Making a Simple Project Not So Simple

[Jim Koepke]

A coat and hat rack has been on the to do list for a long time. Finally turned a few pegs out of scrap ash:

330171

My "calipers" or gauges for turning the mounting dowel and the base of the pegs were a 3/8" & 1/2" open end wrenches.

The idea of having the pegs come straight out of the board doesn't appeal to me. So instead of doing this the easy way of drilling slanted holes I decided to put a slant on the piece of wood:

330172

The fence on the Stanley #55 can be slanted. To get it to slant the way I wanted the wood needed to be taken off and turned upside down.

A fixture to hold the piece while drilling was made:

330175

This was bolted to the drill press table. A 1/2" forestner bit was used to bore about 1/16" deep. Then a 3/8" brad point bit was used to drill through.

Adjustment was easy with a few taps to insure the holes were concentric:

330176

At this point I wanted to see how it all fit together before moving on to the next steps:

330179

Not being one to leave something so plain un-planed:

330182

Have you ever heard, "sharp fixes a lot of things in woodworking?" It is true.

If you ever have used a Stanley Combination blade with the factory grind, you know those folks were in a hurry. Good thing I have a lot of slip stones. This blade took a bit of work to get it to cut properly. Wax on the skates and fence also helped. The orange thing on the bench is a hunk of old candle wax.

As the shavings get wider with a reeding or beading blade you know you are getting to depth. Chris Schwarz recently wrote something about stopping a cut. This is nothing new. Thinking about it while doing this made me wonder if that is why all the combination planes have rounded toes.

The grain on this piece is rather wild. One old rule of Combination planes is to use as straight of grain as you can. Since that wasn't an option from my pieces of left over stock, things had to be extra sharp and some clean up was needed:

330185

Since the grain angled across this piece a side rabbet plane came in handy to remove the splintering.

More to come...

jtk

[Jim Koepke]

Now it looked to need some edge work at the top. Made a step for some molding with a rabbet plane:

330187

The edge of this was cleaned up with a shoulder plane:

330186

Then used a 5/8" complex molding plane:

330188

Then I decided to change the molding using a pair of hollow & round planes:

330189

Then it seemed a cove would be nice so my trusty Stanley 45 was used to plow a guide slot:

330191

This is actually a Montgomery Wards #45 made by Stanley back in the day.

This was followed by a wide round plane:

330192

My plan is to cut ogees on the end. Marking for this can be very simple with pre-cut circles:

330193

The circle's diameter should be close to the size of the stock. My circles have lines drawn on the axis to make it easy to line up for this type of work.

It will likely be tomorrow before more is done on this. The sawing of the ends, gluing and trimming the pegs and deciding on the finish is about all that is left.

jtk

[James Pallas]

"Sharply" done Jim. Fun to watch.
Jim

[Jim Koepke]

Thanks Jim.

Just a thing or two to add.

The spacing was set for about 8" and the overall length is about 45". Went out and cut the end ogees and it is actually 50".

The peg spacing was stepped off with a pair of dividers and then a pencil was used to darken the marks.

jtk

[Jeff Ranck]

Well done!

[steven c newman]

Makes mine look rather a bit plain jane......instead of turning knobs, I just used the knobs from the old kitchen cabinets....then again, I'm cheap..

[Jim Koepke]

Makes mine look rather a bit plain jane......instead of turning knobs, I just used the knobs from the old kitchen cabinets....then again, I'm cheap..

I am cheap also, knobs are too valuable to use on something like this. :D

jtk

[Patrick Chase]

Wow, +100points for actually producing something other than misery and sarcasm with a #55.

[Jim Koepke]

Wow, +100points for actually producing something other than misery and sarcasm with a #55.

The #55 is a sadly misunderstood plane. The movable skate being adjustable likely gives a lot of people fits when using it with a straight or beading cutter. That the blades all come in need of sharpening is likely the next cause of consternation.

If a person has problems getting the #45 to work for them, the #55 is going to be worse.

Over the years the #45 has become fairly easy for me to produce good results. What totally surprised me was a #50 that was found in an antique shop. That thing is simple to use compared to the #45. Yet it doesn't even have half the bells & whistles.

BTW, I have even had some success with some of the complex molding blades on the #55.

Like so many other things, sharpness and a light touch makes it work.

jtk

[Patrick Chase]

The #55 is a sadly misunderstood plane. The movable skate being adjustable likely gives a lot of people fits when using it with a straight or beading cutter. That the blades all come in need of sharpening is likely the next cause of consternation.


Yeah, you're the third person I've seen say something along those lines. The other two were very good at fettling/sharpening and also said that the third skate was the key.

[Brian Holcombe]

Really nice work Jim! Thanks for the write up!

[steven c newman]

I'm even cheaper.....knobs used were replaced on the kitchen cabinets, rather than throw the large bagful out into the trash, I kept them for other projects. New knobs that were used? Yard Sale finds, bag ful @ $0.25 each.....

[Jim Koepke]

Really nice work Jim! Thanks for the write up!

I am glad you are enjoying it. Forgot the wife and I had appointments in town today so didn't get anything done on it.


The other two were very good at fettling/sharpening and also said that the third skate was the key.

The third skate and the shoe are needed with some of the complex shapes. Especially if one wants to keep the cut from wandering or digging in to spoil the cut.

jtk

[Patrick Chase]

I am glad you are enjoying it. Forgot the wife and I had appointments in town today so didn't get anything done on it.



The third skate and the shoe are needed with some of the complex shapes. Especially if one wants to keep the cut from wandering or digging in to spoil the cut.

jtk

Interesting - thanks for the information and for sharing a very nice project!

[Jeff Ranck]

Great job Jim. I love hearing about the things you make.

[Jim Koepke]

After paying my state sales tax obligation I was a free bird and got into the shop for a couple of hours today.

Here are today's accomplishments. Three reeds were cut with the Stanley 45 and the top had a square reed. I felt it would look better rounded even if it is a bit smaller than the others. So my smallest hollow plane, a #2, was used to round it over. I didn't take any pictures of that.

The ends needed to be smoothed which is a job for spokeshaves:

330370

Just for fun a bit more detail was added by cutting the beads back from the edge:

330369

For this a gouge to match the reeding blade size will work best. Also care needs to be taken to not cut below the surface of the flat. Also make sure the gouge is centered on the reed to avoid lop sided looking cut.

Then the waste can be pared away:

330371

It is best to take a little at a time so as not to cause tear out. A very sharp chisel is also beneficial for this kind of work.

It seems the camera sees all the flaws my eyes miss.

The shavings from all the previous work are on the bench and do a good job of smoothing up the work. On the reeds they are only rubbed against the work to fall off the end of the reeds. Rubbing into the ends may cause unwanted damage.

330372

Not much to do but put it together, put the finish on it SWMBO wants and hang it on the wall.

jtk

[Chuck Hart]

Nice story followed by hard work. Looks like fun to me. Good job Jim

Chuck

[Jim Koepke]

Thanks Chuck, I am having a good time and I get to listen to my favorite music while doing so.

Must be careful. Can't be rocking out while trying to pare thin shavings.

jtk

[Stew Denton]

Jim,

Thanks for the post and photos. Nice job on the project!

The photos and explanation of the Stanley 45 & 55 work are much appreciated. I have a 45, but have not sharpened up the irons, and have only used it a little. I used it where I had no other options, if the task was going to get done.

The other photos and parts of the project were also of significant interest.

I always learn something when I read about your project and get to look at the photos.

Would you mind taking a front view of the finished project once the finish is in place?

Again thanks!

Stew

[Jim Koepke]

Thanks for the kind words Stew. (Also to everyone else if I didn't respond to your specific post.)


Would you mind taking a front view of the finished project once the finish is in place?

I will likely take one while it is on the bench and another when it is on the wall.

jtk

[Jim Koepke]

The ends needed to be smoothed which is a job for spokeshaves:

330370



Forgot to make mention here about using the spoke shave.

Here it is being used to make more of a slicing cut. The cut starts on one edge of the shave and while it is going over the surface it is being pulled with my right hand. (toward the left in this image.)

The angle of attack may need to change with the changing of the grain.

jtk

[Marty Schlosser]

Wouldn't kitchen cabinet knobs be too short for a coat and hat rack?


Makes mine look rather a bit plain jane......instead of turning knobs, I just used the knobs from the old kitchen cabinets....then again, I'm cheap..

[Al Launier]

Masterful indeed!

[Jim Koepke]

The hat & coat rack is on the wall. Candy wanted it to have a dark walnut stain. What Candy wants, Candy gets. After the Watco's Danish Oil dried overnight, a coat of Howard's furniture polish/was was applied.

The pegs were installed so the grain is vertical for strength.

The positioning was decided and then the screw holes were laid out to match the studs in the wall and drilled. First was boring 3/8" pockets for the cover buttons:

330519

Then the pilots were drilled for the screws:

330520

Here the piece is held secure with a bench hook and a block of wood. There are shavings under the block of wood to protect the workpiece. It is all too easy to get unwanted marks on soft woods such as many of the varieties of fir.

Here is a detail of one of the buttons in place over a mounting screw. 2" steel screws were used since that is what was plentiful in the shop.

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Here it is with a couple of coats hanging:

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The image of the rack without anything hanging looks like some of the UFO pictures I have seen on TV. Also when the image is turned upside down, it looks good. I guess that is an advantage of an ogee. It doesn't matter which way it goes.

Thanks for looking,

jtk

[Stew Denton]

Jim,

Thanks for the final result photo. The design looks good!

That was an interesting comment on the Ogee looking good either way. I had never though about that, but imagined it upside down, and agree with you. I might have even built it to be upside down from the way you have put it, but of course the pegs would have had to be angled the other way. At any rate, I like the design.

Thanks and regards,

Stew

[Jim Koepke]

Thanks Stew.


That was an interesting comment on the Ogee looking good either way. I had never though about that, but imagined it upside down, and agree with you.

A recent upgrade to my Operating System has the images showing upside down in the thumbnails and that is how I noticed it.

It sort of reminds me of a longhorn steer.

Because the wall is so flat, images of just the rack mounted on the wall made it look like some of the fuzzy UFO pictures I have seen. So a couple of coats were added to give it a point of reference.

jtk

[Barry Dima]

Wow, +100points for actually producing something other than misery and sarcasm with a #55.

On a related note, Jim is probably the main reason I bought a combination plane (albeit a Craftsman knockoff of a Sargent 1080). He's also the only reason I've looked up 55s on eBay. Well, he and too time in a cubicle.



Just for fun a bit more detail was added by cutting the beads back from the edge:

330369

For this a gouge to match the reeding blade size will work best. Also care needs to be taken to not cut below the surface of the flat. Also make sure the gouge is centered on the reed to avoid lop sided looking cut.

Then the waste can be pared away:

330371

It is best to take a little at a time so as not to cause tear out. A very sharp chisel is also beneficial for this kind of work.


Thanks for these little details in your build threads. Explaining design during pics of a work in progress is really helpful, I think. And that wood's gorgeous.

[Jim Koepke]

On a related note, Jim is probably the main reason I bought a combination plane (albeit a Craftsman knockoff of a Sargent 1080). He's also the only reason I've looked up 55s on eBay. Well, he and too time in a cubicle.



Thanks for these little details in your build threads. Explaining design during pics of a work in progress is really helpful, I think. And that wood's gorgeous.


I hope your combination plane hasn't caused you to curse my name and make a voodoo doll in my likeness. :eek:

Thanks for the kind words and the little detail of forming the end can be used repeatedly in opposite directions to make all kinds of interesting details. Occasionally I use them to put my initials on things in Morse code:

330589

"Balls & balloons" can spice many different pieces.

jtk

[Joe Tilson]

Very nice Jim. By the way, the LOML and I are always on the outlook for cabinet door knobs and pegs for coat racks at yard sales and flea markets. You do clean and thoughtful work.
Thanks for your post.