and put it under the rear tote - That really made a huge difference! The rear tote feels rock solid and since our anti skid mat is blue, it doesn't show too much.

Finally I sharpened the blade using some emery cloth instead of coarse grit stones, and finished of using my old fine grained oil stone (I have no idea of the grit of that one).

I made a few test swipes on a piece of spruce, and it works just fine. I am already longing to try it out at home on a decent workbench.

Conclusion to the rehab:
The most work was on the broken rear tote, but taking my time I managed to glue the parts together and to make a nice fitting patch.
Apart from that it was mainly cleaning of the parts.
It is a job that can be done at sea without too much trouble. Most planes aren't too big to fit in a suitcase. The size and weight might be an issue if you move beyond No 5's
A set of taps and dies for the threads on the plane would have helped, I might have to purchase a set if I set out to fix another plane sometime.
The plane could have been polished a little more, but I kind of like to be able to see that it is approximately 100 years old.

Stanley Bedrock 604, type 6.

Repaired rear tote.