Greenlee Butt Chisels and .. I cheated again ..

I made the dados for the shelf in my saw till cabinet this evening.  This gave me a chance to put my Greelee Butt Chisels to work and, man, they did a nice job.  

I could have easily sliced the whole 1/4" deep dado out with the 3/4" chisel, it cut so nicely.

 

Yeah! I get to be a guinea pig!

I got this email from Marc this morning - "Just a quick note to let you know that your names were selected for the second Bessey product test. Welcome to our new testers!

This is definitely a good one to get in on since we are testing clamps this time. And you know what they say about clamps! Each tester will receive multiple clamps, which are yours to keep after the testing is done.

Danette from Bessey will contact the entire group later this month and the clamps will likely go out toward the end of April."

I'm a big, big fan of Bessey clamps, so I can't wait!

Party shavings and a rabbet

Finished all the dovetail (except for the drawer).  Now onto the back rabbet and shelf dado.

I used my skewed rabbet plane and made a rabbet (a slot) for the back boards to go into.  I had some left over tongue and groove fir that I will use as the back boards to the case (see picture).

Fun, fun, fun!

Party shavings and a rabbet plane!

Chisel pull out

When I'm chiseling, sometimes the wood breaks out (looking like a pulled tooth) instead of coming out cleaning.

Here's the dovetails I've been cutting.  I'm at the last section to remove and the piece pulls out.  This leaves a nasty gap that under cuts the shoulder.

Must sharpen chisel ..

Saw Till

Even better dovetails

 

And a carcass is starting to take shape.

Training Wheels and why I love Veritas and Woodworking Guilds

Both allow me to be a better woodworker that I should be given the amount of time I've put in or talent I have.  First, the Veritas training wheels.  Bevel up planes and saw guides to name a few.  Here's the saw guide.

Dovetails in the Saw Till carcass .. better .. but

I made more progress on my saw till to day.  It was a glorious day to open the garage door and work.  Moses, the Wonder Dog, curled up in his hole in the yard and kept an eye on me.

First, I scrapped off the glue on my glued up panels.  Final size was ~9".  The wood is alder (poor man's cherry?)

   

Then I cut a a 1/32" rabbet in the tail board to set the pin board in.

Slooooww progress on the saw till

I making this with alder.  I finished milling the boards and gluing section together to get the depth I want.  Now on to clean up, rabbets for the back panel and slots for shelf.

I cheated ..

16" Tenon Saw

Today I received my 16" Bad Axe Tenon Saw.  Its a big saw and when I unwrapped it, I was really glad I didn't order the larger saw because it has a fair amount of weight to it. 

Just so you know, I'm 5' 6" and I don't have small hands.  The saw felt good in my hands but its heavier than any saw I own.  I'm also a very reluctant and very new sawyer.  My table saw still does, and probably always will, scare the begesus out of me.  And I will probably never own a big collection of hand saws.

Deadly dovetails ..

 Mill the board, cut it in half and label pins and tails.

 Cut a shallow rabbet on the inside of the tail board to accept the pin piece later.

Dear Mr. Shannon, I need a tool cabinet

 I obviously need a cabinet for my hand tools.  To the left is my hand plane storage.

And to the right is my chisel rack.

Please, Mr. Shannon, can I have a tool cabinet?
: )

Pacific Northwest Trees

The Pacific NW has (or had) some serious wood.  I've heard stories, and believe it, that the trees were so thick you couldn't walk between them.