Trapped with Inlaws (or The Portable Neanderthal)

[John Dykes]

In just 10 days, 18 hours, and 32 minutes I'll be leaving the peace and tranquility of my Rocky Mountain High for the pain and chaos of my inlaws back in Kentucky. No, not just the Ma n' Pa inlaws - the whole bunch: 3 brothers in law, 3 brothers' wives in law, 5 nephews in law, 4 nieces in law, and two or three dogs in law - all packed in a house on the Kentucky River for a few weeks. I feel the madness already creeping into my bones....

I'm thinking of working on a small project to maintain my sanity during this joyful season. Might be a great opportunity to go completely unplugged... perhaps a little storage box for my Stanley #46 (not really thought that far ahead). Nor have I assembled a minimal tool list, it can't be much... I'll chew on that, and maybe keep a running list on this post.

But what worries me most is workholding - from resawing (maybe) using a frame saw, to four squaring rough lumber. I may have to do some research into basic Japanese methods for work holding...

Little dovetailed Stanley #46 Storage box (or the like) from rough stock. Box for chisels, etc....

Best first guess at tools (while sitting at work!):

Measuring and Marking -
Combo square
Marking gauge
Marking knife
Dovetail marker

Saws:
Cross cut panel
Small tenon saws (rip, crosscut)
Frame saw for rip and resaw
Benchhook \ shooting board

Planes:
Scrub
Jack
Smoother
#46

Chisel roll

Few clamps

That's not much to pack away in the van right? I can leave some shirts or perhaps a kid at home....

Thoughts? Again, concerned about work holding... My emotional stability is at stake...

[Rob Luter]

Small world. At about the same time as your trip, I'm heading from the flatlands of Northern Indiana to spend the holidays in Denver with the whole brood. I too have a #46 without a box. I guess I better start putting together a tool list :D

Any good tool shops I should check out?

[Tom Hargrove]

If your in-laws get you going like mine do, and the visit is for more than a few days (YIKES!!), I don't think you should take anything sharp with you!;)

[Michael Faurot]

A couple of years ago I was in the same situation. I was going to spend a couple weeks visiting the inlaws and would need to keep myself occupied. So I packed up a bunch of hand tools and some aromatic cedar to make into something.

Knowing I wouldn't have a real bench to work with, I decided to simplify things a bit by pre-dimensioning my wood at home. Thinking I'd try and make a small box or two I just made the wood 3/8" thick and about 12"Lx4"W. I made about 8-10 of those little boards. They were easy to pack in the car and on the other end made it easy to work with as I only had one of those work-mate type things and two saw horses with a piece of plywood for a work bench.

[David Keller NC]

John - I had a similar challenge at the end of October (the workholding - not the inlaws challenge...). I was at my parent's house, and my Dad requested a "small project". In this case, a wall full of substantial utility shelves about 20 feet long by 8 feet high.

I decided to make them out of pine 2X12s from Home Despot, as some of them spanned 5 feet or more.

The biggest problem was where to work - there were some stipulations in the design, one of which was that they look "nice", so there was some shaping and planing required on the cleats that held the shelves, as well as some hand shaping required for the feet of the shelves, as studding them into the concrete floor was not allowed.

So flimsy saw-horses were out. What I came up with and that worked very, very well were the sawbench pair that was published in Chris Schwarz' Lost Art Press blog, together with a couple of bench holdfasts from Phil Koontz. They work quite well for sawing, of course, since that's what they were designed for, but they also allowed planing with the help of a 2"X8"X5' maple board - I simply used the holdfasts on each sawbench to hold the maple board down, and screwed a small board cross-ways into it about 2/3rds of the way down to use as a planing stop.

If you don't have time to make these, there's one solution that I used as a router table because it was there - my grandfather's (and now my Dad's) 1970's Workmate. Other than having to weigh it down with a couple of sandbags, it really worked quite well - and it's a short trip to Sears and credit card swipe away...

[Bob Noles]

Might be a good time to take up carvig and leave all those tools at home :D

[John Schreiber]

I've often been in the same situation. I usually take up carving for the period. For serious work holding, if I can find a picnic table or other outdoor furniture nearby, a light weight bar clamp and some wedges work nicely. Sometimes I bring my own wood or a partially completed walking stick, otherwise, I raid their firewood supplies. I also volunteer to work on a project for my hosts, but my offers are seldom accepted. :(;)

One nice thing about carving is that people don't tend to come too close when I've got knives and gouges lying out. :D:D Really, it's a good opportunity to have one-on-one time with kids teaching them about tool safety and the basics of carving.

[John Dykes]

Woodcraft? Rockler? Your best bet is if I leave my garage unlocked!!

One thing I've been meaning to check out is the woodworking school at Red Rocks Community College... They may not have much going on, but might be worth a call. www.rrcc.edu/finewood

Thinking of taking a class there and try it out... I'd give anything to be a good woodworker some day!

[John Dykes]

Carving? whew.....

Never tried that... Anything that requires talent or an artist's touch scares me a bit. But, given the circumstances, that's an interesting thought. Might look for an idiot's guide for the no talent woodworker carving book!

[Jack Camillo]

Please accept my sincere condolences on the loss of your peace and freedom (even if temporary). May you survive this challenge to regain life in your own beloved home.

[James Schulist]

Check out "The Workbench Book" By Scott Landis. Imparticularly pgs 152 and 153... It will turn up on a google search of "Japanese woodworking methods" Might give you an idea of something you can throw together quickly.

[Joe Cunningham]

I started out with the following:

Japanese pull saw
1, 1/4" chisel
Combo square/ruler
X-Acto
4-pack of small quick grip clamps
Pencil

That's it. I bought 4s4 lumber, used the pull saw to crosscut + dovetail, used the ruler to mark out a 1:8 dovetail angle on a piece of wood, then cut that angle on the wood. I used that 'jig' with the square to mark the dovetails. I cut the dovetails with the board flat on a picnic table and kneeling down a bit. The pull saw tended to pull the work right into the table and worked pretty well. Throw in a workmate and you won't need to find a picnic table.

To get 'fancy' for the top, I bought a cheapo block plane (you likely have a good one), marked out the edges of the chamfers, then just planed to the lines, starting on the end grain.

For the bottom, I used 1/4" luan, which I think I cut with a circular saw (so I 'cheated' a bit). Marked out the groove on the box sides, then used the chisel to cut the groove. I set the combo square to the depth I wanted to check my progress.

I used the small clamps for the glue-up, so their size dictated the size of the box. Bought a small can of shellac for a finish. Got some borg hinges, and used the same 1/4" chisel for the hinge mortises, after marking with the x-acto.

This box still holds my chisels, has clanged around in the back of my jeep, and holds together just fine. It was my first project so it sure isn't that pretty, but quite functional.

Carving is a good idea too. When I was working in the backcountry of New Mexico, I brought along a few pre-cut duck decoys in basswood, a single carving knife and a small sharpening stone and oil. It was a very relaxing way to spend evenings. I never got very good at carving, but it sure was fun and I found myself really focusing on the carving at times, such that people would ask me a question and I'd kind of come out of a fog and they'd have to repeat the Q. "Huh, what?"

[David Keller NC]

John - Here's a direct link to Schwarz's sawbench plans, slightly modified by one of the blog contributors to include a companion stacking horse. These aren't very tough to build, though it took me quite a while because I decided to do it exclusively with hand tools:

http://blog.lostartpress.com/2008/02/17/Free+Construction+Drawings+For+The+2008+Sawbench.a spx