Recent project with Pictures

[Vince Sandy]

When my wife's grandmother moved into a condo several years ago she gave my wife her old foot-pedal sewing machine. It sits on display in our home. Over the past several years we have seen quite a few of these machines at antique shops, usually tagged at $100.00 or more. We have also noticed some of these sewing machine cast iron stands that were converted into tables. Some had glass tops, some marble, and a few wood. We saw one that had a cherry drop-leaf top that was really attractive. My wife recently found a base and asked me to make a top for it. She wanted something simple and made of wood; a request that I thought I could handle! I had some walnut in the garage so that is what I used.

The top and rails are all from one board. The rails are joined to the corner pieces with biscuits. I cut the top to shape with the bandsaw, used a router to shape the edge, and smoothed the top with hand planes. The old Stanley No. 4 was having a bit of a problem with the slightly figured grain, so I switched to an old Stanley 4 1/2 with a Hock iron. That did the trick. The top is finished with a couple of coats of Minwax wipe-on poly.

It was a quick and simple project but I am pleased with the results. This walnut has some figure to it and the wipe-on poly seemed to be a good choice for highlighting the grain and offering good durability. I'm not good with the camera but I hope you can see the beauty of the walnut.

Thanks for looking, Vince

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Vince.....I like the design and craftsmanship! Finish looks great!

[Jim Becker]

Vince, that top turned out wonderfully, especially with the surface you created with the planes. I'm really impressed with the "clarity" of the grain that's been cut smooth that way. Nice job!

[Jack Hogoboom]

Vince,

Beautiful job. I love the grain. How did you attach everything to the iron base?

Jack

[Larry Crim]

looks real nice vince, like the finishGood Job

[Greg Daves]

Wow! is that some beautiful walnut. I agree with Jim, the clarity from your handwork really is impressive.

GD

[Vince Sandy]

Thanks for the comments guys.

Jack, the top is not attached to the iron base. It is just sitting (rather snuggly) on top of the iron. There are two iron cross members, each with a hole at both ends. I had planned to drill a hole in the center of each rail, enlarge the existing holes (to allow for wood movement) and use six screws to hold it in place. After placing the top over the base I realized its probably not necessary. The top can be easily lifted off if we need to move the piece around.

I'll also add that I am really impressed with the Minwax wipe-on poly. It is so easy to apply and IMHO looks better than the brush-on poly. I was looking for an easy-to-apply durable finish that looked good. This product delivered.

Thanks, Vince

[Ralph Morris]

How old is it right now? We found one and ours is 102 years old now and I had made Quater sawn oak for a top. Sanded blasted the iron as it was so rusted out. Very nice top's cut out, wish I had thought of that lines too!:)

[Bruce Shiverdecker]

Ditto To all of the above!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bruce

[Michael Stafford]

Doncha just love the way a nice sharp plane cleans up a piece of wood and the way it looks after being cleanly planed cannot be touched with sandpaper. Very nice job!

[Dan Gill]

Beautiful piece! I'm curious, does the non-slip mat hold the work securely enough for planing without a bench dog or some other stop? I haven't tried that. Of course, my hand planing experience is limited.

[John Miliunas]

That is sweet, Vince! :) LOML had me do a top on one like that, which she had picked up somewhere. It's multi-species, butcherblock style, but still doesn't look as nice as yours! Sheeeeesh...I might just have to learn how to use a plane or two. Oh yeah...Guess I should probably buy a couple first, huh? :rolleyes: Great job! :cool:

[Vince Sandy]

I don't have a clue as to the age of the iron base. LOML really liked the look of the slightly rusted metal so all I have done is clean it.

Dan, the non-slip mat will not hold a piece steady against the pressures of hand planing. You can see by the "fluffyness" of the shavings that I had a very thin set on the handplanes. But even the light setting requires more-than-moderate power to push the plane through and successfully cut full-width shavings.

Its apparent that I piled up the shavings and positioned the planes for the picture, but I was using the mat. Here's why: My dream workbench hasn't been built yet. So, I was planing on my old workbench which is not the ideal surface (it is kinda rough). I used the mat to protect the piece from the bench. I attached a stop to the bench (a thin strip of wood and a couple of screws) and was planing against the stop.

For those of you that haven't tried smoothing with a handplane, I'll say that it is a highly rewarding task. Watching the full-width fluffy shavings spill out of the plane is really cool. You get a nice slicing sound too.

Thanks, Vince

[Mark J Bachler]

Very nice work & i love the pictures of the planes & shavings.

[Jason Tuinstra]

Vince, nice wood selection on this one. The figure is really beautiful. Nice job.

[Chris Padilla]

Mmmm, frothy shavings of sweet-smelling walnut....mmmm Gorgeous peice, Vince. The Neander itch is growing in me....