Very nice pictures. I'm enjoying watching it all come together.
Very nice pictures. I'm enjoying watching it all come together.
Hi Erich, many thanks. A nice comment to read indeed as I feel it took almost as long to take the pictures as to build the box!
Hand Beader
I really like the hand beader, it is really a tool I make a point to use when I make something without electricity.
I don’t know if hand beader sounds special in English, but the name of the tool in French is really cool! It is called a “Tarabiscot” and funny enough; the whole population knows the name without knowing any woodworking. The reason is, a really funny and ancient expression meaning “excessively complicated” is: tarabiscoté (therefore hand beaded).
I love this word.
Stanley Hand Beader in a tight concave curve
The Stanley tool I have cannot go in tight curves due to its large sole, a traditional hand beader is more adapted.
Traditional hand beader
To make new profiles, I like using old sabre saw blades, they are thicker than my band saw blades.
But there was no need to make a new profile as my favourite British tool maker thought about my problem
Perfect hand beader for a tight concave curve
Then, as this box will be moved quite a lot, I need to chamfer every sharp edge. I am not a block plane user, I have four I think and they are my most dusty tools, I barely ever use them.
For a while I used a Stanley chamfer spokeshave, it worked really well…and then I realised my guy from Birmingham did one with a depth adjuster…so I had to try it, and I love it! (even if I barely need to touch the adjuster to be honest)
Perfect chamfer tool for a curve
Drilling at last
I want to keep the wobble of the handle to the minimum of course, so I did few tests to design the holes and chose the best bit.
So it is now time to test this Millers Falls #182. I had strong doubts about the comfort of use.
It is confirmed that when using the tool as a brace, the user has to leave the drill handle down otherwise it will always be in the way for each revolution.
Vertically - The bit was improperly set up at the time of taking the picture
No issue in horizontal drilling
Brace test passed
Looking good.
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
The suspense is killing me. Can't wait to see the axe haft as handle for forestry tool box. Must wait. All in good time. With a single bit American style axe and a footed haft I can see this working good, the edge could be down towards the ground while carrying and the wear marks on the haft would not interfere with two handed swing. This should be an epic thing for folks that go out into the woods to do man stuff. Tarabiscote indeed. If I end up making one I will paint it flourescent orange so it will be easy to spot on the forest floor. Carry on.
Thank you Jim!
Scott, we are near the end, but I can already disclose a fact, you will be disapointed by the axe...all my axes are Scandinavian!
When I come on holidays in the US, I bring back some old rusty tools in my cases bought from thrift stores, usually some handplanes....but I would not dare to bring back an axe.
And you are right for the color of the box, some people looking at the end pictures wrote that it looks like I forgot the box in the forest.
I am off to buy a fluorescent orange spray can, I will add a last step to this post.
Last edited by Axel de Pugey; 09-15-2021 at 9:46 AM.
Drilling for dowels
A dowel plate made out of an old hinge is used
The end of the wood is shaped with my favourite pencil sharpener
(Note for Scott, this one is Danish)
And a good mallet finishes the trick
For a complete test, I try to use the tool as a hand drill in vertical position
Then horizontal
Feedback on the tool:
As a hand drill
Positive point: this is a hand drill with a brace chuck, allowing for larger drill bits than on a more common hand drill.
Negative point: due to the design, it is impossible to use the hand drill in vertical position, it is nearly impossible for me to find a sturdy way to grab it. Maintaining a plumb drilling and turning the handle is a real challenge. Of course in the horizontal position, there is no issue and the hand drill does the job perfectly
As a brace
Negative point: I do not know if it is my tool or a faulty design, but the part that blocks the ratchet is constantly releasing itself, not biting the metal part strong or deep enough. I have cautiously filed the notches a tad deeper to see if it improved things, but that was not a success, I should maybe have done it more downright.
...We will then quickly finish the box
Dowels are set up
A quick smoothing
I had to scrape some knots especially on the bottom of the box
I had a “no possible failure plan” in my mind…but of course I rushed and glued up skipping the general chamfering step.
As expected, I cannot chamfer the inside corners with the spokeshave where the handle supports join the sides.
I still chamfer everywhere the tool can go
And I use a mini block plane to join the aborted chamfers
Dovetails results
Now I think it is better to show the result of my first “London style” dovetails attempt before applying the finish, as it would darken the wood.
The most ugly corner where I was attempting to keep two saw kerfs
(We can clearly see the multiple saw kerfs from the tool jumping from one kerf to the other)
keeping only one saw kerf on the rest proved to be a good idea
(It is far from perfect, but good enough for me)
On this type of dovetails, I would be interested to hear about you, experienced Creeker:
- Is it correct to do only one saw kerf between the tails?
- Is there a way to angle the saw in one direction and then in the other without increasing the kerf (on the top) between the tails? (as shown in a prior picture p.1, with the brown arrow)
- Any other advice to improve?
Last edited by Axel de Pugey; 09-16-2021 at 9:50 AM.
Axel,
Thanks for sharing and taking time to post all the fine photos! And I'm jealous of all the nice old steel-not much of that available here.
Those tails look great to me. I also usually aim for both kerfs to align, though there's no 'right' or 'wrong', beauty is in the eye of the beholder and all.
Will look forward to seeing the rest of your efforts!
Best,
Chris
"You can observe a lot just by watching."
--Yogi Berra
Hi Christopher,
Many Thanks for your input.
You are in a much better place to find old steel than me, mine came mostly at a high price from the UK, that was before.
But I am in a good place for old wooden planes I cannot complain.
Thank you for confirming on the kerf, it sounds logical in fact, I don't know why I was intending to do two parallel kerfs...that was silly.
Thanks a lot!
Last edited by Axel de Pugey; 09-17-2021 at 10:55 AM. Reason: Deletion to avoid a political debate
So finally...
A bit of oil and Shellac and I am done!
Last edited by Axel de Pugey; 09-17-2021 at 10:21 AM.
Few more pictures
Many thanks for your patience in reading my broken English!